In some parts of the world, natural disasters or other events can significantly impact the lives and businesses of the Upwork community. As is the case with current and past events, these disasters can hinder access to resources such as housing, medical care, food, power, and internet. If our customers are impacted, we want to do our best to help them out. Below you will find documented processes to help empower our customers in these times as well as you.
- If a client is reaching out in need of a new freelancer due to their freelancer being impacted by a crisis-related concern, please see the "Upwork Marketplace Talent Solutions Team" drop-down here
- All Global Updates can be found here. This page documents any updates we have available for our Upwork community as well as internal team members. FAQs, if available, will also be posted to help if customers reach out.
- All cases should be documented in Zendesk utilized the category drop-down Natural Disasters & Social Unrest Updates > choosing the best sub-category available
- Any processes or policies related to these events will be posted within this internal resource. Please see a TL or Manager for any questions, concerns, or exceptions. Team Leads, please utilize cs-leadership-channel in Slack, as needed.
This program is designed to enable customers impacted by natural disasters and other events, a means of minimizing downstream effects to their Upwork profile and reputation. In some parts of the world, natural disasters or other events can significantly impact the lives and businesses of the Upwork community. As is the case with current and past events, these disasters can hinder access to resources such as housing, medical care, food, power, and internet. If a freelancer is unable to access their Upwork account to work and pursue available opportunities, this can result in negative impact to their JSS through poor feedback ratings or inactivity. To mitigate this negative impact, we have created a Feedback Removal Request Form.
The form is housed within our Community Resource Page and allows freelancers to request removal of negative feedback received while impacted by global events.
What customers will see:
When completing the request form, freelancers will be asked to provide:- Confirmation that they were impacted by a recent global event
- Details about the feedback they are requesting removal of
- Explanation of why the feedback should be removed
- Contract ID info
This request will generate a ticket to CS that populates these form responses (CS will review the request and handle within 48 hours):
CS Handling:
Important:-If a customer is not eligible after reviewing below, but their circumstances seem like we can make an exception, see a TL. TL, see cs-leadership-team Slack channel for exception requests. e.g. perhaps customer is impacted by a hurricane we have yet to report on / share info on
Review for Approval:
1. Open OBO account to confirm that customer was impacted by recent global event- Customer is located in impacted region; OR
- Customer received a recent communication from CS or via product Check In; OR
- Customer account is affected by targeted SMF message
- Feedback was left during period of impact, and seems to relate to activity during that period AND
- Feedback had a bad or neutral outcome; AND
- Feedback public or private comments reference behaviors caused by impact from events such as; unresponsiveness, inability to continue working, missed deadlines or appointments, etc; AND
- Requester is one of the following: individual freelancer who worked the contract, OR if an agency, the agency owner, admin, or a business manager; AND
- Job is closed; AND
- Job is not already excluded from JSS; AND
- 1 approval per FL is allowed without TL approval; check for CSS note: “Crisis Feedback Removal: Assignment...” within OBO (TLs, see cs-leadership-team Slack channel if 1+ cases come up)
If the FL is requesting feedback removal for a contract that’s associated to an agency and the FL is no longer associated to that agency:
- The feedback can be removed from the FL’s profile, but not the JSS as the agency owns the JSS for any contracts done with the agency
- IF the agency matches the qualifications above and the FL is okay with it, then we can send an email to the AO asking if they’d like to process a feedback/JSS removal request per request of one of their past FL
Removal Steps
If approved based on the above guidelines, follow the map below.
Frequently Asked Questions
I recently submitted a request for feedback removal due to a global crisis. When can I expect this to be reflected on my profile?We understand how important your Upwork reputation is to you, especially during times of difficulties. Once submitted, our team will review your request and follow up via email generally within 48 hours.
