Crucial Information After Accepting a Worker

Crucial Information After Accepting a Worker
Dear John Smith,

Congratulations on choosing a worker recently on vWorker.com. vWorker.com provides you with a number of unique protections that ensure that all transactions will be a safe and profitable one for you. However, too many times I have seen employers sabotage themselves by not using these protections and/or ignoring the site rules and guidelines. They unnecessarily lose time and money when there was absolutely no need to.

To prevent this from happening to you, I've prepared this very important email for you. If you value your time and money, I invite you to read everything below. Taking a few minutes now to do so may prevent you from experiencing a very large "headache" later on.

1) DON'T go offsite to communicate with the worker.

After you accept the worker, you are highly recommended to continue to use the site comment system to communicate with them. When you do, all communication (including any enhancements, changes, etc) then becomes part of the "entire project"--which is the binding legal agreement between you and the worker.

Some people prefer to communicate with the worker offsite (by email, IM ,etc.) rather than use this feature. I cannot emphasize enough how DANGEROUS this practice can be. If you or the worker puts the project into arbitration, NOTHING that is communicated offsite can be taken into account. (The reason for this is that logs of all offsite communication can be easily faked and changed). This can present a serious problem for you. As an example, let's pretend that the worker did a great job, except for one thing. They agreed to do a significant enhancement for you for free (via an offsite IM message) that they later did not do. If you put the project into arbitration, we cannot take the offsite communication into account in arbitration and force the worker to do it. You would have to pay them even if though they didn't do that enhancement!

To protect yourself, the safest thing to do is to do all your communication on the site, then you never have to worry about this. However, if you still prefer another communication channel then there is another solution. After you complete your offsite conversations with the worker, document all the changes that you've both agreed on. Then post this to the site and get the worker to post back a response saying that they agree to it. This will fully protect you in case of a dispute.

2) DON'T mishandle requirements changes.

Very few software projects don't change somewhat as they are developed. There are generally two types of changes, minor changes and major changes. Mishandling either type can result in a loss of time and money.

Minor changes generally don't involve significant additional effort from the original requirements. When you and the worker agree to this sort of change, make sure you document it on the site to avoid later problems in arbitration as mentioned above under off-site communication.

A major change involves significant additional effort outside the scope of the original requirements. When you find you need to do this sort of change, it is not proper (nor allowed) to expect the worker to do it for free. They bid on your original project, so if that work expands, then it is only fair to compensate the worker for this.

When you have a major change, we ask that you approach the worker and find out if they are willing to take on the extra work and if so, then you can negotiate a mutually agreeable price.

If you are successful in this, then simply document it all on the site (and get them to agree to it). After that, either you or the worker can contact us to have us increase the price and escrow the additional funds.

If you are not successful, then you can always get another worker to bid on the change via a new project. Please do realize that you cannot pull out of the project simply because the original worker refuses additional work which was not initially agreed to. If you do this, then the project will go into arbitration where the code will be tested and the worker will be compensated by a partial or full payment from escrow for the percentage of work already done and completed. Additionally, a bad rating will be placed on your account. So we ask that you not force us to go through this with you.

3) DON'T mishandle work acceptance.

To protect you, vWorker.com puts you in full control of when the worker will be paid. You do this by accepting their work, which release the funds from escrow to their account. However if you mishandle that control by not following the site rules, it can result in putting your funds at risk.

Never accept work before you've fully tested it and you are 100% satisfied.

Some employers accept work prematurely, because they don't feel like going through the 'hassle" of testing and/or they feel that they can 'trust' the worker. Others do so because a worker pressures them to do so'a practice which is not allowed, incidentally, because of the propensity for abuse. Accepting work prematurely is a VERY DANGEROUS practice. If you do this and you later find out that the worker didn't give you what was agreed upon, your money is gone and you will have no recourse! The enormous protections of escrowing and arbitration are completely nullified by your actions and you'll have to hope that the worker (who already has your money) is nice enough to fix whatever problem you have. So please protect yourself by doing your due diligence in testing and only accepting work once you are 100% satisfied. If a worker pressures you, remind them that doing so is against their contract, and contact us. Taking these precautions will keep your funds safe.

4) DON'T forget to consider milestones.

If you have a project lasting longer than a week (and sometimes even when the time required is less than a week), you should strongly consider using a process involving what are called "milestones". Studies have shown that employer satisfaction in software projects increases dramatically when you do this.

It works like this. You split up the project (via onsite communication) into achievement stages called milestones (or ask the worker to do so if you are unsure of how to split up the project). As each milestone is achieved (and you are 100% satisfied with the work at that stage) you then accept it is complete, giving the worker a partial payment for it. If you are not, you can either call off the project or you can choose to give the worker additional time to get it right.

Studies have shown that 'milestone' projects have a much higher success rate than 'all or nothing projects'. First, the process forces the worker to show demonstrable progress throughout the project, rather than just at the end. This generally makes them work harder, and also allows you to make corrections earlier while there is still time to make them. Second it forces both parties to communicate more often, resulting in a product that better reflects your needs and desires, than in one without that communication. And finally workers get something good out of it too, because they are rewarded as they go, rather than in one lump payment at the end. This is great for their motivation, which helps both them and you.

We cannot recommend the software milestone process enough to all of our employers. If you choose to do this, remember to completely document on-site each milestone and what percentage you will release (and have the worker agree to it).

5) DON'T forget to use mediation/arbitration if you need to.

Mediation/arbitration is designed to protect you. If the worker is not living up to his end of the bargain, make sure you contact a Rent a Worker arbitrator. They are there to help you.

6) DO read and understand your entire contract.

How many times have I heard an employer lament to me: "If only I realized the consequences of such and such a thing. I would never have done that if I had."

Don't let this happen to you. It's crucial that you read your contract from top to bottom, taking special note of all of the rules of arbitration. It is located at http://www.vWorker.com/RentACoder/DotNet/misc/Legal.aspx and is purposefully written in a non-legalese language to allow you to understand it more easily. However, if you still don't understand something in it, then don't hesitate to ask us at xxxxx@xxxx.xxx and we'll be more than happy to explain it to you. (The previous email address was not put on the Internet to avoid spam harvesting...please use the feedback page and then choose 'legal' to contact us regarding this)

Please don't put this off. Arming yourself with as much knowledge as possible can only help you in the long run.

I congratulate you on locating a worker, and hope that the information presented in this letter will allow you to be more successful and profitable on vWorker.com. If you have any questions on anything you've read, don't hesitate to contact us for a clarification. You can do this at: http://www.vWorker.com/RentACoder/misc/Feedback.asp. I wish you well on this project and all your future projects on vWorker.com.

Sincerely,

Julia Robertson
vWorker.com