At times you might want to leave the option open to move a freelancer you’ve hired on Upwork to a full-time role in your company. Our contract-to-hire program allows you to signal that possibility to freelancers when you post your job.
When you label your job post as a contract-to-hire opportunity it will still start out as a freelance position and you can decide whether to move it into a full-time role later. If you decide to transition the role into a full-time employment arrangement, and your talent accepts, you can convert your contract for a fee and hire the talent full-time.
Post a contract-to-hire opportunity
- Go to Jobs > Post a Job
- Choose Create a new job post
- Select either Short term or part time work or Longer term work
- On the scope of work screen, we’ll ask, “Is this job a contract-to-hire opportunity?”
- Select Yes
Convert your contract
We always encourage you to talk with your talent before sending them a conversion request. This makes sure that they’re open to the opportunity and that they know an offer is coming.
To start the contract conversion process:
- Go to Jobs > All contracts
- Choose a specific contract and select the (…) menu
- Select Hire talent full time to start the conversion process. Even if you’re keeping an independent contractor or other type of work classification, you’ll still choose this option to convert your contract off Upwork
- You’ll be taken to a new page to fill out a form and make selections that are relevant to your contact. You’ll have an opportunity to enter a message to your freelancer that they’ll see in an email and a notification
- We’ll let you know if the freelancer accepts or rejects the request. If they accept, we’ll send you a link to pay the Conversion Fee
Contact our support team if you need more help.
Use Any Hire
After you convert a contract to hire a freelancer as an employee, you have the option to use Upwork’s platform for hiring with Any Hire. Any Hire is a specialized self-service platform within Upwork that helps you hire and onboard employees from around the world as either independent contractors or full-time, permanent employees.
With Any Hire, you can process payments, manage contracts, and view reports all in one convenient location. You can also request worker classification assistance if needed.
You’ll see the option to create an Any Hire contract offer after you convert your contract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Upwork talent can select if they are open to contract-to-hire roles in their preferences. When you search for talent, you can filter your results by Open to Contract-to-Hire and invite talent specifically interested in exploring a full-time opportunity.
No. We highlight contract-to-hire opportunities so people open to full-time opportunities can identify them, but there is no obligation to do so.
To hire someone you found on Upwork as a full-time employee, you must follow the contract conversion process and pay the Upwork Conversion Fee. This allows you to handle payment and contracts independently. Avoiding the conversion process is a violation of our Terms of Service and could result in permanent loss of account access.
To start the contract conversion process:
- Go to Jobs > All Contracts
- Choose a specific contract under All contracts and select the (…) menu
- Select Hire talent full time to start the conversion process. Even if you’re keeping an independent contractor or other type of work classification, you’ll still choose this option to convert your contract off Upwork
Contact our support team if you need more help.
Converting a contract on Upwork is an automated process. Most contract conversions take a few days to complete because your freelancer must accept the request and you must pay the fee. If both parties are available and complete these actions immediately, the process can be completed in one day, in most cases.
Yes. We offer the option to convert any closed or active contract, whether it started as a contract-to-hire opportunity or not.
When you use Upwork to find talent, we require you to use the Upwork platform to pay that person for any work they complete for you. However, since we know people want different work arrangements, such as hiring talent as full-time employees, we have a process to convert a contract that includes paying Upwork a conversion fee. Once you convert a contract, you can use the tools and processes you prefer to handle contracts and payments. Wish to keep using Upwork's tools to manage your business? Check out Any Hire.
- Go to Jobs > All Contracts
- Choose the specific contract under All contracts and select the (…) menu
- Select Hire talent full time. Even if you’re keeping an independent contractor or other type of work classification, you’ll still choose this option to convert your contract off Upwork
The Conversion Fee is 13.5% of estimated earnings over a 12-month period in each specific client-freelancer relationship. We apply a discount to the Conversion Fee based on the total amount of Marketplace fees (paid to Upwork by the client), and we consider the length of the relationship between the specific client and talent who are converting their contract. We’ll display the total amount of the fee when you begin the contract conversion process. Learn more about the Conversion Fee.
Note:
Upwork Enterprise Suite users should contact their account manager for information on contract conversion.
Yes, every relationship that begins on Upwork needs to go through the conversion process in order for clients to handle payment and contracts on their own without violating our Terms of Service.
Note:
Upwork Enterprise Suite users should contact their account manager for information on contract conversion.
Yes, by following the Upwork process for contract conversion and paying the conversion fee, you are following our Terms of Service. We hope you’ll continue to find talent on Upwork and build relationships that last.
We communicate with them during the conversion process so the status is clear to everyone. When talent agrees to the conversion and you pay the fee, we also send a confirmation email letting them know.
Once we’ve processed the conversion fee payment, you’re free to use your own tools for contracts, communication, and payment. However, you can also use ours. We can help with contracts, payments, and classification and you can keep using your favorite Upwork tools like Work Diary, Time Tracker, Messaging, and Reports. Check out Any Hire to learn more.
Note:
Upwork Enterprise Suite users should contact their account manager for information on how Upwork can help with classification and hiring employees.
Yes. Any Hire from Upwork makes it easy to hire remote talent. With Any Hire, you’ll get help selecting the right worker classification, creating locally compliant contracts, and managing talent payments and relationships. Plus, you can keep using your favorite Upwork tools like Work Diary, Time Tracker, Messaging, and Reports. Check out Any Hire to learn more.
Yes, you’ll still need to pay the conversion fee to convert your contract, whether you use your own tools to hire or Any Hire to hire the freelancer as an employee.
