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imenetalk
Community Member

Do clients need to fund hourly contracts before the freelancer receives them ?

Hello, 

 

I had an issue with a client recently, my old contract with them has expired and I needed to receive a new contract with a higher rate from them to continue working. I stopped working with the old contract because it was legally not useful anymore with that rate I had for the trial period of 2 months.

 

But later when I asked the client to send me the new contract they said : we are currently funding the new contract on Upwork and waiting for Upwork to approve that, and you will receive the new hourly contract once this is done by Upwork. 

 

Well, I've been freelancing here since 2015 and I never had a client saying this to me (not even for fixed-price contracts, how come for hourly ones). I just want to make sure this is really a fact that can happen in some case even if I think it's unlikely ?

 

Thanks 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Imene:
Regardless of any PDF file that you signed, a client can close an hourly contract at any time, for any reason.

 

And as a freelancer, you can stop working on a contract, OR you can close the contract, at any time.


That is how the Upwork user interface works. Of course the Upwork software has no way of knowing about a PDF file that you signed.

 

If you signed an agreement saying that you would only work for a particular rate for a given length of time, and that length of time has now expired, then you can simply inform that client that the time period has expired, and you can close contract yourself. Or you can instruct the client to close the contract. Or you can instruct the client to raise the hourly rate on the current contract.

 

re: "But later when I asked the client to send me the new contract they said : we are currently funding the new contract on Upwork and waiting for Upwork to approve that, and you will receive the new hourly contract once this is done by Upwork."

 

Yeah... what they said does not actually make any sense.

 

They either do not understand how Upwork works. Or they are just being goofy and stalling.


If it was me, personally, I would be patient and polite of course... but I would close the current contract and tell them I am eager to get started on the next phase of work, as soon as they send a new "Hire" offer with the new hourly rate.

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8 REPLIES 8
petra_r
Community Member


Imene M wrote:

 

But later when I asked the client to send me the new contract they said : we are currently funding the new contract on Upwork and waiting for Upwork to approve that, and you will receive the new hourly contract once this is done by Upwork. 

 


No, there is no such thing as funding an hourly contract. Maybe meant verifying a new payment method.

Hourly contracts also never "expire" - is it still open?

Hello Petra,

 

I mean legally expired not technically, I signed a PDF contract with them saying that rate will work for 2 months, and now this is the beginning of the 3rd month. I still have the contract open yes, and I can use it, but I refuse to work for that rate as per the agreement we had. 

 

I told them I need a new one or just a modification of the old one, but I don't really understand what their probleme is. They don't need to change the payment method, the current one is working just fine !

Imene:
Regardless of any PDF file that you signed, a client can close an hourly contract at any time, for any reason.

 

And as a freelancer, you can stop working on a contract, OR you can close the contract, at any time.


That is how the Upwork user interface works. Of course the Upwork software has no way of knowing about a PDF file that you signed.

 

If you signed an agreement saying that you would only work for a particular rate for a given length of time, and that length of time has now expired, then you can simply inform that client that the time period has expired, and you can close contract yourself. Or you can instruct the client to close the contract. Or you can instruct the client to raise the hourly rate on the current contract.

 

re: "But later when I asked the client to send me the new contract they said : we are currently funding the new contract on Upwork and waiting for Upwork to approve that, and you will receive the new hourly contract once this is done by Upwork."

 

Yeah... what they said does not actually make any sense.

 

They either do not understand how Upwork works. Or they are just being goofy and stalling.


If it was me, personally, I would be patient and polite of course... but I would close the current contract and tell them I am eager to get started on the next phase of work, as soon as they send a new "Hire" offer with the new hourly rate.

Imene, I'd professionally:

 

Reinforce the terms of your original agreement.

 

Advise them how easy it is to increase your hourly rate on your current contract (if scope remains the same) and tell them how to accomplish it. They simply may not know how to do it. As I'm sure you know, there are advantages to longer-term contracts.    

 

If necessary tell the Client regarding their "excuses" that that's not how Upwork operates. Perhaps you'll find out what's really going on.

 

All the best with this situation. Please keep us posted.

 

 

Hello Pat,

 

It seems like it was a payment method issue, my problem is not solved yet but I stopped working on the contract and this created many delays in the job, and the problem is no longer mine. If the client wants to get the work done they know what they have to do. 

 

Sometimes the fact of "not caring at all" about the client's business might be the only solution we have. I cared too much and put the job at top of my own agreement and at the expense of my usual rate, but people do not feel the damage till it starts affecting them 🙂  

Hello Preston, I am really aware of their rights and mine as well to end the contract anytime. But the issue here is that I kept texting them about the rate issue since the end of the Trial contract, and they did nothing. So I was still working with the trial rate anyway and gave them the necessary time to change it, but nothing has been done. 

 

The solution I did is to stop working at all (not even with the trial contract on upwork) and they had lot of inside issue due to work not being done and delays from everywhere, so at that point they understood the value of the agreement, so what was initially my problem, became their problem, and in this case they will send another contract (payment method issue as it turns out). Until then, the issue is no longer mine 🙂

Imene:

You're doing the right thing to stop working on this contract until the client sets up a contract to pay you what you are asking to be paid.

 

You are setting a good example here for all Upwork users - freelancers and clients.

 

I especially like the fact that you pointed out how any delays in the work are their problem, not yours. This is the proper way to help the client achieve the best-possible result for their project.

There is not even any need for a new contract, the client can increase the hourly rate of the current contract easily enough on the contract page.

 

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