Bring Your Own Talent and IDV
Bring Your Own Freelancers working with Enterprise clients are now also required to do ID verification.
IDV for BYO phases:
- Phase 1: Enable IDV requirement for new BYOs hired for their first Enterprise contract. This has been enabled on January 19, 2023.
- Phase 2: Request IDV to existing BYOs that have not IDV’d but are currently on an active Enterprise contract. (TBD)
Upwork has Bring Your Own (BYO) programs that offers perks to eligible users. Please refer to the different programs below for details and FAQs.
BYO (specifically BYOT) for clients bringing on NEW freelancers has been deprecated, but all their current contracts still exist. We launched a banner below to encourage them to move their BYO contracts into Any Hire.
The BYO page above shows clients can no longer create new BYO contracts but if they want to do that, they can click the go to Any Hire button.
We have a full automated flow to move their contracts to Any Hire.
If CL that clicked the Go to Any Hire button has existing BYO contracts, they’ll see the below page, which has “Import Now” button so they can move all their active BYO contracts to Any Hire more easily than the old manual process.
If they go to any of these Help Center pages now we advertise Any Hire, too:
- How to Bring Your Own Talent to Upwork
- Accept a “Bring Your Own” Invitation from Upwork
- Welcome to BYO at Upwork
Here’s a bit of context about this change:
In Q3 2022, Upwork released Any Hire (formerly known as Upwork Remote) to GA (global access). Any Hire is a new product that helps non-Enterprise businesses easily and compliantly hire, onboard, and pay remote workers (both independent contractors (IC) and full time employees (FTEs)) who are not currently contracted to that client via Upwork’s Marketplace – all through a single platform.
Prior to the release of Any Hire, Upwork had already offered Marketplace Bring Your Own Talent (MPBYO), enabling clients to pay IC talent they found outside of Upwork, as well as Marketplace Payroll (MPP), enabling clients to pay FTE talent they found outside of Upwork. However, Any Hire offers a better experience to both clients and talent compared to what is offered individually through MPBYO or MPP; namely, automation-driven worker classification recommendations, best-in-class classification protections, straightforward flat pricing, and no talent fees.
In early April, the Any Hire team launched a banner on the Bring Your Own Talent page on the Marketplace to begin migrating BYO clients on the marketplace to use Any Hire. Our objective is to sunset the Bring Your Own Talent experience on the marketplace by the end of June 2023.
Here are some REACTIVE FAQs that agents can use to answer our customers’ questions:
Q: Why are you retiring the BYO program and integrating it with Any Hire?
We’re working to streamline our product experiences and create even more value for our customers. As a result, Any Hire will be our primary solution for clients to bring their own talent to Upwork. Any Hire simplifies the hiring experience and includes all the BYO talent features you already love, in addition to the following:
- No more freelancer fees
- Straightforward flat pricing; contract fees start as low as $49 per month for clients
- A new, easy-to-use dashboard for clients
- Compliant contracts in over 165+ countries with classification support
Q: What are the benefits for existing BYO clients and freelancers to switch over to Any Hire?
We’re centralizing Any Hire as our primary solution for bringing your own talent to Upwork because it simplifies the hiring experience and includes the BYO talent features you already love. Plus, you’ll see zero talent fees, a client dashboard that saves time and effort, and classification support to help ensure you’re hiring in accordance with local labor laws.
| Benefit | Feature / Improvement |
| Happier talent - They keep more take home pay and carry less burden for fees | Any Hire removes the need for talent to pay fees (note: standard Upwork withdrawal fees are still applicable) |
| Save time / effort with a centralized talent platform - Purpose-built platform for all professionals (contractors and employees) in one place | BYO required users to have to visit different pages across Upwork in order to access different contract types |
| Classification support via a tech-supported engine - Informs clients on the proper determination (IC vs Employee) based on client’s terms | BYO didn’t have classification support which means the client had to make hiring determinations on their own that could expose them to legal liability |
| $50,000 in indemnification if we get it wrong - We back our classification determinations with $50k in legal indemnification | BYO didn’t offer indemnification |
|
Potential cost savings with a flat monthly fee per contract - Potential cost savings vs % based BYO. Payments are also predictable and transparent with this flat fee |
$49 per contractor / mo | starting $199/month plus 15.5% employer burden / mo + 3% processing |
Q: What about Enterprise clients? Can Enterprise clients still use BYO?
