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gracealtieri
Community Member

Idle Contracts- how long should they remain on profile?

Hello!

 

I was curious how long idle contracts should stay open? Client originally wanted to do long term project for YT, I completed one and they said that they were nervous about their personal budget and that they wanted to work together in the future but they were unsure on their end how theywanted to organize it so that I could simplybrushup what they needed and then keep their budget lower. They were pleased and happywith the product andI have not heardfrom them in a month. I reached out and just asked if they would be open to giving me a review, but I havenot heard back and now I am reading that idle contracts can have a negative effect on your JSS which, I do not have yet, but want to make sure that I am not setting up for failure by letting the contract idle...

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

TYou don't even have a JSS yet, so don't worry about it. echnically, idle contracts can hurt your JSS but I've had numerous ones sit quietly for many months without affecting mine.The worst thing about this one is not having the positive outcome to count toward getting a JSS. But it happens to all of us in the beginning. Don't pester the client. It's generally considered poor form to mention feedback to clients, anyway. Generally, the best thing to do is, when work is completed or there seems to be a hiatus, drop them a quick, breezy note checking to see if they need anything else and reminding them if not, they can close the contract and re-hire you with a single click when they need you in the future. Some people have schedules for pinging them repeatedly with a reminder. I think it's best to keep a light touch on this.

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BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Grace,

 

I'd like to confirm that open contracts without recent payments ("idle" contracts) can cause the Job Success Score to decrease. I will not be able to share specifics about how and by how much such contracts affect the score. There is a number of factors that go into the calculation. For that reason, you may look into asking your clients to close contracts that don't need any work done on them anymore or closing them yourself.

~ Bojan
Upwork

I did reach out to them and got no response, which is unsettling, if I close the contract does it count against me in refferal to my JSS? 

 

Its has been idle for about a month.. 

 

thanks

 

 

TYou don't even have a JSS yet, so don't worry about it. echnically, idle contracts can hurt your JSS but I've had numerous ones sit quietly for many months without affecting mine.The worst thing about this one is not having the positive outcome to count toward getting a JSS. But it happens to all of us in the beginning. Don't pester the client. It's generally considered poor form to mention feedback to clients, anyway. Generally, the best thing to do is, when work is completed or there seems to be a hiatus, drop them a quick, breezy note checking to see if they need anything else and reminding them if not, they can close the contract and re-hire you with a single click when they need you in the future. Some people have schedules for pinging them repeatedly with a reminder. I think it's best to keep a light touch on this.

Thank you Phyllis! So well put! I am very fortunate to have long term contracts, and when it comes to jobs and proposals I just wish I had the edge of JSS (when required) - I just want to be able to do everything right on my part.

Thanks!

Hi Grace,

 

While active contracts without recent payments or contracts with No Feedback aren't always included in the score, they do become counted in your score when they start representing a significant portion of your overall Work History. For that reason, If the client doesn't reply to the requests to close the contract that doesn't need any work done on it anymore, you can consider closing it yourself.

~ Bojan
Upwork


Bojan S wrote:

Hi Grace,

 

I'd like to confirm that open contracts without recent payments ("idle" contracts) can cause the Job Success Score to decrease. I will not be able to share specifics about how and by how much such contracts affect the score. There is a number of factors that go into the calculation. For that reason, you may look into asking your clients to close contracts that don't need any work done on them anymore or closing them yourself.


______________________________

Yes - well Upwork could share with us how we can get clients to close contracts and leave feedback. If we close a contract and there is no feedback from clients, it might not immediately affect our JSS, but if we keep doing this, then it will.  So a level playing field would be a good start.

 

I have been well-paid for several contracts, which have not been closed by the client. So the client might be "ongoing" - but eventually "ongoing" without payment will result in  a drop in JSS. 

 

 

 

I would like to respond to the person with this post but can’t seem to reply directly- awesome point! Upwork should share with us how to properly close a contract when it’s on idle to not affect our score or budding reputation. I am a great communicator and if I don’t get a response, I am not going to hound anyone but in punishment it can affect us.

In almost all case, an idle contract which originally had money paid, has absolutely no negative effect on anything.

 

They only hurt if nothing has ever been paid or if you have a huge percentage of such contracts.

 

The exact same is true for contracts that are closed by the freelancer without feedback. They do not hurt in any way provided something has been paid under the contract at some point and you don't have a huge percentage of them.

 

7f9d12a5
Community Member

Hello am new to upwork. I got a contract on 19 of August and ever since then the client haven't responded to my message or talk about the contract. The co tract is showing active while my profile view is decreasing, I don't have any JSS score yet. Can I end inactive contract by myself ? 

Hi Nimatu,

 

I am sorry to hear about your contract. If you have an active contract and the client is not responding to you, you should not continue working on it until you hear from your client. You can contact them and ask them about the status of the project and instructions to resume the work.

 

In case the contract is paused or suspended, you can end it from your end, but you may lose the chance to receive feedback from the client. If the contract is active but dormant, you can request to end it from the client's end, but you should do so politely and professionally.

 

- Pradeep

Upwork
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