Maximum Working Hours

[calebmwangi]

Hey guys 

I have seen 10, 30 and 40 as working hours on clients job description, what is the maximum working hours is one allowed to do in upwork hourly contracts in one week?

Please advise.

Best, Caleb.

[prestonhunter]

Caleb:
If a client says 10 hours a week, then they are probably are looking or a freelancer willing to work 10 hours per week on the client's project.

But: people can put anything they want in a job description. It is just free-form text. It could mean anything. Theoretically a client could be posting a job and saying that the freelancer should complete a task in 10 working hours. Or maybe they mean something completely different.

Nothing the client writes actully controls the Upwork user interface. When the clients sets up a contract, the client specifies the maximum number of hours PER WEEK that a freelancer may work.

There is no other maximum hours setting. There IS NO SETTING for the maximum number of hours over the life of a contract. Every time a new week starts, the number of hours worked during that week is back at zero, and a freelancer may start working hours that count toward THAT WEEK's maximum.

[calebmwangi]

What if the work load does not fit into the time limit set by the client and you need more time,does it mean that you will have to wait for the followig week to continue?

[prestonhunter]

re: "What if the work load does not fit into the time limit set by the client and you need more time,does it mean that you will have to wait for the followig week to continue?"

That's right. You wait.

If the workload exceeds the hours, that's not your problem. The client hired you to work using an hourly contract. If the client needs more hours, the client needs to pay you for those hours.

So there are basically two options:

- Wait for the new week

- Ask the client to increase the hours

It is always a good idea to COMMUNICATE with the client and tell them the situation. Let the client decide.

You may have a client who really does want to maintain a certain limit on the hours you work per week... for budgetary or perhaps other reasons. And that client may want you to wait.

But on the other hand, you may have a client who would be happy to have the work completed as soon as possible. And if you need more hours this week, the client can increase the maximum at any time, letting you log more time.

If you tell the client that you have finished Modules 1, 2 and 3... but you need more time in order to do module 4... and that now you have reached the maximum number of hours, so you'll start on that next week... then the client can decide if she wants to add more hours for the week.

[petra_r · Accepted solution]

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Caleb M wrote:

What if the work load does not fit into the time limit set by the client and you need more time,does it mean that you will have to wait for the followig week to continue?

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Either that, or the client can increase the limit.