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taiba_tahir
Community Member

Client is paying in the form of bonus

Hi

I got a contract of hourly job, but client said to me that he will pay me when work is done. I said to him than change the contract to milestone instead of that he send initial amount of 1$ in the form of bonus and said that he will give further amount on completion of work. I don't understand how to proceed with him he is not willing to change the contract either to milestone or hourly. 

13 REPLIES 13
martina_plaschka
Community Member


Taiba T wrote:

Hi

I got a contract of hourly job, but client said to me that he will pay me when work is done. I said to him than change the contract to milestone instead of that he send initial amount of 1$ in the form of bonus and said that he will give further amount on completion of work. I don't understand how to proceed with him he is not willing to change the contract either to milestone or hourly. 


I wouldn't work on the promise of later payment by bonus. 

ashrafkhan81
Community Member

It seems there may have been some misunderstanding or communication gap! He probably just meant continue the work, and you'll be paid! 

 

If the hourly contract is in place, which seems to be the case. Just continue working and logging hours on-time tracker app. You should get paid automatically as long as : 

- There are no manual entries of time. 

- Enough keyboard & mouse activity. 

- The screenshots captured shows work related to the project. 

 

If he really intends to work on a project basis, you should first discuss project deliverables and the total project fee and split the project into milestones, and have him activate appropriate milestones. No matter what a client says, don't do work for which milestone is not funded and activated! 

 

 

 

 

 

He asked me not to turned on the hourly tracker. He said he will pay me on
per word.

No, he will not pay you. Refund what you got from him and end the contract! 

 

Do not waste time on such clients. 

There is NOTHING WRONG with getting paid using a bonus after the work has been done as long as:

 

1) You are not interested in getting credit for the hours you work.

2) The client is 100% honest.

 

Personally: I certainly would not work for a client who hired me using an hourly contract, told me he was going to pay me with a bonus after the work is done, and told me to not log hours. I would assume that this was a scammer trying to get work done for free.

 

But this arrangement is not a violation of Upwork TOS and if the client is 100% honest, then you will get paid as expected.

=========

 

Taiba:

Let me ask you what YOU would do if YOU were the client in this situation. What if YOU wanted to hire a freelancer and pay that freelancer per word rather than per hour, and YOU agreed with the freelancer to pay using bonus payments...

 

Wouldn't YOU understand that good freelancers wouldn't feel comfortable with such an arrangement, because they know that their payments are done purely on the honor system? So wouldn't you use advance payments, instead of payments after the work has been done? That way you are showing the freelancer that you can be trusted. I think what you would do would be to pay a freelancer a certain amount ahead of time such as $50 at a time and then let the freelancer do enough work that they have used up that allotment, and then yiu would re-fuel the bonus payment so they can do more work.

 

Or you would set up a proper fixed-price contract.

 

When you think about what YOU would do as a client, this helps you consider what the RIGHT thing to do is, and this can help you identify clients who are doing the wrong thing, or who can't be trusted.


Preston H wrote:

There is NOTHING WRONG with getting paid using a bonus after the work has been done as long as:

 

1) You are not interested in getting credit for the hours you work.

2) The client is 100% honest.

 

Personally: I certainly would not work for a client who hired me using an hourly contract, told me he was going to pay me with a bonus after the work is done, and told me to not log hours. I would assume that this was a scammer trying to get work done for free.

 

But this arrangement is not a violation of Upwork TOS and if the client is 100% honest, then you will get paid as expected.

=========

 

Taiba:

Let me ask you what YOU would do if YOU were the client in this situation. What if YOU wanted to hire a freelancer and pay that freelancer per word rather than per hour, and YOU agreed with the freelancer to pay using bonus payments...

 

Wouldn't YOU understand that good freelancers wouldn't feel comfortable with such an arrangement, because they know that their payments are done purely on the honor system? So wouldn't you use advance payments, instead of payments after the work has been done? That way you are showing the freelancer that you can be trusted. I think what you would do would be to pay a freelancer a certain amount ahead of time such as $50 at a time and then let the freelancer do enough work that they have used up that allotment, and then yiu would re-fuel the bonus payment so they can do more work.

 

Or you would set up a proper fixed-price contract.

 

When you think about what YOU would do as a client, this helps you consider what the RIGHT thing to do is, and this can help you identify clients who are doing the wrong thing, or who can't be trusted.


I am quite sure, telling a freelancer hired on an hourly contract not to track the time while working is the same as asking for free work = ToS violation

 

We are not talking about $50 but "$1-3 per 500 words". At any rate this client will expect to get the cheapest solution as possible. That is the story of his entire job history.

Thank you for your valuable guidance Smiley Happy

tlbp
Community Member


Taiba T wrote:

Hi

I got a contract of hourly job, but client said to me that he will pay me when work is done. I said to him than change the contract to milestone instead of that he send initial amount of 1$ in the form of bonus and said that he will give further amount on completion of work. I don't understand how to proceed with him he is not willing to change the contract either to milestone or hourly. 


Looking at the client's history, they have paid a few freelancers for their writing. So, hopefully, it is not a total scam and you will get paid. However, know that bonuses can be reversed and you cannot dispute any payment not received or taken back. If the client decides they don't like a week's worth of your articles, you won't have any way to make them pay for that time. 

 

The client has created a setup is designed to remove the protections that ensure payment and put that power solely in the hands of the client. I assume the $1 was to show their good faith and intent to pay.

 

If you are unhappy with the situation, you can end the contract yourself. Also remember that any content you are not paid for belongs to you. If you don't get paid, publish the work in your profile. 

taiba_tahir
Community Member

Thank you so much everyone for your valuable guidance 🙂

yukuicen
Community Member

Hi,

I have accepted an hourly contract issued by the client, but after double confirm, client said that i do not need to login into the daily log as the work is paid per email i respond later on.

Please advise, as I’m afraid it is kind of scam, but the client has a good review, even for the same kind of work that he posted earlier. I’m also afraid to lose the job.

Please advise what am i supposed to do now as when i received their contract, i have sent them some of my emails as per their request

Thanks


Fanny Y wrote:
Hi,

I have accepted an hourly contract issued by the client, but after double confirm, client said that i do not need to login into the daily log as the work is paid per email i respond later on.

Please advise, as I’m afraid it is kind of scam, but the client has a good review, even for the same kind of work that he posted earlier. I’m also afraid to lose the job.

Please advise what am i supposed to do now as when i received their contract, i have sent them some of my emails as per their request

Thanks

Probably trying to get work for free. Don't agree to not logging hours on a contract, or have a milestone in place. You will never get paid. 

re: "Please advise what am i supposed to do now as when i received their contract, i have sent them some of my emails as per their request"

 

It is weird.

 

But you can do whatever you want, as long as the Upwork user interface allows it and you aren't violating any Upwork TOS.

 

Ask yourself:

What is the potential benefit to YOU?

What is the potential HARM that this could cause you?

If you think that you can benefit from this arrangement and there is little or no risk... then maybe it is worth trying this out.

 

The client isn't asking you for money.

He isn't trying to get personal identity information from you or your financial information.

He is going to make all payments through Upwork, not using any off-platform payment methods.

 

If he pays you and you like the work and like the money, then I don't see a problem.

 

I wouldn't do it, but I'm not you.

I would share my expereince when I was in the same condition few months back as you are, I decided to  give a chance to the client and continued with the contract. Luckily it was the best decision, I am still working with that client, he used to pay me through bonus and project is going smooth. In the start for transparent work enviornment I only worked further when he used to pay for previous work. I hope it may help you.  Best of luck 🙂

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