Using Any Hire is simple and accessible.
After your client sets up the contract, you’ll receive an email inviting you to it. The platform will guide you through the processes of:
- Creating an account
- Reviewing the contract
- Accepting (or declining) the contract
- Adding a payment method
You won’t be charged any Upwork freelancer service fees for your work on Any Hire contracts. Your payment method information is what we use to release payment to you on behalf of your client.
We may also ask you to complete a questionnaire about how you run your business — this is important for us to be able to make an accurate classification recommendation for the client.
Note:
If a client who found you on Upwork wants to hire you through Any Hire, they’ll need to go through the conversion process. Learn more about proper use of Any Hire and avoiding circumvention.
Classification
Classification is the process of determining whether you can work as an independent contractor or need to be hired as an employee based on applicable law. Clients may make their own classification decision or they may use our classification services.
If you are ultimately engaged as an employee through Any Hire, we’ll arrange an Employer of Record for the contract. The EOR will take care of things like paychecks, taxes, benefits, and other employment obligations.
Types of contracts
The types of contracts you may work on in Any Hire are similar to other contracts on Upwork, with some additions. You may work on contracts with single payments or milestones, log hours for an hourly contract, or have a fixed rate per week.
Single payment
If your client has a one-time project with a fixed amount of work to be completed, they may offer a single payment contract.
You’ll complete the work and submit it for the client’s review. Depending on whether the client selected a weekly or bi-weekly cadence, they’ll have either 7 or 14 days to review the work you submitted and either approve it or request changes.
If you need to make changes to the work, you’ll resubmit it and the review process will begin again. Discussing what the client needs, asking for the information you need at the beginning of the project, and keeping the lines of communication open while you’re working on the project may help keep the changes needed to a minimum.
Milestones
If a client’s project is larger or has several sequential steps, they may offer to pay in milestones.
The process for completing work on milestone contracts is the same as single payment, except that you will submit and get paid for work at each step of the project.
Only one milestone can be active at one time, but the client can add and describe all of the milestones at the beginning of the contract. They will need to activate each milestone as you complete the steps.
Milestones let you and the client keep working together for longer-term projects on the same contract. A client can also add more milestones to an active contract if they want you to do more work.
You can also request to add milestones if you want to do more work and have ideas about what to work on next. The client must approve your request for the milestone to become part of the contract.
Hourly
If you’re working as an independent contractor on an hourly contract, you’ll log your time weekly with Upwork’s Time Tracker. You can learn how to log time with Time Tracker here.
If you’re engaged as an employee through an Any Hire contract, you’ll enter your time according to the instructions of your Employer of Record.
Fixed rate
For fixed rate contracts, you and your client will agree on a set weekly or bi-weekly payment amount for the work that is defined in the contract. You won’t have to log hours to get paid.
Payment on contracts
Single payment and milestones
Once your work is approved and the client has been charged, we’ll release payment to you on the client’s behalf after a 4-day hold to ensure the payment has cleared.
For milestones, this process will occur as you complete each milestone.
If clients don’t review the work or ask for any changes during the review period, the funds will become available to you after the 4-day holding period.
Hourly and fixed rate
The billing period ends Sunday night at midnight UTC time. We’ll release payments on your client’s behalf on Friday or every other Friday, depending on whether your engagement is on a weekly or bi-weekly billing schedule. The client will have 4 days to review your hours before we release the payment.
For fixed rate jobs, you won’t submit hours, but the client will still have the chance to review the payment.
If clients don’t review the time or raise any objections, the payment will be released automatically after the review period ends.
Bonuses
Any bonuses are processed based on the billing cadence of your contract. For example, if you get paid weekly, we'll invoice your client for any bonuses weekly and once they pay, we’ll send the money to you after the standard 4-day payment holding period.
Note:
Any problems with a client’s billing method may delay payment. We do not offer payment protection on Any Hire contracts.
Managing your contracts
From your Any Hire dashboard, you can view how much you’ve earned, transfer your funds, and view your Any Hire contracts, both active and archived (completed). Select an active contract to log hours, submit work, and mark a milestone or contract as completed.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. If your client needs an EOR, we’ll work with a third-party EOR.
We determine the recommendation on a case by case basis. We will make the classifications recommendation based on factors such as your business details and the nature of the work, to make a determination.
Any Hire is only for working relationships that started outside of Upwork. For clients who find you on Upwork, you can work with them via the Marketplace or through Project Catalog.
You’ll have weekly deadlines for entering your time, even though we may invoice biweekly depending on the billing cadence of your contract. You’ll need to log your hours weekly before the end of the billing period. The billing period ends at the end of Sunday, at 12 am Monday morning UTC. Then you’ll have 12 hours to finish reviewing your hours, which ends at 12 pm UTC on Monday.
We do not provide payment protection for Any Hire contracts. If your client’s payment method fails, you will not get paid through Upwork. (Hourly payment protection is something we offer for talent with qualifying hours on hourly contracts through the Upwork marketplace.)
Upwork does not provide dispute resolution services for Any Hire contracts. Since you had a preexisting relationship with your client outside of Upwork, you may be able to address any disputes with each other.
We pay on the client’s behalf after your client’s payment method is successfully charged and a four day security period has passed. Once the client’s method is successfully charged, you’ll see the payment as pending. After the hold period is over you’ll see the funds as available.
For example, if the client’s payment method is successfully charged on Monday, you’ll see the funds the same day and will be able to withdraw them by that Friday. Any delay in charging your client’s payment method delays your payment by the same amount.
If you are working as a payrolled employee with an EOR (Employer of Record), the EOR may have to follow specific labor laws about how and when they can pay you. For example, some countries or regions may require that the EOR pay you monthly. You’ll be notified if this situation arises so that you’ll know when to expect payment.
- Single Payment. You’ll turn in work for a clearly defined project, which your client will review and pay for once they have approved the project.
- Milestone Payment: You’ll turn in completed sections of a multi-phase project in sequential order as you finish each part. Your client will review and pay each section separately.
- Hourly Rate: You’ll log hours and your client will pay you based on how many hours you worked in a given week, at the rate you and your client agreed to.
- Fixed Rate: Your client will pay you a predetermined amount on a set cadence agreed upon in the contract for the work they describe in the contract.
Any bonuses are processed based on the billing cadence of your contract. For example, if you get paid weekly, we'll invoice your client for any bonuses weekly and once they pay, we’ll send the money to you after the standard 4-day payment holding period.
