Client will not pay because "project has been paused"

[795afeac]

Hi,

I have a client in whom the contract was supposed to be for 10 hours updating his CRM database with Linked In contacts. This was supposed to be for $13 per hour ($10.40 after Upwork fee). After 10 hours, then he extended the contract to another 10 hours. I obliged and was almost done with the 17 out of the 20 hours and I was going to work the remaining hours to fulfill the contract. However, when I went to log into the CRM database, I see that he had changed the credentials because the website said that there wasn't a username/password that was recognized that I had previously/successfully was using. So, I texted him and he said that the project was "paused" and that he will let me know tomorrow if they plan to continue and "good night" (like a finality). So, after putting in more than half of what he required for the contract to be fulfilled and we used an offline timesheet (Excel), if pulls the plug and decides not to pay me, what is my next step? Any (good) advice would be helpful. Thanks.

[prestonhunter]

Jeralyn, I do not understand what you are talking about.

A client may pause a contract at any time. That is fine.

Why do you think you won't be paid for the time you put in?

From your description of what happened, the client never said anything about not paying you.

re: "So, after putting in more than half of what he required for the contract to be fulfilled and we used an offline timesheet (Excel)..."

Wait... are you saying that you were not using the desktop time-tracker?

If you used the time-tracker properly to qualify for Payment Protection, you have nothing to worry about.

But if you didn't use the time-tracker properly, you have no protection, and no guarantee of payment.

Upwork Payment Protection is great. If a client doesn't pay you for your time, Upwork will pay you out of its own pocket. Upwork paid me that way just last month. A client's credit card could not be charged, but Upwork paid my anyway.

Did you not know about Upwork Payment Protection?

[795afeac]

So, if the client pauses it indefinitely, isn’t that similar to not paying the freelancer in a reasonable timeframe?

My concern is that he paused it so he wouldn’t have to pay.

[prestonhunter]

You are paid automatically for the time that you logged. It doesn't matter if a client pauses a contract.

But if you did not log your time properly, then you are correct that the client can close the contract without paying you.

If you do not get paid for your work, then I hope you understand that it is because you used Upwork improperly.

A client may pause a contract at any time. A client may close a contract at any time. A client is not breaking any rules by doing so.

If you ended up working without getting paid, it may indeed be the case that you were treated unfairly or dishonestly by the client. But there is nothing that Upwork can do about it. Upwork does not process payments to freelancers based on what they record in an Excel file. Upwork would legitimately ask you why you didn't run the time-tracker app while working. Or at the very least, you should have logged your time manually immediately after every work session. That is better than nothing.

At this point, either you ARE going to get paid, because you logged your time, and you are confused about that fact. Which is not so bad... to be confused but still get paid. Or you are not going to get paid because you didn't log your time.

[martina_plaschka]

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Jeralynn K wrote:
So, if the client pauses it indefinitely, isn’t that similar to not paying the freelancer in a reasonable timeframe?

My concern is that he paused it so he wouldn’t have to pay.

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No, it isn't, and he hasn't. 

[petra_r]

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Jeralynn K wrote:

we used an offline timesheet (Excel)

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Was that in addition to you properly tracking the time worked with the Upwork tracker, which, if used correctly, means that you are paid automatically, or instead of it?