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h_parashar
Community Member

Contract On Hold

I am new to Upwork. Just two hours after I got offered this contract it's being put on hold.
I wanted to knw whether client has paused the contract or it's because clients account is suspended. I can see suspended written in contract page. Not sure if that means suspended client or suspended contract.

Thanks and Regards

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Hi Ronnie,

 

There are two reasons why your contract may be paused:

 

  • Your client has decided to pause your Hourly Contract: If no work needs to be done at the moment, clients can temporarily and immediately pause a contract. This prevents hours from being logged on the contract, without the need to end it, until you are ready to proceed with the next part of the project. 
  • There is a problem with your client’s Upwork account: In this case, your contracts with them will be paused automatically and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns.


You can check out this help article to learn some tips on what you can do if your contract is paused.

 

 

 

Update: 

This thread has been closed from further replies due to its size. We appreciate your participation in the Community and welcome you to continue the conversation on this new thread.

 

~Andrea
Upwork

View solution in original post

509 REPLIES 509

Hi Douglas,

 

I'm afraid that we can't share the status of another user's account for privacy reasons. If the contract with your client is still paused it means there's still an issue with their account that they must resolve.

 

Your client should've also received a message from the relevant team indicating what steps they need to take to resolve their issue and they can follow up with the team as well in case they still need assistance with their account. Please, be sure to not resume working with the client until the hold is lifted from the contract.  You can check this help article to learn more.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
f806e6fe
Community Member

I got a contract suspended, may I know why and what should I do about it? 

ArjayM
Moderator
Moderator

Hi Duncan,

 

I'm afraid that we can't share the status of another user's account for privacy reasons. If the contract with your client is still paused it means there's still an issue with their account that they must resolve.

 

Your client should've also received a message from the relevant team indicating what steps they need to take to resolve their issue and they can follow up with the team as well in case they still need assistance with their account. Please, be sure to not resume working with the client until the hold is lifted from the contract. 

 

Please note that any work completed during a contract pause is not covered by Upwork’s Payment Protection programs. If the contract is Hourly, don’t worry, hours that you billed prior to the contract being paused are still eligible for payment protection. You can check this help article to learn more.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
junaid_qazi
Community Member

Hi, My milestone was approved and funded by client. But I received the email today from the upwork that my client's account is suspended. I wanna ask whether I'll get the amount for the approved and funded milestone?
Thanks

Hi Junaid,

 

I understand you might be concerned about your client's account being suspended. Please note that when this happens it's typically because there's an issue with their account that they'd need to resolve, which for privacy reasons we can't discuss. 

 

While your contract is paused, you may do the following: 

 

  • Stop working on the contract immediately – Any work completed during this time is not covered by Upwork’s Payment Protection.  Do not resume billing through Upwork until you receive a notification from Upwork that the contract is reactivated. Hours billed prior to the contract being paused are still eligible for Payment Protection.
  • Contact your client – Get in touch with your client as soon as possible to find out when the contract will resume.

Check out this help page for more information.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
a76eb5a8
Community Member

I got an email saying that the contract I was working on is suspended and the employer's account is under investigation. It has been the same for the past week and I haven't received any updates. The contract was based on hourly payment and I have not yet been paid. How long do such cases take to resolve?

Hi Zaiba,

 

Thank you for reaching out. We cannot determine how long the resolution would take but it is dependent on your client and how they resolve it with our support team. No further action is needed on your end.

 

Please know that if there is an issue with your client's account, your contracts with them will be paused automatically and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns. We recommend you communicate with the client directly to resolve the situation.


~ AJ
Upwork

Thank you. I had another question: Will I still get paid for the work I've done so far? I have stopped working on the project but the payment for the previous hours is due.

Hi Zaiba,

 

As long as the hours logged follows the criteria listed on Upwork Hourly Payment Protection, the hours will be paid.


~ AJ
Upwork

Zaiba Sadat K.,

 

When a client or a project is suspended by Upwork it may be temporary or it may be permanent. Upwork won't tell you the reason or resolution status of the suspension and will take whatever action it feels necessary. In my limited experience, Upwork will not notify you if/when the suspension is lifted. Your client will have to tell you when that happens.

 

You can also check on the project's status from time to time, but your best bet after a week or two of waiting is to assume the project and the client are no longer in your list of things to do. Find new work and don't count on this project and client to keep you busy in the future.

Noted 🙂 Thank you very much

wlyonsatl
Community Member

Hemant P.,

 

If your client puts your hourly project on hold, that's not unusual. It can happen for various reasons but you should check with the client to discuss the purpose and likely timing of the hold.

 

Upwork doesn't put projects on "hold." Upwork suspends projects for reasons Upwork will not explain to you (your client will know, but may or may not explain it to you). Suspension may be temporary or it may be permanent. As the freelancer you have no way of knowing. 

