Understanding Upwork’s Protection Policies

Introduction

As a rule, Upwork ensures the protection of its freelancers regarding their submitted work through various policies. However, some works or jobs aren’t protected under these policies. To understand which works are not protected on Upwork, we’ll delve into the details of Upwork’s protection policies.

Upwork’s Protection Policies

Upwork has two primary protection policies:

• Upwork Hourly Protection: Protects the income of freelancers who work hourly jobs. The protection includes the hourly rate specified in the contract and the number of hours worked on the job.
• Upwork Fixed-Price Protection: Protects freelancers who work fixed-price jobs. This offers assurance that freelancers get paid for their work done well, according to the terms and milestones specified in the contract.

Unprotected Works on Upwork

There are certain scenarios where Upwork’s protection policies won’t apply. These include:

• Off-platform work: Any work or communication conducted outside the Upwork platform is not protected. This includes the use of third-party communication tools or payment channels without official Upwork supervision.
• Untraceable work logs: For hourly contracts, freelancers must use the Upwork Desktop App, which logs work hours and takes random screenshots on your working device every 10 minutes. If freelancers fail to use the app, their work hours won’t be traceable, thus such hours of work are not protected.
• Disputed work: In the case of a dispute by the client, if the freelancer cannot justify the work completed or if the work done does not follow the contract’s terms, such work does not come under Upwork’s protection.
• Payment requests without work submission: For fixed-price jobs, payment requests made without submitting work are not protected.

Conclusion

Freelancers should remain cognizant of these unprotected scenarios and abide by Upwork’s rules to avail maximum protection for their work. Always communicate within the platform, use the desktop app for logging in hours, submit work on time, and request payments according to the contract terms to ensure your work remains safeguarded under Upwork’s protection policies.