Enterprise clients can continue to use Upwork’s Bring Your Own Talent experience as-is.
Q: I’m a current BYO client. What do I need to do to make sure my work isn’t interrupted?
Don’t worry, your work won’t be interrupted. Right now, the BYO program will continue as is with current participants. But if you’d like to make the switch to Any Hire now, you can do so by closing your BYO contract and initiating an Any Hire contract with your freelancer. Soon, we will introduce a feature that makes it easy to convert your existing BYO contracts to an Any Hire contract without manually closing the contract and opening a new one.
Q: I’m a current BYO freelancer. What do I need to do to make sure my work isn’t interrupted?
Don’t worry, your work won’t be interrupted. Right now, the BYO program will continue as is with current participants. If your client decides to switch to Any Hire, you'll receive an email notification to accept a new contract.
Q. As a client, I have a limited budget and this change is making me spend more. What are my options?
We understand that this change impacts how you work, but we’re hoping the added benefits, such as classification support and dashboard are worth the increase in cost. If you aren’t happy with the added benefits of using Any Hire, you can always post a job to our marketplace and hire a freelancer there. Also, since your talent will no longer be paying freelancer fees, you and your talent may be open to cutting costs through rate negotiation.
Q: How long does the manual process of migrating existing Marketplace BYO contracts currently take?
The “manual process” refers to a client closing their BYO contract and opening an Any Hire contract. This can take anywhere from 3-5 business days. Exact timing is dependent on how quickly the client enters information from one BYO contract to an Any Hire draft contract and how quickly the freelancer accepts their new Any Hire contracts. Stay tuned, we hope to release an easier contract migration experience soon!
Q: What changes for me as a client if I migrate my contracts from BYO to Any Hire?
Upon importing your BYO contracts to Any Hire, clients have the option to receive a classification recommendation. Any Hire’s tech-supported classification system helps you create compliant contracts, backed by $50,000 in indemnification in case of misclassification. If your contract is classified as an Independent Contractor, there is a $49/month flat fee per contract and payment processing fee of 3% for credit/debit/paypal and 0% for ACH. The talent is charged no fees when clients use Any Hire to pay them. Clients can still use their existing Upwork account to manage your Any Hire contracts at Upwork.com/remote/client and will still have access to all the Upwork features that were used for BYO (reports, transactions, Work Diary, teams) on Upwork.com, since the client’s Any Hire contracts are still part of their Upwork account.
Q: What changes for me as a freelancer if my client migrates my contract from BYO to Any Hire?
On Any Hire, freelancers aren’t charged a service fee, so you can take home more earnings. Note that, as a result of these reduced fees, Any Hire does not offer dispute mediation nor payment protection. If you or your client wants to continue to have access to dispute mediation and payment protection, we recommend working through Upwork’s marketplace.
Q: I am an existing Upwork BYO client, what will my freelancer need to do to start on Any Hire?
To get started, your freelancer will simply need to accept the new Any Hire offer sent by the client. The talent will continue to use their existing Upwork account can continue to use the platform to manage their work with clients, including logging hours on Upwork’s time tracker (if hourly) and submitting completed milestones (if fixed price). Additionally, if desired, job feedback can still be submitted to help build their work history.
Q: Will BYO freelancers still be paid on the same schedule when they move to Any Hire?
Talent will continue to have funds available weekly as long as clients select that option when setting the payment frequency. Additionally, freelancers can still use the Upwork platform to manage their work with clients, including logging hours (if hourly) and submitting completed milestones (if fixed price). They can continue to use Upwork’s time tracker if they want and can continue to use the preferred payment method they have already selected.
Q: BYO offers contract dispute resolution while Any Hire does not. How do I get payment protection?
If you or your freelancer want to continue to have access to dispute mediation and Payment Protection, we recommend posting a job and working through Upwork’s marketplace.
Q: What is the difference in product features available on Marketplace BYO compared to Any Hire?
In the BYO program, freelancers paid 5-20% of earnings, and clients lacked classification protection while they paid varying prices to access the benefits. Now, talent pays no fees, the client’s fees are more predictable, and both parties get more benefits. The only loss is that payment escrow and dispute resolution are not available through Any Hire.
Upwork has programs that offer eligible freelancers special perks. One of the perks that we offer is the 0% on fees with new clients that Top Rated and Rising Talent freelancers bring to Upwork. That's 0% on all contracts with that client, forever.