We certainly understand your concerns. When feedback is removed from your profile, we unfortunately cannot guarantee a specific impact to your JSS. Your JSS reflects your overall contract history with your clients and is based on your (or your agency's, if you’re an agency owner) relationships and feedback over specific periods of time. Depending on your specific account activity, removing feedback for a single contract can result in an increase, decrease, or no change at all to your JSS. To learn more about the JSS Score and the impact of feedback removal, see the help articles below:
We are sorry to hear that. At this time, in order to be eligible for removal, the feedback left must be directly associated with negative impacts of a recent global crisis. Unfortunately, negative feedback left for any other reason cannot be removed. If you are a Top Rated freelancer, you may consider using your perk to remove the feedback as an alternative. To learn more about feedback removal, see the help article below:
We are sorry to hear that you have been impacted by this crisis, and want you to know that we’re here to support you as you navigate this challenging time. We also understand how important your Upwork reputation is to you, especially during times of difficulties. If you’ve received negative feedback resulting from the impact of this crisis, you may submit a request for removal by completing this form. Once submitted, our team will review your request and follow up via email generally within 48 hours.
We know that for many, your Upwork engagements are critical to the success and stability of your business. So we encourage you to connect with your client to discuss the feedback. If agreed, you can grant your client an opportunity to revise the feedback if this rating was left in error. Click here to learn more about enabling feedback changes,
This program is designed to enable customers impacted by natural disasters and other events, a means of proactively communicating with their clients and freelancers. This feature will allow for clearer expectations during these events, and reduce contract disruptions caused by delays in communication.
In some parts of the world, natural disasters or other events can significantly impact the lives and businesses of the Upwork community. As is the case with current and past events, these disasters can hinder access to resources such as housing, medical care, food, power, and internet. If a freelancer is unable to access their Upwork account, this can result in negative impact to their contract caused by lack of communication or missed deadlines.
To mitigate the potential for any negative impact, we have created a Check In Feature. Through a series of product prompts, freelancers can set clear expectations as to how recent global events are impacting their ability to work, and request that their current clients be made aware. Further, they’ll be provided with links to our Community Resource Page with details on other steps we’re taking to support them.
What customers will see:
For customers we’ve identified as being potentially impacted by a global event, we will initiate a targeted email with a button to access the Check In Page:
If freelancers choose to notify their clients, their clients will receive an automated email;
- Encouraging the clients to be patient and expect delays
- Advising how to extend project deadlines if possible
- Recommending that they approve work promptly
- Encouraging them to reach out to freelancer to discuss next steps
CS Handling:
Freelancers will have complete control of whether or not their clients are notified, so contacts to CS should be minimal.
- Be sure to add the proper category option under “Natural Disasters & Social Unrest Updates” for tracking purposes
- Utilize the FAQs below to help support freelancer questions
- Any edge cases not covered in FAQs should be escalated to Team Lead. Team Leads to see the cs-leadership-team channel for requests.
Frequently Asked Questions
FOR FREELANCERS
Who is eligible?
Freelancers who we identify as potentially being located in impacted regions of a global crisis or natural disaster may be eligible. We will reach out to you directly to check in, sending you a special link to let us know if you’d like us to contact your existing clients and set your profile to private until you are able to return to work.
I didn’t get an email or message in Upwork Messages about this and I meet the criteria. What should I do?
We are sorry we missed you. Here’s the link we sent to freelancers in an impacted region. You can visit the page to learn more, along with requesting that we contact your clients on your behalf and set your profile to private.
How will you communicate my situation with clients?
If you ask us to communicate on your behalf, we’ll send a message to your client on each active contract. You can see the message we will send here.
.What if I already communicated with my clients or would prefer to do it myself?
You can reach out yourself (and we are sure your clients will be glad to hear from you). However, if we can help, let us know by visiting this page –– we want to support you as much as possible right now.
We won’t add any special messaging to your Upwork profile, however, if you visit the link we sent you and request that we set your profile to private , we will do so on your behalf. This way your profile will not appear in search results until you are ready to work again.
If you ask us to set your profile to private , your profile won’t show on the Upwork marketplace and search engines until it’s changed back to public. This means:
- Clients won’t see you when they search for freelancers.
- People who aren’t logged into Upwork won’t be able to access your profile even if they have a direct link.
- People who are logged into Upwork and have your direct profile link will only be able to see your first name, last initial, title, photo, rate, city, and country.
FOR CLIENTS
My freelancer is impacted by a natural disaster and cannot complete my project right now. What should I do?
We know that for many, your Upwork engagements are critical to the success and stability of your business. So we encourage you to connect with your freelancer to discuss the next steps. If able and you both agree, you may consider extending project deadlines to accommodate these circumstances. However, if your project is time-sensitive, we are here to discuss your options. Simply contact us at www.support.upwork.com for guidance.