This article explains how to enable or disable manual time on Upwork hourly contracts — during the hiring process, within contract details, or by responding to a freelancer’s request. Enabling it allows freelancers to log time manually for offline work, while disabling it requires them to use Time Tracker. Manual time is not covered by Upwork Hourly Protection. - AI helped create this summary
To give you flexibility in managing your projects and spending, you can enable or disable manual time for an hourly contract at any time.
When you enable manual time, a freelancer can manually add time to their work diary and bill you for it. When you disable manual time, they can only log time through Time Tracker in the Upwork Desktop App, which captures work-in-progress screenshots and the amount of keystroke and mouse activity.
You can enable or disable manual time in the following ways:
On an offer to hire
- The "Allow talent to log time manually if needed" checkbox is selected by default
- Deselect it to disable manual time for your freelancer
On an existing contract
- Go to Manage work > Your active contracts
- Select the contract and choose Contract details
- Choose Manual time allowed or Manual time not allowed to update the setting
In a message from your freelancer
- Your freelancer might send you a request to add manual time, along with a reason for the request
- If you agree, select the the link in the message to open the Contract details page and enable manual time
Freelancers often use manual time to account for work done offline, such as sketching, making phone calls, or other tasks that can't be accurately captured through the Time Tracker. Manual time does not qualify for Upwork Hourly Protection.