I worked without a contract, and now client is ignoring my messages to pay.

[9bd2f16f]

I worked with this client without a contract on Upwork. He agreed to pay me after the work is done but I have not gotten any pay yet and he is not responding to my messages even when he is online.

I know I made a big mistake without suggesting a contract with him but I'd like to know if I should cut him off or if I can be helped by Upwork without violating the rules.

I got the job from a Job proposal he posted on Upwork. I applied and I got a message from him. That's how we started working together. I originally thought a contract was on, but when I checked there was nothing like that.

I'm new to Upwork and I'm still trying to learn how this works.

[9bd2f16f]

Hi Goran,

I worked with this client without a contract on Upwork. He agreed to pay me after the work is done but I have not gotten any pay yet and he is not responding to my messages even when he is online.

I know I made a big mistake without suggesting a contract with him but I'd like to know if I should cut him off or if I can be helped by Upwork without violating the rules.

I got the job from a Job proposal he posted on Upwork. I applied and I got a message from him. That's how we started working together. I originally thought a contract was on, but when I checked there was nothing like that.

I'm new to Upwork and I'm still trying to learn how this works.

[759e32fa]

Hi Daniel,

I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Please be reminded that if you work without an active contract, you are not protected by the Upwork Terms of Service. We advise you not to start working for a client until hired through the system. A client can only pay if there is an active contract and payment is verified.

What you can do right now is to communicate with the client and ask them to create a contract so they can issue a payment. Upwork cannot force clients to issue payments, especially since there's no contract involved.

Allow me to share with you some tips on how to avoid this from happening again in the future.
 
First, I want to let you know that we do not tolerate this behavior, and the moment that you encounter a client asking you to work without a contract, kindly encourage the client to give you a short-term project if the client would like to test your skills but in case the client insisted and asked you to do the work without entering into a contract, immediately send us a flag us so we can do the necessary action against the client.
 
In addition to having an active contract, it would be best to follow our guidelines for Payment Protection.  For example, if the contract is fixed-price, the milestone must be active and funded prior to commencing any work. If it is an hourly contract, make sure the contact is already active as well, and use the Upwork Desktop App to record your billable hours and add memos so you can be eligible for the Hourly Payment Protection.
 
Always remember that the client can only pay you for the work you have done for them if there is already an active contract.
 
If you'd like to report the client, you can follow the steps mentioned here so our dedicated team can check their account and activity.  As we do not tolerate behaviors on the platform that are against our policies and terms of service and conditions, we also want to make sure that we take the right action before we do it.  Upwork Trust and Safety team will only follow the guidelines and the policies to ensure fairness. Please keep in mind that we will not share the results or details of the investigation for privacy reasons.