 

Check the status of the project from time to time, but move on to other projects if the suspension is not lifted by Upwork within two weeks or so. The client can always let you know if the project has been unsuspended by Upwork. You should ask him/her to do so and then give the project no further thought until the client contacts you. Do not be tempted to continue working on the project because the client assures you the suspension is just a temporary glitch that will soon be resolved.

 

Good luck!

rijalboy
Community Member

Hello all, 

I was working with the client on per hour rate as he wants to pay the amount his account is suspended. Can you please review it or give a solution as I am new to upwork and I need to showcase my jobs in upwork also?

 

Hi Nitesh,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. If there is a problem with your client’s Upwork account, your contracts with them will be paused and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns.

 

It's recommended that you stop working on the contract immediately and get in touch with your client to see when you can resume working, once they've resolved the issue with their account. Please note that any work completed up until the contract was paused is covered by Payment Protection


~ AJ
Upwork
asimbhatti1001
Community Member

Hy everyone, I hope all of you are fine.

 

On Friday morning my contract is suspended by Upwork by saying there's is an issue with the client's account. We may need some time to continue it back. But at that time my previous week's payment is in review. On Saturday morning my payment goes to the pending section. I just want to confirm that Can I get my payment? Because It's now in the pending section. 

 

Regards,

Muhammad Asim

Hi Muhammad,

 

Yes! Any work completed during a contract pause is not covered by Upwork’s Payment Protection programs. For hourly contracts, don’t worry, hours that you billed prior to the contract being paused are still eligible for payment protection. You can still expect the amount to be available on your end on the Date Section on your Transaction History page.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
saadamir95
Community Member

Hi

My client paid me and while the payment was in escrow, the contract got suspended. I have tried to contact the client but they are not responding. How can I get paid?

Hi Saad,

 

Thank you for your message. I checked the job you are referring to and noticed that the contract has been suspended due to issues with the Client's account. Your contract will be restored as soon as the issue is resolved. Please do not resume working on this contract until it's restored. Feel free to check this help article to learn more.

~ Luiggi
Upwork

Payment for the work I have already done is still in pending.

It means Upwork received it but Upwork isn't releasing it.
I am not working further with the client until this is resolved.

But I should get the payment for the work I did which is when the contract was not paused.

mr1996
Community Member

We are investigating a problem with **Edited for Community Guidelines** account. Please do not resume work until the contract is active again. 

 

Why this appeared.

Hi MOSTAFIZUR,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. If there is a problem with your client’s Upwork account, your contracts with them will be paused and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns.

 

It's recommended that you stop working on the contract immediately and get in touch with your client to see when you can resume working, once they've resolved the issue with their account. Please note that any work completed up until the contract was paused is covered by Payment Protection


~ AJ
Upwork
mr1996
Community Member

What will happened to my payment? 
I used Upwork time-tracker, Is that safe?

mr1996
Community Member

What will happened to my payment?

I used Upwork time-tracker, Is that safe?

We are investigating a problem with **Edited for Community Guidelines** account. Please do not resume work until the contract is active again. 

wlyonsatl
Community Member

Mostafizur Rahaman S.,

 

If you used TimeTracker correctly (such as adding meaningful memos and active use of keyboard and/or mouse during tracked time) then Upwork's hourly payment protection will be in effect for you.

 

It is real protection that assures you will be paid, by Upwork if not by the client.

 

Please come back and let us know if you are not paid for all properly-tracked work time.

mr1996
Community Member

active use of keyboard and/or mouse during tracked time IS DONE PERFECTLY.

brice20
Community Member

Can somebody help me, heres my dilema , I was hired by a different person, and the account is now handled by a different person I have been trying to reach the client for months now to ask him to end the contract, but to no avail, I tried to send the new guy a direct message but it says their account is suspended so I can't message him directly, as the our contract is suspended. I tried manually logging in hours just to verify if the is truly contract account is suspended but it did log in time and I think they were billed, now I got their attention, now they want me to remove the hours I logged but I now I cant,  they asked me why I logged in I told them is because I was trying to reach them to ask them to have the contract ended, they told me that I should have been the one to ended it.  and I told them that that will reflect negatively on my profile and that the time log is not to get money from them but to:
1.  see it the our contract is already suspended
2. to get their attention since they have been very unresponsive

 

now their going to give me a 1 star review and report me as fraud.

but all I really wanted was to ask them to end the contract.

where can I get assistance to have the logged in time removed.

 

thanks

 

Hi Bryan Vincent,

 

Thank you for reaching out and I'm sorry to hear about this disappointing experience. I can see that you've already raised a support ticket regarding your concern. You can access your support tickets here. Note that support requests are responded to in the order they are received. Kindly allow 24-48 hours for the team to follow up with you and assist you further.

 

Please note that If there is a problem with your client’s Upwork account, your contracts with them will be paused and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns.

