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A big thank you to all site users for helping us win the 2010 Inc 5000 award for fastest growing private company, for the fourth year in a row!
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Worker FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Below are the answers to common questions about the site.
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General
1) I want to get
paid for my
professional skills. How does
vWorker.com help me?
vWorker.com allows you to cash in on your
areas of expertise and interest. Unlike traditional contracting, we
guarantee payment
so you can stop worrying about billing and collections, and focus on what you do best.
The site can automatically notify you of new projects as they come in, and then you can bid on
the ones you're interested in. After the employer accepts your bid,
they escrow the funds to prove "they are good for the money". Once you complete the work,
you're awarded the funds from escrow. That's all there is to it.
2) How does
vWorker.com protect me?
vWorker.com has a
number of features to protect you:
-
Financial: we guarantee payment
so you can stop worrying about finances and concentrate on what you do best:
working and earning income. Click here for more details.
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Background research: In traditional consulting, you never know what a customer
is going to be like until you begin work. On vWorker.com
you can always check the reputation of any
potential employer before you bid. You can see their...
-
Ratings: Review their ratings (from 1 to 10) and
reviews written by previous workers.
Unlike some competing sites, these ratings are protected with a
double-blind system, so you know they're accurate.
-
Non-action ratio: View the # of times they didn't choose a
worker on past projects, so you can judge
whether or not it's worth your time to bid on the project.
Click here for more info on the non-action ratio.
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Security verifications: See if they've taken the time verify their identify and
payment information, and are serious about selecting a bidder.
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Mediation/arbitration record: View why they have been
in mediation/arbitration in the
past, and detailed information from the arbitrator on what the
final result was. This lets you learn more about how they behave when
working on projects.
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Escrow: By the time you begin work, each customer has
already pre-paid the bill for the project and
vWorker.com is already holding it in
escrow. This means that you don't
have to worry about getting 'stiffed'! If you complete the work as
agreed, you can be confident of being paid.
Click here for more details on payment guarantees.
-
Legal:
Should you ever get into a dispute over what has
been delivered with the employer,
you can enlist the help of a 3rd party, for free. Just place the bid into
arbitration with a vWorker.com
arbitrator. They will determine what has actually been delivered (or not) and the
employer (and yourself) have already
pre-agreed to abide by their decision.
Click here to view additional
security,
safety and reliability features.
3) What does this service cost?
Unlike competing sites, vWorker.com charges no
subscription fees for bidding privileges. So you can bid as often as you like, for free, and
give yourself the best chance of winning jobs. Once you win a project and complete it,
we charge you a vWorker.com fee
that ranges from 6.5% to
15% of the final bid
(with a minimum fee of: $3)...depending on the services
included. See the vWorker.com fee commission schedule for complete details.
For your convenience, the vWorker.com fee and your end profit are calculated and displayed for you whenever you
confirm a bid.
4) What is
the difference between pay-for-deliverables and pay-for-time?
Employers may choose to pay you
for the final contract (called pay-for-deliverables, which is the most protected option),
or by the hour (called pay-for-time, which is the cheapest and most flexible option).
Pay-for-time is cheaper and more flexible, so most workers prefer it. However,
it also requires the employer
trust you to be productive, and that may not be there with a new employer. To help you
establish that trust, you can bid on pay-for-deliverables projects. Then, once
you've established that trust,
you can suggest to the employer to switch to pay-for-time. Click here for
more details on
both payment types.
5) What is a preferred payment method and how does it help me?
When an employer sends payment via a means that is less expensive for vWorker.com to accept and process, vWorker.com passes the savings on to you.
When an employer uses a bank to bank wire transfer or snail mail check to escrow all of the funds for the project, the winning worker receives a vWorker.com fee reduction of 2.5%!
This can be a great way to make some extra money with very little extra effort. So if you are comfortable enough
with your employer to suggest the payment method, ask them to escrow funds via one of these means. When they do, the
auction will be marked with a special icon, and you'll make more money...just like that! Note: The preferred payment discount began on 8/26/2004 1:00:00 AM.
6) How and when do I get paid?
After the employer accepts your bid, his or her money
is held in an escrow account. After you deliver the product and they
acknowledge that they received everything (in pay for deliverables projects) or signoff on your time card (in pay for time projects), you will be credited with the escrow
amount minus the vWorker.com finders fee. All credits accumulate in your account until the credit cutoff date of your choosing arrives
(either the middle of the month, the end of the month or both). We then pay you
that total on or before the following 7th day. (Note that you can also choose to not be paid, until your account goes above some amount that you specify).
You can choose to have payments
sent to you via a number of methods. Please see the Payment Options Matrix in your Worker agreement for full details on the
different payment methods.
7) How can I promote myself to make
customers more likely to accept my bids?
You can do this via your registration profile. Here
are some things that will increase interest in your bids from employers:
- Resume: This is the first look an employer gets of you. Include as much detail as possible.
- Photograph/company logo: Humans are drawn to graphics over text and
you can use this to draw attention to your bids. A photo of a person (or group) is the most effective,
and after that a logo.
