Does this violate the UpWork rules or not?

[zenrockstar]

I work for UpWork(have account) and for another freelance site(xSite). On site xSite, a customer contacted - acts as an intermediary, the project is interesting, a true customer from the United States. We agreed on the rate, were going to start. But the project has not started yet. And then I find out that the intermediary and the customer communicated on UpWork. maybe they worked there together, although I'm not sure.

I discussed this point with an intermediary - he says that they will work through UpWork and the hours will be added manually. 

It turns out that all three participants - I, the intermediary, the customer have accounts for the upwork. the customer will work with the intermediary through the upwork, and the intermediary will pay me not through the upwork.
I think this is a violation of the rules. any advice? I don't want to break the rules.

[prestonhunter]

re: "I work for Upwork (have account)"

You do not work for Upwork.

You are a freelancer who has a freelancer account on Upwork.

You use Upwork to find jobs.

When you are hired by a client, you work directly for that client. Payments are processed through Upwork.

re: "and for another freelance site(xSite)."

You are allowed to have a freelancer account with Upwork AND with other freelance work platforms.

re: "he says that they will work through Upwork"

Then you will work through Upwork.

re: "...and the hours will be added manually..."

There is no reason for a client to stipulate that you will do this sort of work using manually-logged time. You can use the Desktop time-tracker, which will provide you with Upwork Payment Protection.

You will tell the client "Don't worry about that. For this sort of work, I can use the desktop time-tracker."

If the client says "no," and does not have a legitimate reason for saying "no", then the client is just a scammer and/or schemer. You will not want to have anything to do with him.

re: "It turns out that all three participants - I, the intermediary, the customer have accounts for the Upwork."

That is fine.

re: "The customer will work with the intermediary through the Upwork, and the intermediary will pay me not through the Upwork."

Why?

This sounds like a scheme or a scam. Or both.

You should have nothing to do with these people. Getting involved with schemes and scams will result in you losing time, losing money, and possibly losing your Upwork account entirely.

You can't work through Upwork and NOT GET PAID through Upwork. That is basically Upwork's number one most important rule: All payments go through Upwork.

If the intermediary is going to hire you, then the intermediary is your client. The intermediary is your customer.

If the intermediary is a PROJECT MANAGER, then that is different. We don't refer to a project manager as an intermediary. We refer to her as a project manager. If you are reporting to a project manager, that is fine. The client is the person who is paying the bills. The client pays the project manager AND the client pays you. It is FINE for clients to delegate responsibility on Upwork. There are official ways for a client to add a project manager to his team and delegate hiring and management authority to the project manager. That doesn't change who the client is.

You MAY work for any client you want to and NOT get paid through Upwork, as long as that client is not somebody you met through Upwork or as a result of your Upwork connections. But you can't "work through Upwork" and simultaneously "not get paid through Upwork."

[zenrockstar]

Thank you.  I refused from this project.

[BojanS]

Hi Andrii,

Could you please click on my name and send me a PM with more information about your report? I’ll check that for you and advise you accordingly.

Thank you.

[zenrockstar]

I solved it. I refused from this project.

[feed_my_eyes · Accepted solution]

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Andrii L wrote:

And then I find out that the intermediary and the customer communicated on UpWork. maybe they worked there together, although I'm not sure.

I discussed this point with an intermediary - he says that they will work through UpWork and the hours will be added manually. 

---

If your intermediary was hired on an hourly contract through Upwork, then it's against the rules for him to subcontract the work to somebody else. That's all there is to it.

If you're tempted to accept the contract anyway, you should know that there's no payment protection for time that's added manually. If the client doesn't pay your intermediary, then I'm willing to bet that your intermediary won't pay you. (I would imagine that he went to the trouble of hiring you through a site other than Upwork in order to reduce the chances of being found out.)

[zenrockstar]

Thank you. I refused from this project.