Upwork Terms of Service

Upwork's help article on the subject says only that you must follow the Terms of Service once you create an account, and links to the full text on Upwork's legal page. The help center treats the term as an umbrella: it places the rule against moving payments off Upwork in Section 7 of the User Agreement, counts the Terms of Use as part of the Terms of Service, and sends API users to the API section.

The rules agencies meet most often. Upwork's Trust and Safety hub summarises them in plain words:

• Don't go around Upwork: no payments off the platform, and no contact details or off-platform communication before a contract is in place; see fee avoidance.
• Use one account, and do not open a new one after a restriction; see multiple accounts.
• Represent yourself authentically: the name you use in everyday life, a real photo or company logo, and accurate skills and experience. You alone use your account.
• No spam: Upwork's proposal article says not to keep contacting a client who is not responding.
• No unapproved bots, scrapers or automated tools; see automation policy.

Enforcement. Upwork names three responses. Education leaves the account active once you acknowledge the terms. A restriction limits activity until you complete a self-resumption flow. A block is permanent, and any new account is closed too. Violations are weighted by type, severity and risk rather than counted as strikes, and a serious one, such as taking work off-platform, can drop an account's standing straight away.

Where to see your standing. The account health hub shows current holds, warnings, restrictions and blocks, past violations and appeal status; see account suspension.

What Upwork does not publish. How long a violation stays on the record. Upwork says violations expire over time, and that it does not share the timeline.