Freelancers Rights

[shazma-r]

What is Upwork doing to protect & benefit freelancers? There have been so many incidences where either the client doesn't release the payment, or provide timely feedback, keeps the contract pending for a long long time. I recently requested a client to provide the feedback and he said he doesn't have time and will reply when he feels like. So this contract is going to be a month-long with this response and contact changes. 

Previously i had a client who kept demanding extra work despite clear instructions in the proposal. I kept providing him with the fear that he will leave bad feedback on my profile and it will decrease my JSS. 

Upwork is very biased towards the freelancers who are being exploited. Even if i report it won't help in my JSS

[moonraker]

So you want clients to be forced to leave feedback when they are not ready to do so?

Do you not see how that could backfire for you? 

[shazma-r]

It's not the final feedback. It's about the work i submitted about that feedback, the milestone is pending for days first and then they come back asking for changes and process goes on. In the end it reflects on my job score 

[petra_r]

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Shazma R wrote:

What is Upwork doing to protect & benefit freelancers?

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Upwork provides you with a platform to connect with clients, win contracts and Upwork handles your payments. You have a degree of payment protection.

But Upwork is not your nanny.

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Shazma R wrote:

 There have been so many incidences where either the client doesn't release the payment, or provide timely feedback, keeps the contract pending for a long long time.

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Payments are released automatically if the client does not respond, and you are free to close contracts yourself if you want them closed. 

It is your job to manage your contracts and client relationships.

[shazma-r]

Hi Petra, thank you for your response. However, I believe Upwork is a professional platform and as a multinational company protecting basic rights should be the core values as other 'good' companies do. I believe this forum is mainly to have professional/helpful discussion instead of rude and demeaning comments as you mentioned: "not a nanny". It's strange coming from "Top Author" of the forum. 

I would really appreciate it if you do not reply to any of my posts next time as never have I ever found your replies helpful and now the demeaning comments are not acceptable at all. Thanks!

[mwiggenhorn]

Feedback that shows on your profile only happens after the job is completed and the project is closed.  There is no way to post feedback after a milestone.

[ciera-hutson]

Just remember, we are not their customer.  "The customer is always right," right?  Well in this case Upwork's customer is the paying client, not the freelancer.  So, even if they were going to come down on one side or anothe, it's likely that they are going to side with the client anyway.

[versailles]

Every now and then in these forums we read a message from someone who wants Upwork to interfere in their provider/client business relationship, who wants Upwork to force the client to do such and such, who wants Upwork to take control over some aspect of the relation they have with their clients and to essentially micromanage things that Upwork has no business managing.

Man, you definitely don't want Upwork to do any of what you ask. You want Upwork to connect you with clients, to handle the payments, to provide you with tools that you can use to save time and more importantly, you want Upwork to leave you alone.

You manage your contracts, you protect whatever rights you think you have and you decide who you want to work with and who would be a PITA to work with.

You don't need more Upwork involvement. You want less Upwork involvement.

[puckrobin]

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Ciera H wrote:

Just remember, we are not their customer. 

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Not entirely true.

While source of Upwork's revenue is the clients, source of most of their profit is freelancer fees.

I don't know you, but I am a customer of Upwork as much as the fee I pay.

[shazma-r]

By feedback, i mean the client's response during a running contract. They disappear for days prolonging the contract.

[tlsanders]

Shazma, Upwork is just a tool for professionals to use to connect with clients and manage transactions. It's up to us to manage our own client relationships, just like we do when we take on freelancing work through other channels. That's a key element of being self-employed, and one many of us don't want Upwork interfering in.