If a Top Rated or Rising Talent freelancer (this includes TR+ & Expert-Vetted as they are also TR) is interested in this perk, a Team Lead and SP agents can generate the BYOC invitation link for them to avail of the 0% fees for the client that the freelancer will refer.
Note: The client must be new to Upwork and signed up using the BYOC invitation link to qualify for this promotion. BYOC program was offered November 2016, clients who signed up prior that date will be rejected.
Non-Special Projects Agents: Please do not guarantee service fee adjustments for any contract. All contracts applying for BYOC are subject for review by SP agents assigned to BYOC.
Does my client have to pay any fees?
Your client will need to pay the 5% marketplace fee when they make a payment to you.
If I bring my offline client to Upwork, does that mean that I’ll be violating your policies if we again work together offline?
No. We understand you may wish to work with them both on Upwork and off, so this would not be considered a violation of our Terms of Service.
If I lose my Top Rated status, will I still be eligible for this program?
If you’ve brought a client to Upwork, you’ll continue to be eligible for the reduced 0% fee on all contracts you have with that client.
I’m interested in this program. How do I participate?
[If Top Rated]
[ (for CS only) If ticket is SP, send to SP queue. For requests via ticket/chat or Community, a Team Lead or SP agents can generate BYOC link.
[If not Top Rated]
This is a program we’ve introduced to only a select few freelancers. While we currently do not have plans to roll the program out to additional freelancers yet, we are trying to find ways to do this in the future and will notify you if it is available.
AGENTS
How to handle if a freelancer requests to BYOC a contract or have other questions not addressed by the FAQ?
The ticket should be routed to the SP queue. Before routing the ticket, add the ticket tag only macro: BYOC Special Projects Ticket.
How long is the process for BYOC?
It takes a max of three business days to review any contract they would like to BYOC and that contracts are manually adjusted (service fee percentage and any service fee reversals), they're not automatically-adjusted.
This new feature improves the agency onboarding experience end-to-end to:
- Attract high-potential agencies with experience working with business clients
- Increase client retention by capturing their existing freelance/agency project spend
Client experience:
- Client selects to BYO a freelancer or an agency
- Email invitation to the agency provides clear, agency-specific guidance
- BYO Talent page lists all talent BYO’d and its current BYO status. Client can:
a. Filter freelancers invited by him/herself or others
b. See BYO status: pending, withdrawn, expired and re-invite if needed - Client is emailed when a BYO’d freelancer/agency is done (known gap)
Agency experience:
- Complete the BYOA experience to create an agency account, profile, add payment info
- Experience captures the agency primary point of contact to create the freelancer account as part of the process
Which agencies will receive the new experience?
Thanks for your question. Any agency that is invited to “Invite an agency” on the Bring Your Own (BYO) Talent page will receive this experience. Agencies who were invited to the original “BYO Freelancer” flow will still need to create a freelancer account first.
Will the agency account still have a freelancer account associated with it?
Yes, the Bring Your Own Agency (BYOA) flow will create both an agency account/profile and a freelancer account/profile for the primary point of contact. That freelancer account will default as an exclusive agency freelancer.
What does it cost for agencies that are invited by Upwork clients?
Agency fees depend on what plan the client is on. Invited by:
- Standard clients: the same fees on Upwork
- Enterprise clients: 0% agency fee with the client. Plus, free Agency Plus membership forever.
What does it cost for a client when working with a BYO agency?
Client fees depend on what plan the client is on.
- Standard clients: the same fees on Upwork
- Enterprise clients: typically 7.5% instead of 10% fee, though it differs by account.
The agency I already invited already has a freelancer account. What should he/she do?
If the agency owner already has a freelancer account, he/she can still click on the BYO agency invitation email to create an agency account. We've seen a few cases where agency owners were BYO'd as a FL in the past, but are actually an agency and want to add that account.
The freelancer I invited is really an agency. What should he/she do?
To get assistance with the Customer Support or Agency team, follow this process.
The agency I invited is really an individual freelancer. What should he/she do?
If the freelancer has not completed the BYO sign up process, the client can withdraw the request on the BYO Talent page. Then invite the freelancer again using the “Invite a freelancer” button.
I want to BYO this freelancer/agency but they already have an account on Upwork. Do I still get my BYO rate?
Yes, send documentation showing that you and the freelancer/agency have an existing relationship outside of Upwork to premiumsupport@upwork.com. They can then apply the BYO rate to your contracts.