Once you’ve developed a relationship with a freelancer, you may want to keep working with them past your original contract end date.
The first step is to talk to your freelancer about whether they are willing to continue working on the contract. If you’re in agreement, you can request a contract extension by emailing enterprisesupport@upwork.com. You’ll need to include the following information in your request:
- Your freelancer’s name
- The contract ID or a link to the contract
- The current contract end date
- The proposed new end date
- Your reason for requesting an extension
If a contract is about to end, we’ll notify both you and your freelancer in an email. However, you do not have to wait until we send that notification to request a change — you can do that at any time.
Extensions for Enterprise Compliance
If you have an hourly compliance contract, you may ask for an extension. However, your contract will likely need to go through compliance review again.
If you have a fixed-price compliance contract, you may request an extension for additional time on the project. If you need new milestones for work that is beyond the scope of the original contract, you will need to start a new contract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, your freelancer needs to agree to the contract extension. If you want, you can include a screenshot of the freelancer’s agreement. We may reach out to the freelancer to ensure their consent as well.
No, you can request a new end date at any time.
Yes, you can request an extension on a fixed-price contract. Keep in mind that if you are an Enterprise Compliance client, you must initiate a new contract if additional milestones are needed beyond the scope of the original contract.
Contract extension requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. In general, Enterprise contracts cannot exceed 180 days, but otherwise there isn't a strict limit on the number of days for an extension.
The review process for a contract extension request typically takes between 24 to 72 hours. This allows us to evaluate the request and consider any relevant factors. Please note that this is an estimated timeframe and can vary based on the request.
If you have an Enterprise Compliance contract, you must start a new contract for new milestones and go through the review process again. If you do not have a compliance contract, you can choose to add new milestones to an extended contract.
