UpWork Denied Payment on Contract >87.5% High Activity as "Low Activity"

[a8db7819]

I have just had a contract denied for payment protection by UpWork for "Low Activity". While the client had a payment method in place, apparently the payment could not be charged. I have earnt over $60,000 on UpWork with a current Job Suceess Score of 100% and never had a problem with "Low Activity").

According to what I could find - "Low activity is defined as a segment of time where 50% or more of the screenshots show activity levels below 5."

  

According to the screenshots for the ENTIRE contract there were only 2 periods that could be defined as "Low Activity" (<5 bars/10 in a 10 minute block) and this was at the beginning and end of the contract where I was performing an inital read of the material provided by the client, and then at the end of the contract while performing the final read of the material before submission. According to my calculations that would equate to 14/16 periods showing >9 or 10/10 activity (>87.5% High Activity).  It should also be noted, that for example, in the first period, it was not the full 10 min (e.g., Contract started at 10:05 with the next TimeTracker period at 10:10, so the "period" covered was only 5 minutes).

[25005175]

At first glance, I would interpret this as an error in the automation code.

[a8db7819]

Hi @Jonathan L. I dont think it's a problem with the automation code, as the UpWork team response was that the Hourly Payment Protection was declined specifically for "Low Activity". If this work is defined as low activity, then I will definitely never work on an hourly project again - this project was a very small one based on the client's imediate needs, but it concerns me that any future projects involving significantly more hours would also be denied should the client dispute it or their verified payment method being declined. As of now, UpWork is still showing the client's profile to have a Verified Payment Method, which in fact, is incorrect.

[25005175]

By automation code, I meant the code that scanned the work diary and then reported to the team member that it was not protected. It may have even been an automated response.

[a8db7819]

Update: It appears the UpWork team is not even able to understand the problem itself. The latest "solution" was that the Time Tracker was taking the "same screenshots" (even though its clear that the two screenshots are on separate days as indicated by the dates). The "solution" was to change operating systems which is not even remotely relevant to the issue raised.