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tosasilviu
Community Member

Weekly limit issue

Hello, I have got a job on a 5h limit per week because I told the client I can finish the job in under 3 hours unless there are bugs and problems that appear and I need to fix them.

 

The job was to set up my client's Instagram Shopping feature, which takes some initial steps before actually applying for the Instagram Shopping feature. (assigning his Facebook page to his Facebook Business Manager, configuring his pixel, making the setup on his WooCommerce, etc).

 

I found out that the client messed up previously with the accounts, creating 3-4 business managers, more than 5 Facebook pages with the same name, creating confusion which took me full 5 hours to check on every business manager, emails and settings.

 

All of these hours were worked along with my client, as I was asking him to check emails for confirmations, passwords the client did not remember and lots of stuff.

 

Finally, I was able to contact a friend who works for an Agency that manages lots of Facebook Accounts and they were able to chat with a dedicated representative from Facebook (which is very hard to do if you are not spending $xxx.xxx on ads), which we were told the Facebook page is owned by another business manager, maybe one the client created long time ago and he doesn't remember because I have tried all the possibilities, the client remembered.

 

This took 2 hours of calls and chats which I told the client that I will add as overtime and he acknowledged. Finally, I have told the client, the only option we have is to create a fresh new Facebook page and from there I can configure the whole account.

 

This entire process took me 4:40 hours which I have to spend as over-time, which the client knew about it because I was making the setups and changing along with him. In total, I have spent 9 hours to find the problem, fix it and config it's Facebook and Instagram account.

 

The problem is that now the client tried to ignore me and from what I am seeing, he is not willing to extend the weekly hourly limit or to pay the rest of the hours as a bonus, even if I politely asked for two times without being intrusive.

 

I am seeing the client is online, asking for other questions but totally ignoring my "begging" in extending the hourly limit, even if I told the Weekly Billing Cyrcle is ending on Monday...

 

The Work Diary is full of screenshots that prove my work.

 

What I could do in this case?

Can I open a dispute and ask Upwork to solve this problem?

 

Indeed, it's my fault that I have worked overtime, but the client first agreed and I was rushing to finish his job first.

 

Any help or suggestions are highly appreciated.

 

Thank you

ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Tosa,

 

I understand this is frustrating. Upwork does provide Hourly Protection for hours that meet the requirements outlined in the article Bojan shared earlier. However, when the requirements aren't met, unfortunately the hours aren't covered by the Protection. It's recommended that freelancers and clients communicate before setting up the contract and regularly check in while the contract is open, to make sure they are on the same page.

~ Valeria
Upwork

View solution in original post

4 REPLIES 4
BojanS
Community Manager
Community Manager

Hi Tosa,

 

If you exceeded the client's set weekly limit for time logged on your contract you will not be automatically paid for this time over the weekly limit. 

 

You may want to follow up with your client and ask them to process a bonus payment for the overtime you logged during the previous week.

 

Also, you can discuss increasing the weekly limit with your client.

 

Please take note that overtime is not covered by the Upwork Payment Protection Program for Hourly contract.

 

Thank you.

~ Bojan
Upwork

This is what I already did, I don't think you have read my problem. The client is ignoring me totally and not willing to pay for a bonus or to increase the time limit. But the work was done along with him when he was present and he knew I was over the weekly limit.
I feel I am scammed here! Not approving my extra time when he knows I have worked overtime. What I can do with this scam? Take it and leave it? It's not the best way, Upwork deals with these problems.

Tosa,

 

I understand this is frustrating. Upwork does provide Hourly Protection for hours that meet the requirements outlined in the article Bojan shared earlier. However, when the requirements aren't met, unfortunately the hours aren't covered by the Protection. It's recommended that freelancers and clients communicate before setting up the contract and regularly check in while the contract is open, to make sure they are on the same page.

~ Valeria
Upwork

I understand. This was my fault.

Thank you

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