Contract Suspended

[wwwoman]

I started an hourly contract and I have worked for over 12 hours. Now I have been informed that the contract is suspended as Upwork is carrying out an investigation. So what will happen to the 12 hours worked?  Will I be paid?

[3ffad032]

Hello, My project was suspended by saying investigating a client account.

It's not the first time happened on my project... I had a similar case when doing Upwork hourly project and still pending.

And this time, it has happened for a fixed milestone project.

The client said he will put part milestone and he will have the rest funds after 2-3 days due to his situation.

so I accepted the offer and got paid 10$ only and had to give a result because he was hurried so much.. but after giving result, he just said to put $50$ bonus without funds. and the rest 190$ milestone was also pending.

Problem is that he did even not answer thought he is online and project suspended.. I think this is a kind of scamming for getting result, that client's reputation was not so good. 

I am frustrated with 2nd time due to this project. hope Upwork support resolves this problem fairly.

I will wait for good news.

Thanks.

Leo.

[feed_my_eyes]

You cannot get any more money than the amount that's in escrow, which is why Upwork tells you not to do work if a milestone isn't funded. Why did you bid on the project anyway, if the client had bad reviews? 

[3ffad032]

 I did not bid, just he found me and hired by offer directly without posting the project.

I could not check his profile fully due to it.

In this case, my account will get any limit? I am very afraid. Please let me know.

[spectralua]

Look like that $10 thats all you will have. Your acount won't be limited.

[shanedesigns]

Hi,

I'm experiencing a problem on contract suspension. My contract with my clients was suspended last June 9, 2023 due to an issue being investigated by Upwork on her account. Last June 14th, she messaged me that the issue is fixed on her end but when I tried to access our contract, it still appeared to be suspended.

Today, June 26th, the contract is still suspended on my end. I haven't been working for 17days already and this can greatly affect my client's business negatively. 

Can someone please help expedite resolving this issue. Thanks!

[spectralua]

Do not work a while you see suspended. Client can say anything but Upwrork set rules here, not client.

[benson-shelia]

My client's account was recently suspended and now the contract is suspended and on hold. And now he's not responding. How long are accounts and contracts usually suspended? I'm kinda bummed this happened because I was looking forward to working with the client. It's been longer than 48 hours and I'm not sure what to do.

[wlyonsatl]

There is no way for you to know whether an account will be suspended temporarily or forever. Since the client is not communicating with you, I'd guess/expect this suspension is not going to be unsuspended any time soon.

You could send the client a quick note every few days asking for an update, but I'd give up after a couple of week's of suspension, leaving a final note for the client.

In the meantime, move on to other clients and their projects. 

[babarsuhail92]

I got an email that one of my contracts which I haven't worked on in a few months has been suspended. There has been no contact with the client in a few months either. Can anyone advise what I should do here? Should I end the contract? If I do that, will it affect my JSS since I won't be able to get feedback on the contract? I have earned less than $500 on said contract if it matters.

[spectralua]

Do not work. Wait. Feel free to close after some time.

Cobtracts without feedback wont affect jss.

[wlyonsatl]

There is no reason to wait any longer for communication from this client. (I close idle projects within 4 - 6 weeks of last communication from clients.)

Close the project. Move on. The only possible effect would be if the client leaves feedback for you, which is unlikely after such a long time since you've worked for the client.

[ard1997x]

Hi All,

I was working on a project yesterday but later my contract with a client was suspended, I wasn't been able to complete the whole work so only 80%, I messaged the client to fix the issue regarding to suspension of the contract yet he's now asking me to send that 80% completed work to him, should I do it or not?

Thanks,

Ardi

[eff4ec74]

Hi Ardi, if I was you, I would say I would be glad to submit the work but only once the contract has been reinstated as per your request. If not, then I would not submit the work unless advised to by Upwork. 

[arsalan-m]

No! Do not send any deliverables & do not continue working on the project until the issue is resolved, regardless of the client's urgency. It is important to prioritize resolving the problem first. If this is the client's first project and there are indications of a potential issue, it's advisable to exercise caution. Also, ensure that the full amount has been funded in escrow before resuming any work.

