To help protect your payments, we offer several levels of protection.
Hourly Payment Protection
For clients:
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You can monitor your freelancer's Work Diary to see work-in-progress snapshots and confirm what work is being invoiced to you
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If your freelancer logs hours not related to your project you can file a dispute for the previous week's hours. You will be refunded for any hours that do not qualify for Hourly Payment Protection
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Upwork Hourly Payment Protection doesn’t apply to bonuses or fixed-price projects. See the Upwork Terms of Service and Hourly Escrow Instructions for full terms and conditions
For freelancers and agencies:
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On hourly contracts, you will invoice your time by logging it with the Upwork Desktop App
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As long as your hours meet Hourly Payment Protection criteria you will be paid for the time you invoice
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Upwork Hourly Payment Protection doesn’t apply to bonuses, manual time, or fixed-price projects. See the Upwork Terms of Service and Hourly Escrow Instructions for full terms and conditions
Fixed-Price Escrow and Dispute Assistance
For clients:
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You and the freelancer agree on deliverables in the form of milestones and you deposit funds (minimum $5 per milestone) into escrow
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Work is submitted for your approval before funds are released from escrow
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You can ask for changes to the work or request an escrow refund if necessary
For freelancers and agencies:
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Your client deposits funds into escrow before you start working and you submit work for their approval
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Funds are automatically released to you 14 days from submission if your client does not approve the work or request changes
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You can file a dispute if your client refuses to release the payment for a completed milestone. See the Upwork Terms of Service and Fixed-Price Escrow Instructions for full terms and conditions