Does my friend can pass his job on Upwork to me?

[haihnm]

Hi. My friend and I working on Upwork, in architecture. He has a client worked with him for some projects, Now the client have new job, but he does not do architectural job anymore. So he wants to pass the job to me. My question is that is this thing allowed here on Upwork?

Thank you,

Hai

[shummas]

I believe freelancers are allowed to recommend other freelancers. Though, there is no way for your friend to "pass the job" onto you, not according to my knowledge.

Although, your friend could recommend you as a suitable candidate to the client. Still, that does not necessarily guarantee work. Whether to consider you or not, is for the client to decide. 

[haihnm]

Thank you, Shummas, for your message. Actually the client and I contacted by WhatsApp, and I wonder can he create a contract for me directly now?

[shummas]

For as long as it is a legitimate job with real work and real requirements, I believe that it should not be a problem at all. 

Nothing unusual about freelancers recommending their colleagues/fellows to past clients 🙂

But hey, that's just my opinion. It's an interesting situation though, and I'd love to read suggestions from other members or moderators.

[tlsanders]

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Hai N wrote:

Thank you, Shummas, for your message. Actually the client and I contacted by WhatsApp, and I wonder can he create a contract for me directly now?

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No.

Upwork staff has said many times that they consider referrals from Upwork clients to be "arising out of" your relationship on the platform, and as such all work with such clients must be through Upwork. 

Whether or not that's enforceable is another question, but for most Upwork freelancers it doesn't matter, since you won't have any viable recourse if you're suspended or banned over it. You shouldn't even be communicating with the client outside of Upwork. 

[shummas]

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Tiffany S wrote:

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Hai N wrote:

Thank you, Shummas, for your message. Actually the client and I contacted by WhatsApp, and I wonder can he create a contract for me directly now?

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No.

Upwork staff has said many times that they consider referrals from Upwork clients to be "arising out of" your relationship on the platform, and as such all work with such clients must be through Upwork. 

Whether or not that's enforceable is another question, but for most Upwork freelancers it doesn't matter, since you won't have any viable recourse if you're suspended or banned over it. You shouldn't even be communicating with the client outside of Upwork. 

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But I don't understand why it makes a difference. 

His friend refers him to a client he has worked with. The communication with a potential client began off-platform from the very beginning (not on Upwork) but both parties want to use Upwork for their collaboration.

Simply put, the client wants to hire him through Upwork based on a recommendation that he received off-platform.

How is what a problem? Am I missing something here?

[a_lipsey]

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Shummas H wrote:

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Tiffany S wrote:

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Hai N wrote:

Thank you, Shummas, for your message. Actually the client and I contacted by WhatsApp, and I wonder can he create a contract for me directly now?

---

No.

Upwork staff has said many times that they consider referrals from Upwork clients to be "arising out of" your relationship on the platform, and as such all work with such clients must be through Upwork. 

Whether or not that's enforceable is another question, but for most Upwork freelancers it doesn't matter, since you won't have any viable recourse if you're suspended or banned over it. You shouldn't even be communicating with the client outside of Upwork. 

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But I don't understand why it makes a difference. 

His friend refers him to a client he has worked with. The communication with a potential client began off-platform from the very beginning (not on Upwork) but both parties want to use Upwork for their collaboration.

Simply put, the client wants to hire him through Upwork based on a recommendation that he received off-platform.

How is what a problem? Am I missing something here?

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Edited because I confused who the OP was. You are missing that (A) technically if you refer a client to an Upwork freelancer they must contract through Upwork. So no, they cannot contract outside of Upwork or "directly" as you put it. 

(B) The communication on WhatsAp was technically a TOS violation since there is no contract in place. 

It seems like a forgivable offense if they are opening a contract on Upwork - since the point of that rule is to keep contracts and payments on Upwork. The OP need sto send theclient his friend's Upwork profile and tell him to invite him to a job so they can discuss on Upwork per the TOS. All will be well. 

[shummas]

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Amanda L wrote:

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Edited because I confused who the OP was. You are missing that (A) technically if you refer a client to an Upwork freelancer they must contract through Upwork. So no, they cannot contract outside of Upwork or "directly" as you put it. 

(B) The communication on WhatsAp was technically a TOS violation since there is no contract in place. 

It seems like a forgivable offense if they are opening a contract on Upwork - since the point of that rule is to keep contracts and payments on Upwork. The OP need sto send theclient his friend's Upwork profile and tell him to invite him to a job so they can discuss on Upwork per the TOS. All will be well. 

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Ah yes, that makes sense.

Thanks for the perspective. Something new to learn today! 😄

[JoanneP · Accepted solution]

Hi Hai,

Your friend can recommend other freelancers to their clients. For you to be able to work on the contract, the client will need to hire you for the said project. Your friend will need to discuss this with their client so that they can agree on how to best proceed with the project.