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mbonilla14
Community Member

Hiring a freelancer to work for your Agency on an internal agency project

Hello,

 

I just started an agency and have a few freelancers already on the team. But now, I would like to have one of them do paid work for the agency. To be clear, I need one of my team members to do some research for some services (not potential clients) in my city. I also need another one to do SEO work for my business website, etc. Clearly these are not jobs that I am billing to any client. These are tasks that the agency wants to have done, like you do when you hire a cleaning crew to come to your offices to clean at night. They are not working for a client of yours, they are working for you. Is there a way to have a freelancer do that type of internal work? Businesses do this all the time. I just don't know how to do it in Upwork.

 

Thanks.

ACCEPTED SOLUTION


Max B wrote:

Yes, I tried that, but when I went to invite the freelancer that I want to do the job for me, I could not find her.

 

It seems weird that this cannot happen. Think of a secretary. You don't say, "I can't have you do any work for me; you must be under a client's contract doing work for that specific contract". Companies don't do that. They have lots of people working for the company directly (HR staff, secretaries, legal departments, etc.). I thought an agency was pretty much like having a company. But this is not clear to me.

 

Thanks


Are you trying from an agency or a client profile? To hire, you need a client profile.

Is the freelancer's profile approved and set to be visible either publicly or to Upwork users (NOT private?)

View solution in original post

13 REPLIES 13
pudingstudio
Community Member

I suppose you should post a (private) jobs for those stuff, send them to the freelancers you'd like to do it and hire them.

Yes, I tried that, but when I went to invite the freelancer that I want to do the job for me, I could not find her.

 

It seems weird that this cannot happen. Think of a secretary. You don't say, "I can't have you do any work for me; you must be under a client's contract doing work for that specific contract". Companies don't do that. They have lots of people working for the company directly (HR staff, secretaries, legal departments, etc.). I thought an agency was pretty much like having a company. But this is not clear to me.

 

Thanks

Unfortunately, that is beyond my knowledge.

Hope someone else will share their insights and be more helpful.


Max B wrote:

Yes, I tried that, but when I went to invite the freelancer that I want to do the job for me, I could not find her.

 

It seems weird that this cannot happen. Think of a secretary. You don't say, "I can't have you do any work for me; you must be under a client's contract doing work for that specific contract". Companies don't do that. They have lots of people working for the company directly (HR staff, secretaries, legal departments, etc.). I thought an agency was pretty much like having a company. But this is not clear to me.

 

Thanks


Are you trying from an agency or a client profile? To hire, you need a client profile.

Is the freelancer's profile approved and set to be visible either publicly or to Upwork users (NOT private?)

From a client; but I will double check on the freelancer profile (private, public, Upwork). Thanks.

Hi,

 

Thank you Petra. Your intuition was correct, the freelancer's profile was set to private. Once that changed, I was able to hire her (as a client) to work on an internal project. No problem.

 

I assume that, for those who think one can pad one's own reviews by hiring the agency's freelancers, that they understand what I said before. Upwork can handle that easily by ignoring those reviews for the Agency's stats, and can hide the reviews from being publicized. Simple. That also allows an agency from having to go to external people (and operate like a normal business) if they can rely on their own team for work like HR, or bookkeeping, executive assistance, or any normal day-to-day business operation. 

 

Anyway, thanks Petra!


Max B wrote:

 

I assume that, for those who think one can pad one's own reviews by hiring the agency's freelancers, that they understand what I said before. Upwork can handle that easily by ignoring those reviews for the Agency's stats, and can hide the reviews from being publicized. Simple.


Actually, Upwork usually "handle" any collusion-shennanigans by suspending both the client and the freelancer, usually permanently.

 

There is no legitimate reason in the known universe for you to pay your secretary through Upwork, losing 20% in the process through fees. None at all.

 

You can add your secretary to your agency and let other clients hire her (through the agency.)

 

Hiring your agency member / secretary from your client account is dodgy as hell and generally buys a ticket for the "Why-was-I-banned-from-Upwork" club.

 

 

 

 

In the known universe! And yet, companies hire people to work for them all the time (secretaries are just an example, but many more come to mind). And they often do work for clients, as well. But perhaps an Upwork agency is really not like a company in the real world, despite what they say. 


Max B wrote:

Yes, I tried that, but when I went to invite the freelancer that I want to do the job for me, I could not find her.

 

It seems weird that this cannot happen. Think of a secretary. You don't say, "I can't have you do any work for me; you must be under a client's contract doing work for that specific contract". Companies don't do that. They have lots of people working for the company directly (HR staff, secretaries, legal departments, etc.). I thought an agency was pretty much like having a company. But this is not clear to me.

 

Thanks


It's not the purpose of an agency on upwork to hire your own freelancers for internal work. 

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Max,

 

One of our team members will reach out to you directly and gladly assist you with your concern.

 

Thank you for reaching out to us.

~ Bojan
Upwork

Thanks!

martina_plaschka
Community Member


Max B wrote:

Hello,

 

I just started an agency and have a few freelancers already on the team. But now, I would like to have one of them do paid work for the agency. To be clear, I need one of my team members to do some research for some services (not potential clients) in my city. I also need another one to do SEO work for my business website, etc. Clearly these are not jobs that I am billing to any client. These are tasks that the agency wants to have done, like you do when you hire a cleaning crew to come to your offices to clean at night. They are not working for a client of yours, they are working for you. Is there a way to have a freelancer do that type of internal work? Businesses do this all the time. I just don't know how to do it in Upwork.

 

Thanks.


Possibly the system is set up in a way that you can't hire your own freelancers, it certainly is shady because you could be accused of feedback manipulation and lose your account. Just hire some third party freelancer and don't risk your account. 

There is nothing shady about what I described. The business logic is entirely ethical, unless telling your own secretary that they can't work for you is unethical. What Upwork should do to avoid inflating one's own reviews (and I assume does to avoid this from happening even accidentaly) is entirely simple: if the freelancer works for your agency, their reviews don't get counted for your stats or published publicliy. But Petra's solution may be the right one. I need to look into the profie of the freelancer.

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