Help: I got hired as a subcontractor without knowing it. Will my profile be deleted?

[twcdrws]

So I just got into Upwork a few days ago, and got hired by someone (it's a fixed rate post). Apparently, this individual was subcontracting and I was hired to make some of the tasks this person was assigned. I have an ongoing project with this person right now, and upon checking we may or may not have violated the ToS by being hired (I'm not sure if the original project with this person and the client was fixed rate or hourly). What do I do know? Thanks everyone.

[prestonhunter]

If you have not broken any Upwork rules, I see no reason for you to be worried about having your account deleted, or penalized in any way.

If somebody hired you, then your contract is with the person who hired you. It has nothing to do with somebody else.

If the person who hired you is breaking some rules, then that is about him.

re: "What do I do know?"

Don't do anything different. Do the work that you were hired to do.

Make sure that your client pays you on time, as expected. Never let the client avoid doing the right thing for you while mentioning his boss. He is your client. You don't want to hear him talk about someone else as a client.

[twcdrws]

Thanks for the reassurance, but I've decided to just end the contract with this client. The original job posting was a fixed contract - I've already finished that and got compensated. Then I left the contract floating so to speak so client can reach out to me again (it was a verbal agreement). Then I realized that setup is disadvantageous, and possibly a violation (that's why I asked here).

[feed_my_eyes]

If your client was hired by their client on an hourly contract, then sub-contracting is not allowed, and his payments (from his client) won't be covered by payment protection. If it was a fixed price contract, he should have obtained his client's permission to subcontract. But any issues with his own client or breaking Upwork's rules should be his problem, not yours. It's strange that he didn't tell you at first that he was subcontracting, but decided to bring it up now - is there a chance that he's looking for an excuse to not pay you? Is the money in escrow?

[twcdrws]

Hi! Honestly my client didn't mention that I was a subcontractor explicity, I just decided to ask about the legality by bringing it up. And when I did ask about the "actual" client's contract with her, I didn't get an answer. I have found a resolve on this, and just refunded the previous work done (the one with an escrow) and didn't give the deliverable for this second task (by which the agreement is just verbal).

Additionally, what do you think is the correct interpretation of this rule? I'm asking because I want to protect myself in the future.

unless otherwise agreed with their Client, Freelancers may use subcontractors or employees to perform Freelancer Services by delegating work on fixed-price contracts or by agreeing with their Clients to have hourly contracts for Freelancer’s subcontractor(s) or employee(s)

I guess I had to be careful next time. Thanks for the reply (this and the next)!

[feed_my_eyes]

I think that you misunderstood - you didn't do anything wrong and didn't need to refund the money. If anyone was going to (possibly) have a problem, it was your client and not you. I just thought it strange if your client waited until you finished the task and then told you that they thought there was a TOS violation, because it made me think that they might be trying to use that as an excuse to not pay you (and it sounds like that's what happened, even though it was voluntary on your part). You might want to try telling them that you were confused (and I'm sorry if I played a part in this) and see if they'll pay you by bonus after all.

As for the clause that you've quoted, I had always understood that you have to ask the client's permission to subcontract, but the wording that you've given here makes it sound like subcontracting is fine unless the client specifically forbids it. I wonder if a moderator could clarify.

[twcdrws]

I just thought it strange if your client waited until you finished the task and then told you that they thought there was a TOS violation, because it made me think that they might be trying to use that as an excuse to not pay you (and it sounds like that's what happened, even though it was voluntary on your part).

I'm not sure if there was any intention at all to do that on her part; I just thought about our setup - 1. The disadvantages because I don't gain connects or reviews I'm supposed to have, 2. Me not cancelling our (fixed rate) contract after finishing my inital work, and then be an "on call" freelancer and get paid by presumably just a verbal agreement, and 3. A really low compensation on what I think was suppsed to have more value in price. During the process I also thought about what if it was some sort of a violation.

You might want to try telling them that you were confused (and I'm sorry if I played a part in this) and see if they'll pay you by bonus after all.

Well, I wasn't able to give her the deliverables she asked for this time when I ended the contract. Upon checking earlier she also blocked me so I can't send anything even if I wanted to anymore.

As for the clause that you've quoted, I had always understood that you have to ask the client's permission to subcontract, but the wording that you've given here makes it sound like subcontracting is fine unless the client specifically forbids it. I wonder if a moderator could clarify.

Yeah I hope someone does. I'd want to know as well.