Working on Upwork as a minor

[ellen_z]

Recently, I've finished my first job on Upwork and am waiting on approval from my client so that I can get paid. However, to access my earnings, I need to complete the W9 form. I'm not sure what to fill it out with. As a minor, is there anything I should know?

[mtngigi]

How old are you? You have to be 18 to work on the site.

[mwiggenhorn]

In addition to being too young to work here, do you even have a valid job?  Your profile doesn't show any jobs in progress.  

[ellen_z]

I have a completed assignment waiting for approval. If I get a guardian to fill the form for me, is that okay?

[ellen_z]

Really? I was told that minors could work on this site.

[tgstudio]

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@Ellen Z wrote:

Really? I was told that minors could work on this site.

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Uh, no. 

[denney-olivia]

i was also told that

[feed_my_eyes]

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Olivia D wrote:
i was also told that

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Whoever told you that was incorrect. 

[mwiggenhorn]

Her profile even says she's 14.  SMH.  How did that get approved?

[feed_my_eyes]

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Mary W wrote:

Her profile even says she's 14.  SMH.  How did that get approved?

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Judging by the profiles that I've seen recently, Upwork isn't turning anyone down at the moment.

[petra_r]

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Mary W wrote:

Her profile even says she's 14.  SMH.  How did that get approved?

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Bots don't read the overview.

Also, have you ever seen a US based freelancer say they were not approved? No? Me neither.

PS: Edited to add: The profile is not approved.

[denney-olivia]

why the attitude

[mtngigi]

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@Ellen Z wrote:

Really? I was told that minors could work on this site.

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 Out of curiousity ... who told you that?

[ellen_z]

I searched up online jobs for minors and Upwork popped up on a ton of the articles that I clicked on.

[mtngigi]

So the question remains ... if new accounts are being looked at more closely, how did this profile get approved? It's rhetorical people ... just shaking my head a bit.

Or ... I guess maybe even if a new profile has not been approved, a scammer client can still contact and "hire" someone? Hmmm.

[lysis10]

lol

[prestonhunter]

Maybe she meant miner?

[prestonhunter]

FYI:

Miners CAN work on Upwork.

But they must use fixed-price contracts or manually logged time on hourly contracts. Because the time-tracker is not meant to be used as a time clock and can't track time without sufficient mouse/keyboard activity.

[ellen_z · Accepted solution]

Ok, never mind. I read the terms of service and in Section 3.1, it states that to register for an account, I must be 18 or older. I'll just come back when I'm eighteen, I guess. 

[mwiggenhorn]

Ellen, while you're waiting to turn 18, take the time to read everything available on how Upwork works, how to get paid, etc. so when the magic moment comes, you'll be ready to go!

[ellen_z]

Ok. Thank you. It's not that far off actually.

[towermutasa]

I know this thread has aged somewhat, but I was doing research for a client when I came across the following:

**Edited for community guidelines**

I wonder if that's what OP saw. I know we're all responsible for reading the rules ourselves etc, etc, but it is concerning there's blatantly untrue information about Upwork making the rounds.

[bstojadinovic]

Thanks for flagging this for us, Tawanda.

I'll be sure to share this with our team for their review.