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oleksakrasnova
Community Member

TOP RATED badge

Hello comminuty,

 

I'd like to ask about the Top Rated Badge.

As I understood I have to have 13 weeks out of the last 16 weeks JSS at least 90%.

My JSS dropped to 89% 1 of March and I my badge disappeared. 

In my Stats there is still "Top Rated eligible weeks 16 of 16". Then where is the badge?

 

How to get it back?

 

Many thanks for answers

ACCEPTED SOLUTION
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Oleksandra,

 

To get the Top Rated badge again, you'll need to fulfill all of the requirements mentioned in this help article. Please note that one of them is :

 

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork

View solution in original post

11 REPLIES 11
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Oleksandra,

 

To get the Top Rated badge again, you'll need to fulfill all of the requirements mentioned in this help article. Please note that one of them is :

 

 

Thank you!

~ Bojan
Upwork

Hello Bojan, 
Could you please check my profile also? My Top rated badge got removed yesterday. Is there any reason for that?

 

Hi Divya,

 

One of our team members will reach out and assist you directly via a support ticket. Thank you!

 

~ Joanne
Upwork
katiecan1
Community Member

Hi Oleksandra,

I received an email yesterday announcing changes to how the JSS is calculated with the link below. Perhaps there are some answers there for you.

 

https://community.upwork.com/t5/Announcements/Job-size-will-now-be-factored-into-your-JSS/m-p/697918...

 

Best,

Kathryn

Does anyone else find it fundamentally unfair to propagate a new set of criteria for computing the JSS with zero advanced notice and apply ex post facto?

 

Think of it this way, on Tuesday you arrive at work, and the boss calls a meeting. During the meeting, the boss advises you that, effective tomorrow, nobody shall wear short-sleeve shirts at work. OK, a little short notice, but I can work with that.

 

Wednesday I arrive at work wearing a long-sleeve shirt. Shortly after arrival, the boss summons me to the office. In the office, the boss terminates me for wearing short-sleeve shirts 25 times in the past year, in violation of the dress code implemented the previous day with an effective date of that day.

 

Is that a fair employment practice? (Please do not pipe in saying a boss needs no reason to terminate someone. Go with the analogy and please dispense with trite retorts.)

 

March 1, I went to bed with a JSS at 100% and a Top-Rated badge. March 2, I awoke to a JSS of 85% and no Top-Rated badge. All of my feedback is 5-star. It is my opinion that asking a client to provide feedback is tacky and unprofessional. Some people never leave feedback for anything. Others do not understand how to leave feedback, or they do not realize the importance.

 

Each successive contact with the Customer Support Team results in a different answer:

  • "No feedback given" by clients counts against the JSS.
  • Open contracts with no recent activity hurts your JSS.
  • Private comments that are negative reflect in your JSS.
  • Short-term contracts below $1000 do not help your JSS.

Twice since March 2 clients have declined proposals because of "low feedback." From 100% to 85% overnight and all 5-star ratings, and now I cannot get a contract. Thank you, Upwork, for providing a secure and supportive community for freelancers. Between Upwork commissions, monthly membership, and purchasing connects, Upwork took a whopping 35% of my Upwork gross. That amount accounted for 47% of my overall business expenses in 2019. My federal and state income tax, plus self-employment taxes only amounted to 9% of my overall gross.

 

I think at those percentages that Upwork needs to show freelancers a little more love.

 

 

I agree with you! It's totally unfair to recalculate the past results.

Feedback is totally unpredictable. Something client is fully satisfied and give 4 stars. Based on it I change my strategy for future projects.


William D wrote:

Does anyone else find it fundamentally unfair to propagate a new set of criteria for computing the JSS with zero advanced notice and apply ex post facto?

 

March 1, I went to bed with a JSS at 100% and a Top-Rated badge. March 2, I awoke to a JSS of 85% and no Top-Rated badge. 

 

The new calculation doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with your drop in JSS. If you would have a JSS of 100% under the old calculation, you would still have a JSS of 100% under the new calculation.

 


William D wrote:

All of my feedback is 5-star.


Not true.

 

How many contracts closed between the 16th of February and the 1rst of March? One of them likely came with not so great private feedback.

 


William D wrote:

 

  1. "No feedback given" by clients counts against the JSS.
  2. Open contracts with no recent activity hurts your JSS.
  3. Private comments that are negative reflect in your JSS.
  4. Short-term contracts below $1000 do not help your JSS.

 


1. Only if you have an insane percentage of such contracts. Just how insqnely high that can be I don't know, but having seen profiles with 80% "no feedback" contracts and a 100% JSS, it must be crazy high.

2. Only if they never had any payment under them, ever. Contracts with no payment EVER (!) hurt the JSS after 2-3 months

3. Correct

4. Complete nonsense

 

Ultimately, there are two things that hurt your JSS

 

1. Nothing (ever) paid contracts, closed or open for months if nothing was ever paid

2. Negative feedback (mainly private)

 

That's it.

 

Take a look at your private feedback percentage on your "My Stats Page" - which reflects the private feedback left to you by those clients who actually did leave feedback (those who left none are not factored into it) - That may well explain why your JSS is what it is.

 

If you are able to identify the contract that negatively affected your JSS (looking at your profile I think I could hazard a guess, especially if it was the only one closed between the 16th of February and the 1st of March) you could still use your top rated perk to have it excluded from the calculation.

 


William D wrote:

Twice since March 2 clients have declined proposals because of "low feedback."


Did the clients actually tell you that? 

 


William D wrote:

Between Upwork commissions, monthly membership, and purchasing connects, Upwork took a whopping 35% of my Upwork gross.

I think at those percentages that Upwork needs to show freelancers a little more love.


Good grief. That is a LOT. You must have an appallingly low conversion rate (bids to contracts)

mwiggenhorn
Community Member

William wrote: Does anyone else find it fundamentally unfair to propagate a new set of criteria for computing the JSS with zero advanced notice and apply ex post facto?

 

There was at least six weeks advance notice given.

March 2, 2020 at 0717 Central
See attached screenshot.

I also got the letter one day after the change was made


Oleksandra K wrote:
I also got the letter one day after the change was made

Me too.

 

Those who read the forum regularly may well have known about it before, most Upwork freelancers didn't. It seems that freelancers whose JSS was going to decrease because (!) of the change were informed in advance by email, the rest were not.

 

That said, it makes no difference because there clearly wouldn't have been anything anyone could have done about it.

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