 

It's recommended that you stop working on the contract immediately and get in touch with your client to see when you can resume working, once they've resolved the issue with their account. Please note that any work completed up until the contract was paused is covered by Payment Protection

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
kasage00
Community Member

I am top-rated and I always get my hourly payments early (on Fridays)

I had contracts paused by Upwork before and they usually got reactivated the same day or the next day, but today's experience is different. Today I got a message from Upwork saying "We have noticed some possible issues with your contract **** While we take a closer look, we will need to put your contract on hold temporarily.

Please hold off on working on this contract through Upwork until we give you the all clear. We know this hold is frustrating, but it is essential for the safety of your account and the marketplace. No action is required on your part right now and we will be in touch as soon as possible. Our apologies for the inconvenience."

 

Not only is the contract on hold, but the funds from all last week's work are on hold. This is an hourly contract job. My hours were logged using time tracker. This is the first time ever I had funds held due a contract on hold. I'm very concerned, as it is a large amount of money I was counting on getting, and I put in a large amount of hours on this project (nowhere near going over the maximum amount of hours per week)

After I finished up last week's work, I messaged the client if there is any more work. The client has been unresponsive since then, and its going on a week, and its going on a week with no response. What I will NOT do is send multiple messages; there is no point.

Very upsetting when this happens.

infinity-tech
Community Member

Hi, Client contract suspended after already finished the work and sent him screen shots for final review.

nexted day the it says " contract suspended " and the same for the last week ! 😥

 

Although the Contract Earnings shows that the contract budget is in Escew protection ?

any help please ?

Hover your cursor over the icon next to "Suspended". What information do you get?

Hi Mohamed,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. If there is a problem with your client’s Upwork account, your contracts with them will be paused and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns.

 

It's recommended that you stop working on the contract immediately and get in touch with your client to see when you can resume working, once they've resolved the issue with their account. Please note that any work completed up until the contract was paused is covered by Payment Protection


~ AJ
Upwork
infinity-tech
Community Member

Thanks for taking time for helping me.

i already completed the work on the day Upwork paused the contract.

I think i will have to wait till upwork take a step.

ianmarkamante04
Community Member

Anyone else experiencing Upwork Account issues? My two active contracts just got suspended at the same time. It says it’s on hold because they’re investigating several possible issues with my client’s accounts. They are long term clients.

When I went here to the community page to  to check, this is what I read first in the overview page, it states that "upwork is trying to correct invoice issues that were incorrect amounts and dates invoiced, they will fix it within 6 hours". 

Few minutes later, my other contract was reinstated. But I am worried to the other one which remians to be on hold/suspended because I am handling 5 cases under litigation for that contract. 

Hi Ian Mark,

 

I'm sorry to learn that you got caught off-guard with the hold on your contract. Please know that if there is an issue with your client's account, your contracts with them will be paused automatically and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns. We recommend you communicate with the client directly to resolve the situation.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
cea7dfee
Community Member

Hello, Upwork, my client's account was suspended. I was working on an hourly contract and time was imputed manually, then I got an email saying his account got suspended. I contacted him and he said he was working on it but didn't get a response. I contacted him again and he has not been responding either.

 

What do I do? Will I be paid for the hours worked already? And how do I reach out to him?

Hi Abasiakan,


If there is an issue with your client’s Upwork account, your contract with them will be paused and you will not be able to continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, though we cannot share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns. I have checked the account and would like to assure you that your client is already in correspondence with our team about their support ticket.
We advise that you wait for the hold on the contract to be lifted before taking any action or doing any additional work on the contract. For more information, please check out this help article.

 

~Andrea
Upwork
mohyudin14
Community Member

Hi,

My Client's account got suspended and Client says he needed the ID Verification which he provided to upwork. I want to know how much time it will take when his account get back again as lot of work was done in Hourly Rate.

 

contract link: **Edited for Community Guidelines**

 

Thanks

Best Regards

Ali

Hi Ali,

 

We cannot determine how long the resolution would take but it is dependent on your client and how they resolve it with our support team. No further action is needed on your end.

 

Please know that if there is an issue with your client's account, your contracts with them will be paused automatically and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your client’s account due to privacy concerns. We recommend you communicate with the client directly to resolve the situation.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
3ecbb1d1
Community Member

I just want some help regarding my Payment. It is still in review as of today rather than available as I am a Top Rated so my earnings should be available early (Friday). Also, I am not sure if this is because of the issue facing by my client as contract to them has been temporarily today.  Please help me with this. 

Hi Khen,

 

Thank you for reaching out to us. If a contract is on hold, it means that there is a problem with your client’s Upwork account, and you cannot continue to bill that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved. There are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your clients' accounts due to privacy concerns.

 

Please also note that hours billed prior to the contract being paused are still eligible for Payment Protection.  You should stop working on the contract and get in touch with your client to know when the contract could resume. You can check this help article to learn more.

 

~ Arjay
Upwork
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