Dispute

On a fixed-price contract, Upwork lets a freelancer file under Fixed-Price Protection in two situations: an ended contract, where the client ends the job with a deposited balance and requests a refund; and an active contract, where work was submitted but the client hasn't released the payment. Upwork recommends trying to settle it with the client first, but the clock runs regardless: "You have seven calendar days" to review the payment details and file. Miss it, and any remaining funds go back to the client.

Once filed, an Upwork mediation specialist reviews both sides and makes a non-binding resolution, a recommendation neither side is legally required to accept. Each side has two calendar days to accept or reject it. If both accept, Upwork moves the funds; if either declines or doesn't respond, both receive a Notice of Non-Resolution, and the last option is paid, binding arbitration: see mediation.

Hourly contracts work the other way round. There the client files the dispute, against hours in the work diary, and the freelancer can accept it, which refunds the disputed hours to the client, or contest it. Hours that qualify for Hourly Protection are paid regardless, and Upwork notes that repeated disputes can affect the Job Success Score.

The lesson is the same on both contract types. Disputes are won on records made before the disagreement: a funded milestone with the work submitted through the contract, or tracked hours with clear memos. A conversation in messages helps, but it is the contract's own records that the mediation specialist reads first.