You can tell the client if he/she is insisting that Upwork has asked you to halt work temporarily due to a concern, and you must comply with their terms to protect your account.

[ard1997x]

Hi Annie and thanks for replying back!

I understand that I should not work on the contract which I won't but the client didn't fix the issue with suspension and he's asking me to send the work that I completed before the contract was suspended, what should I do? Should I sent or hold till he reactivates the contract?

[cusi_jaison]

Any reason why my contract got suspended with my client?

[cusi_jaison]

This is for ID # 28767375. No reason was given at all so I'm really not sure why it happened.

[JoanneP]

Hi Jaison Stephene,

I've escalated your concern to the team. One of our agents will reach out and assist you directly via a support ticket.

[cusi_jaison]

Great. Thanks

[bellamasters84]

Has anyone else experienced the following issue? 

I went to add my hours worked for a newer client & when I clicked add it wouldn't allow it & it said "company suspended". Surely upwork would have notified me in some way if this client was suspended, right? I mean, shouldn't the contract automatically end when that happens?

I do hope to be compensated for my time, I had no way to know this client was suspended.

Thanks in advance!

[lysis10]

IME you get an email when they get suspended. Since it's Friday, I assume it's from non-payment and happened last night. Sounds like either he didn't pay your last invoice or someone else's. You won't be able to log time until he fixes the payment issue.

[spectralua]

Check contract status here

https://www.upwork.com/nx/wm/freelancer/contracts

Is it suspended or active

[100b61fa]

.

[ArjayM]

Hi Belinda,

If a contract is on hold, 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. However, there are many possible reasons this could occur, although we can’t share the specifics regarding your clients' accounts due to privacy concerns.

We recommend you stop working on the contract and contact your client to know when the agreement could resume. You can check this help article to learn more.

[prestonhunter]

re: "I went to add my hours worked for a newer client & when I clicked add it wouldn't allow it & it said 'company suspended'"

You should not be "going to add hours worked."

You should be using the desktop time-tracker application.

If there is a valid reason why you absolutely can not use the time-tracker, then you need to record your hours immediately after every work session.

[f3d9daaf]

So a to me completely unknown client sends me a contract without any prior contact. I agree and start to clock time to reply and communicate with the client on the UpWork chat. After a short introduction the client sends me a Wetransfer link with a file word_v3.exe inside. 
After 1 hour of back and forth about me asking them to send the file via Upwork message system they just don't reply and just send another Wetransfer file.
Short afterwards UpWork supends the contract without me doing or reporting anything.

Will I get paid for my 1 hour of work?
Any experts here who can analyze the files?
Here a google drive share to a folder - password in folder name.
Open at your own risk.

**Edited for Community Guidelines**

**Edited for Community Guidelines**
Best, Wolfgang

[759e32fa]

Hi Wolfgang,

Thank you for reaching out to us. Generally, if a contract is on hold, there is a problem with your client’s Upwork account, and you would not be able to continue billing that client through Upwork until the issue is resolved.

There are many possible reasons why this occurred although we can’t share the specifics regarding your clients' accounts due to privacy concerns.

As long as the hours you logged qualify for Upwork Hourly Payment Protection, Upwork will step in and cover the payment for the client. 

We recommend you stop working on the contract and contact your client to know when the agreement could resume. You can check this help article to learn more. As for the payment, as long as you 

[c1d2f492]

I was working on  my project. Today I have got contract hold message suddenly like this.

Hi Dmytro,
We have noticed some possible issues with your contract with Charles Moriceau (Create Mailbox Script / ID # 34277259).
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.
Thanks,
The Upwork Team

Why contract was suspended and how long will take to solve this?

[hoyle_editing]

My guess would be eitehr a payment issue with the clients card, or they suspect the client is a scammer.

As it suggests, just wait and do do anymore work on it until Upwork have confimed its ok to do so.

[debi-f]

I agree!  Wait, and don't work until they give you an answer. 

