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mohamedyehia1995
Community Member

will you be paid if you record over the expected hours limit in the next week?

I worked on an hourly contract with 10 hrs weekly limit for a one-time project. At first, I thought that 10 hrs is the limit of the hours worked on the project not the limit of the hrs/week worked on the project. I noticed that the contract has no deadline. so, I asked the client  on Wednesday about the date he expects to finish this project & he said within one week & I said that " so, next Tuesday?" & he said " fine". 
I showed him drafts at first & hee liked one and I informed him that this one will take more time and he said " Happy if it takes a little longer up to 10 hours." & then I realized that he was sticking to his limit & I replied "never mind if it exceeds the limit. I prioritize the quality over anything else" & that means I will exceed the hours if needed to make it as perfect as possible without charging you for more than 10 hrs. At the weekend, Upwork recorded 13:10 hrs in the work diary so there are 3:10 hrs over the limit but the project wasn't finished yet, I found Upwork will start a new 10hrs & here I realized that it is limit of the hrs/week worked on the project not the limit of the hours worked on the project. But I didn't open it and tracked the hrs manually & they were 11:30 hrs woked on Monday & Tuesday. I have recently noticed that In the hourly contracts, The freelancer is paid automatically without the client approval. Now, I want to know:
- what does the client expect from the freelancer in the hourly paid job?
- does he expect 10 hrs * 10 $ so100$  per project (equivalent fixed-price) or I can work 5or 10 hrs in the first week and 10 hrs in the next one & I will be paid without any problems in the transaction or in the feedback?
-what would happen in the other scenario if I opened the tracker in the new week? 
- do the hourly contracts have Deadline or I can open the tracker any time & if it has, how can I find it? 

   

 
 
 
 
 
8 REPLIES 8
prestonhunter
Community Member

There is no such thing as expected number of hours per week.

 

Clients may set a maximum number of hours per week.

 

If you log more hours than that number, you will not be paid for the additional hours.


Preston H wrote:

There is no such thing as expected number of hours per week.

 

Clients may set a maximum number of hours per week.

 

If you log more hours than that number, you will not be paid for the additional hours.




the client set max hours/week but does he set max weeks/project or deadline?  

re: "the client set max hours/week but does he set max weeks/project or deadline?"

 

There are no such settings within the Upwork software system. But sometimes clients "set" a maximum number of weeks or a deadline in their minds. Or they may state such.

 

Such as these have no impact in calculations done by Upwork. But a client may feel such are important when he leaves feedback.


Preston H wrote:

re: "the client set max hours/week but does he set max weeks/project or deadline?"

 

There are no such settings within the Upwork software system. But sometimes clients "set" a maximum number of weeks or a deadline in their minds. Or they may state such.

 

Such as these have no impact in calculations done by Upwork. But a client may feel such are important when he leaves feedback.


so, if I exceed the max. number of weeks in their mind without his permission, he will pay but probably leave negative feedback?

re: "so, if I exceed the max. number of weeks in their mind without his permission, he will pay but probably leave negative feedback?"

 

I dont know that.

If the client is pleased with the work that you did, he is not going to leave negative feedback.

 

I have been hired for projects that were supposed to take a few weeks, and ended up taking a few years. Because once the client saw the kind of work that I could do, he asked me to do more and more work.

 

If the client is kept aware of what you're doing, and why it takes as long as it takes, the client is more likely to be grateful, rather than resentful.


Preston H wrote:

re: "so, if I exceed the max. number of weeks in their mind without his permission, he will pay but probably leave negative feedback?"

 

I dont know that.

If the client is pleased with the work that you did, he is not going to leave negative feedback.

 

I have been hired for projects that were supposed to take a few weeks, and ended up taking a few years. Because once the client saw the kind of work that I could do, he asked me to do more and more work.

 

If the client is kept aware of what you're doing, and why it takes as long as it takes, the client is more likely to be grateful, rather than resentful.


thanks, great note. 
but should I take his permission before I open the tracker in the second week if it seems he expects only one week for the project?
in the post, I said I didn't open the tracker on Monday, although my agreement with the client was delivering on Tuesday. It made sense to me that the client didn't want more than 1 week.  (no more than10 hrs for all the project)
after we have finished and I said that the project took 25hrs work because I worked on ....,........, he said: " I didn't mention this needed to be done so I'm sorry that you spent your time on this before running it by me." 
of course, this is not suitable because it is my main job to know what the project needs. the client shouldn't do micromanagement. he was very happy with the result and I am sure he told this because he doesn't want want to pay for any over-limit hrs & I said " I said before "never mind if it exceeds the limit. I prioritize the quality over anything else." that means I could make this video on your expected hours & budget without  doing ...............&........., but I wanted to make it as perfect as possible & you shouldn't care about the extra work and over-limit hours."

In brief, I didn't want to make a half-quality result to match the client budget because I want his project to be in my portfolio

If you cannot finish the project in the allotted hours then you need to let the client know versus working for free. I have often had freelancers ask me, as a client, to increase the limit, and upon seeing the status of the work, I have done so, because I can see they are doing good work, and I know a couple of hours difference isn't a big deal. But you need to just ask the client. 

thanks 


Amanda L wrote:

If you cannot finish the project in the allotted hours then you need to let the client know versus working for free. I have often had freelancers ask me, as a client, to increase the limit, and upon seeing the status of the work, I have done so, because I can see they are doing good work, and I know a couple of hours difference isn't a big deal. But you need to just ask the client. 


 

 
 
 
 
 
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