Direct Contracts now live for all freelancers

[lenaellis]

To help grow and support your freelance business on and off Upwork, we are releasing Direct Contracts to all Upwork freelancers today. With this new release, we have also expanded the functionality to now include multiple milestones. 

Direct Contracts allows you to enter into fixed-price contracts with non-Upwork clients, offering access to Upwork's safety and security features with greater flexibility for your business. Freelancers can access their Direct Contracts by clicking on the new paper airplane icon next to notifications or directly here.

Here’s how it works: 

On the Direct Contracts page, freelancers will see the option to start a new Direct Contract and a list of all existing Direct Contracts along with the status of that contract.

The steps to start a new Direct Contract are very simple:

1. Enter your client’s details

2. Add either a single amount or create milestones with each amount

3. Review and send the contract

4. An email is sent to your client to begin

Your client will receive an email notifying them of your detailed proposal, along with some guidance on how the product works. 

Just like your other fixed-price contracts on Upwork, your client deposits project funds in escrow before the contract starts. You will see the status of the milestone listed below each one, so you will know when to begin working. When you’ve completed the contract or each milestone, you’ll request payment from your client. And with Direct Contracts, once they’ve accepted your request, the funds are released to you immediately, with no security period.

As a freelancer, you’ll pay a processing fee of 3.4% of the total contract amount, but you won’t pay any freelancer service fees to Upwork. It’s easy for your clients because they won’t have to create an Upwork account.  And with payment protection and dispute assistance, you can work confidently with your clients who are not on Upwork. 

Let us know if you have any questions.

[towermutasa]

Hi everyone

Let's say I have a client on Upwork. The client refers me to someone else seeking similar services. I understand it is against Upwork's rules to work with my new client off the platform, because we were introduced by someone I met on Upwork.

Seeing as I have no intention of paying 1000+ to work with someone who might not have even heard of Upwork in their life, and I don't want to put them through the hustle of creating an account, I thought of doing the direct contract instead.

Since direct contracts are still through Upwork, would it still be against the rules?

Thanks for any guidance.

[LuiggiR]

Hi Tawanda,

Thanks for your question. I'd like to reiterate that it’s correct that if you're being referred by a client you met on Upwork, you'll have to work with the new client also on Upwork or opt-out. As you mentioned, you can use Direct Contract feature to work with this new client in such case as the payment would be made on Upwork. 

[towermutasa]

 Thanks, ~ Luiggi

[0ed5e729]

I'm also facing this problem. kindly help me out.

[AleksandarD]

Hi Arzoo,

Could you please send me a private message with more information about this along with the client's name or email address so that I can check and assist you further?

Thank you.

[fiona-lo]

Hi, I have recently sent a contract to a client for review.
The client seemed to have accepted the contract and funded the first milestone (with bank proof of payment). However, the contract status is still showing as 'waiting to be accepted' from my end and the client has not received any email communication.

Does anyone know how long it takes for the status to be updated and what is the issue here?

[JoanneP]

Hi Fiona,

I can see that you already have an open ticket regarding this issue. One of our agents has updated your ticket to assist you further. You can access the ticket here. 

[dereksey]

I Just finished a direct project and was hoping it will reflect in my JSS and job counts. But it did not.

My question is, what is the essence of the direct project if it will not reflect in my job counts, feedback and JSS?

[BojanS]

Hi Derek,

Since your client and you will only be using Upwork for payments, any Direct Contracts will not impact your Upwork reputation metrics. These contracts also will not be included in your other Upwork profile stats. You can check this help article for more information. 

Thank you! 

[dereksey]

Well is it not possible to include some sort of direct contract reputation gains...stemming from the fact that a lot of new freelancers are not getting mainstream contracts. Direct contract gains might help new freelancers to catch up with the old freelancers. I mean you can add all the necessary checkers and trackers to make those contracts genuine.