[iwan-spillebeen]

I posted the below earlier and a mod decided to merge it with a topic from 5 months ago about an unauthorised refund which is marked as solved, effectively burrying my issue.

This issue remains open and I need UpWork to address it rather than bury it.

---

Hi,

My clients' payment failed so the contract was suspended, it's happened a few times and it is unclear what the issue is, I have seen the client process the payment and it being rejected by UpWork's platform multiple times for it to then suddenly be accepted (literally during the same call).

Anyway, payment went through, and payment was issued to me, but the contract remains suspended ... this happens time and again and has so far cost 97 hours of work ... UpWork needs to update its processes to reinstate contracts when payment goes through.

I would also urge UpWork to seriously review how it deals with long term contracts, I've been dealing with this client for 18 months, and this credit note that is auto issued - in MY name, without MY authorisation - is an illegal practice.  Give us the option to forego payment protection so that we can keep track of these contracts even if there are payment issues, without credit notes being auto released and causing accounting nightmares.

[iwan-spillebeen]

Please save me the corporate nonsense of "this hourly payment protection process is meant to protect freelancers and not in any way intended to inconvenience both parties" as the practice performed by UpWork is illegal, highly inconveniences both parties and is only in place to protect UpWork from liability and nothing else. I have stated many times that I'm happy to sign a waiver to relinguish UpWork from late payment issues for certain contracts, UpWork has never even responded.

The rules for hourly protection are incredibly subjective and totally up to UpWork to decide whether hours qualify (such as memos being adequate) and are only there to favour UpWork.

The issues I raised in my original post has been ignored once again:

- The payment was made by the client (I witnessed them making the payment), the payment was processed by UpWork yesterday, yet the contract is still suspended.  Every time this happens the contract remains suspended until I complain, I've had this happen on more than one contract.

- The client had to client on the payment button multiple times, the first 4-5 times the payment wasn't processed and came back as failed, the 5th or 6th time it went through, no clarification either way. I.e. there were more than sufficient funds to process the payment, it was UpWorks platform that failed multiple times.

I've been top rated plus very shortly after I started, have a 100% succes score, have multiple long term (18 months +) clients on UpWork, have 2,660 hours logged yet can't even get in touch with customer support when needed, just canned responses in forums and emails.  UpWork NEEDS to do better!

[mktabanud]

my client actually trying to figure out how our contract resume because it got suspended due to payment issues. he already resolved it and settled everything i got my payment but the contract still showing suspended. He didnt receive any email from upwork how he can fix it. please let us know how we can resolve this. 

[PradeepH]

Hi Maria,

Thank you for your message. I checked the job and the client's account you are referring to and noticed that there is still a pending action needed on the client's account. For confidentiality purposes, I will be unable to discuss other user's account with you. Please request the client to contact us directly so that we can better assist them.

Thank you,

Pradeep

[70e5e173]

I have been working on a contract for last 2 weeks almost and today was the day where I was going to get paid for the last week's work and then the contract got temporarily suspended due to some payment method issue with client. When I talked to him he said he will get it solved as soon as he can and then he sent me a screenshot and said that it was done. Till yet, I did not get any notification from Upwork about this solution.
I am trying to contact Upwork support, but all they say is that their customer representatives will be back soon and I should admit a ticket which will take at least 3 business days.
I am new to this platform and just wanted to know if I will still get paid for my logged hours or not?
On some topic from Upwork, I read that the hours before Contract got paused will get paid, so will the payment contain both week's work?
Also, if I do get paid, will it be after the contract had un-paused? Or will it be like the normal cycle time?

[spectralua]

Tracked before suspension will be paid if you fit all requirements for protection.

You can track other time only after relolved.

[70e5e173]

What requirements are those? 

As I Remember, The time should be tracked, the client should be verified, memos should be added, my identity should be verified, is there any else? 

[8a074783]

My contract is paused by upwork what should I do?

[spectralua]

Stop works asap. Wait until unpaused.

[8a074783]

But what is the reason behind it?