Note:
For additional information about the onboarding process, visit Manage onboarding tasks.
Every Enterprise freelancer contract begins with an onboarding process. This will include a series of tasks pre-established by your company. You can track this process for each contract offer in Freelancers > Onboarding. The process times vary based on your responsiveness, the freelancer’s, and the tasks required. The process time can take five days or more.
Possible tasks might include
- Worker classification assessment (if enrolled in compliance services)
- Confidentiality agreement
- Independent contractor agreement
- IP ownership agreement
- Supplier code of conduct
Completing onboarding tasks
Unless you subscribe to Upwork Compliance services, your company will be responsible for determining worker classification as well as all other necessary steps to get the freelancer ready to work through Upwork. Please note that billing cannot commence until all required tasks are completed. Any work done before the contract has started cannot be billed through Upwork retroactively, so it's important that work does not start until contracting is 100% complete.
For companies that enroll in Upwork Compliance services, some or all tasks will be handled by Upwork. All companies must properly classify each worker as an independent contractor or an employee in order to comply with tax and other legal requirements. Factors assessed to determine the proper worker classification may include facts about both the freelancer's business and the project.
Please note that this process will need to be repeated for every new contract, even if you and the freelancer have worked together before. The worker classification assessment, in particular, must be freshly evaluated with every new contract. Other items might already be in place and can be quickly checked off as complete without additional effort.
You should speak with your account team if you have questions or need to make changes to your company’s onboarding tasks.
To see if you’re enrolled in compliance services:
- Go to Settings > My Info > Company details
- If it says Enterprise Compliance, you are enrolled in compliance services. If it says Enterprise Standard, you are not. Learn more about Compliance Services.
