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dallaste-roberto
Community Member

My clients ask me to use Slack and Telegram not Upwork messenger

I am using Upwork for 4 months.

Sometimes my clients want to chat and call outside Upwork.

What can I do in these cases?

Of course, you know, Slack is a powerful team communication app.

And selecting the communication method depends on my clients, not me.

 

Many thanks.

 

ACCEPTED SOLUTION


Roberto D wrote:

Please give me a clear understanding.

 

 Goran just has.

Communicating outside of Upwork IS NOT a violation of Upwork's TOS. Although it might mean you have less protection if you have a difficult client.

You will not lose your account for communicating outside of Upwork. 

View solution in original post

15 REPLIES 15
g_vasilevski
Retired Team Member
Retired Team Member

Hi Roberto,

 

Just to confirm that communicating outside of Upwork is not a violation of our TOS. While we do recommend to keep your communication on Upwork for security reasons, you can also use another method that is the best fit for you and your clients. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork

There are some topics about accounts hold and I am a bit worried about my account.

You mean, there is nothing worse to my account if I communicate outside of Upwork.

Please give me a clear understanding.

 

Thanks

Hi Roberto,

 

Rest assured, you won't have any problems with your account if you`re communicating outside of Upwork. Thank you.

~ Goran
Upwork


Roberto D wrote:

Please give me a clear understanding.

 

 Goran just has.

Communicating outside of Upwork IS NOT a violation of Upwork's TOS. Although it might mean you have less protection if you have a difficult client.

You will not lose your account for communicating outside of Upwork. 

But how can I ask my client to have communication inside Upwork?

 

I don't want to be fired.

Really hard to get jobs.

 Hi Roberto,

 

You can always tell your client politely that you are comfortable communicating with him/her using Upwork text Chat or Live video/voice messaging. Which also makes it easy to refer or interact when everything is happening under one roof. At the end of the day getting the job done the way your client wants is all that matters.

 

Warm Regards

 

Ajit

 

 

Hi I am Borys, and working on Upwork is less than a month. I am awarded rising talent from Upwork. I have a client who is interested in my proposal and he asked me to provide my email address for talking to their CTO about work. I don't want to miss this chance to be honest as it seems to be matched to my past experience but in other hands I am afraid of being violated to Upwork rules. Found some similar blogs on here but not exact same one.

 

I would like to ask about contacting over slack before opening the contract on Upwork is allowed also? Upwork says moving over to the other communication methods before contract might violate Upwork terms and services. How do I close contract if I see if it's what I can't handle or meet their requirements after opening contract and moving to slack?

 

I don't want to be fired out but getting the project is not easy also. I'd appreciate it if someone kindly help me in such a case.

 

Sincerely,

Borys Lesyk

BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Borys,

 

All conversations before a contract is started must be through Upwork Messages, where you can send messages, have video calls, and more. A client or freelancer may only share an email address if it is for the sole purpose of giving the other party access to a system that allows them to scope the project in advance. This allows freelancers to review a project prior to a contract so they can determine if they have the needed skills, how many hours it will take, etc. 

~ Bojan
Upwork
ajitmrin
Community Member

Hi Borys,

 

Upwork completely understands that sometimes communicating with the client via other softwares is necessary. You can keep a record of what transpired outside in the Upwork text chat so that in case of any dispute Upwork can help you out.

 

All the best.

 

Warm Regards

 

Ajit

 

 

 


AJIT M wrote:

Hi Borys,

 

Upwork completely understands that sometimes communicating with the client via other softwares is necessary. You can keep a record of what transpired outside in the Upwork text chat so that in case of any dispute Upwork can help you out.

 

All the best.

 

Warm Regards

 

Ajit

 

 

 


Your advice will get Borys banned. He is specifically asking about pre-contract, and Upwork changed the TOS back in June to stipulate that pre-contract discussions must remain in Upwork chat. We are not allowed to communicate via email or other means until a contract is accepted. The ONLY exception is to scope the work, and that's a limited exception. Therefore sharing his email could put his account in jeopardy at this stage. 

petra_r
Community Member


AJIT M wrote:

Upwork completely understands that sometimes communicating with the client via other softwares is necessary. You can keep a record of what transpired outside in the Upwork text chat so that in case of any dispute Upwork can help you out.

 


Are you trying to get Borys banned? 

No communication outside Upwork is allowed prior to a contract being in place.

ajitmrin
Community Member

Hi Amanda, Petra,

 

Sorry I thought he has already been hired. Yes I absolutely understand that without contract in place one should not communicate with the client directly outside Upwork, and even after he or she has been hired it is advisable always do all the interactions rooted through Upwork.

 

Warm Regards

 

Ajit

petra_r
Community Member


wrote:

and even after he or she has been hired it is advisable always do all the interactions rooted through Upwork.


No, it isn't "always". After a contract has been established, I communicate using whatever works for the client and the project.

 

Hi Borys,

Just to clarify that all communication prior to getting hired should strictly be done via Upwork only.



Borys has already received the correct advice now.

ajitmrin
Community Member

Hi Borys,

 

Just to clarify that all communication prior to getting hired should strictly be done via Upwork only. Even after having the contract in place it is advisable to keep all the interaction done via Upwork. Tell your client firmly that it is against the rules of Upwork and he or she should respect it.

 

Warm Regards

 

Ajit

hmackenjr
Community Member

Can someone from Upwork confirm whether it is allowed for clients who hired a contractor via Upwork to communicate with that contractor outside of upwork using tools like slack, monday.com, and even email where necessary? Related to this, section 7.2 of the Terms of Service at https://www.upwork.com/legal#COMMUNICATINGTHROUGH  indicates that communicating with a contractor outside of Upwork would be a violation of TOS for non-Enterprise customers but this provision only applies to communication that occurs *prior* to the client hiring the contractor. Is that correct?

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