- A sample of your portfolio/past work: This helps employers understand what you can produce. A good portfolio is
an excellent tool to win more bids.
- Certifications: Proves your expertise, and best of all it's free! See Expert Rating for more details.
- Expert Guarantee: Give yourself an edge when bidding gets competitive, by proving you are the
most committed. Click here for more details.
8) Why can't I view bids from
other workers who are bidding against me?
When we started this site in 2001, every worker could
view competing bids. We thought this was good because it was more
transparent. Instead what we found is that it led to an environment of
cut-throat low-bidding wars. Many projects 'won' by the ultimate survivor of
the ultra-intense low-bidding, were priced far below what the
worker actually needed to sustain themselves, and were never completed.
That is why in July
of 2001, bidding was changed from an open system (where every worker could see
every other workers' bids) to a closed one (where each worker could only see their own bids).
The feedback from
workers and the ultimate results were exceedingly positive, and the site has
remained that way ever since.
If you are very new to bidding and need to get an idea of what a fair bid is, you can
do a search on old projects similar to the one you want to bid on,
and see what the winning bidder bid. For more information on what is
made public after a bidder is selected, see your legal contract.
9) How are employer and worker disputes handled (arbitration)?
Most transactions are completed harmoniously,
but about 10-15% of the time an employer and worker cannot come to an agreement. If this happens to you then you can
simply request one of the vWorker.com arbitrators place the project into
arbitration to
determine if the contract was met or not. During a court-like process, the arbitrator follows the rules of
arbitration to
determine what has and has not been delivered, and may even test the final deliverables to
verify an employer's flaw list.
(For complete details, see the complete rules of arbitration in either the
employer or
worker legal agreements). To ensure fairness, all parties have already
agreed in advance to abide by the vWorker.com settlement.
10) What is self-mediation?
Click here for more details on
self-mediation.
11) I am a U.S. worker. How are IRS 1099 forms handled?
In compliance with Internal Revenue Service rules, all U.S. workers who make $600 or more in a year receive an IRS 1099 form from vWorker.com. Per IRS rules,
a copy is also sent to the IRS. For U.S. tax information on the Expert Guarantee, click here.
12)
How does vWorker.com compare to other sites in the industry?
Click here to compare us to other sites in the industry.
13) How is my financial and personal information kept safe?
All sensitive information is protected via the highest level of SSL encryption (128 bit) to prevent it from being
intercepted by unauthorized parties. Once the information arrives at our data center, it is password-protected in a datastore. The data store is additionally fortified by an ICSA Certified firewall that blocks out
intrusion attempts. Additionally, we subscribe to vendor security notification lists, and install new vendor patches as promptly as possible...most often with 24 hours. Finally, 3rd party security
experts go through all of our systems on a routine basis looking for holes, and anything they find is promptly sealed and documented.
The above is just a partial list of security features. For more information, click here.
14) Can non-US users use PayPal?
Yes, Pay Pal works in a number of non-US countries. For a complete list, as well as information
on opening up an international account, see the
Pay Pal international account info page.
Please note that Pay Pal will charge a money conversion fee to convert the funds from US to your local currency.
15) I don't understand how I communicate with the employer and/or get clarification on the specs?
To communicate with the employer or ask questions, simply post a comment on the project (a bid with a comment and no bid amount). The employer will be emailed a link to your posting and if
he or she responds, you will receive an email of their response as well. It can then continue for as long as the two of you need to communicate.
16) What is ExpertRating Certification and how does it work?
Click here for full details on the ExpertRating certification program.
17) I'm getting a warning about my Internet Explorer browser being old and possibly buggy. What is this all about?
You are running an old internet browser
(Internet Explorer v5.x) that Microsoft has found a number of bugs in. These
bugs will not only cause problems for you on some of the advanced features of
vWorker.com (like posting bids and attachments), but also exposes you to
security risks on all sites on the Internet.
Microsoft provides new and upgraded versions of
its software for no charge via download from the Internet, or via CD for
a nominal charge. You are highly recommended to take advantage of all the
latest bug fixes and security advances by downloading the free newest version of
Internet Explorer. To learn more click here.
18) Is contact information allowed in bids? How about in projects > $500?
To protect our fee, contact information is never allowed in any bid, no matter what the
project amount. However, to facilitate the requirements gathering stage of larger projects, the site "Information Release" system
allows you to release information to employer without having to post your contact information in the bid. For complete information
click here.
19) What protections are there in the rating system?
The rating system is a crucial tool for you to determine who you want to work with, and it's
vital that it be as accurate as possible.
To give you the most information possible, we encourage parties to rate
each other based on the following project
details:
But while this is helpful, it is not enough. In a typical
unprotected rating system (like
many
competitors use),
it's dangerous to
rate another party poorly because they will retaliate and do the same.
That's why vWorker.com
protects all ratings with a double-blind system. The other party cannot see what you rated them
until they have already rated you (and vice versa). This protects you from
retaliatory ratings and also prevents two parties from swapping
inflated ratings too.
In addition to the double-blind protection, you'll also notice vWorker.com
arbitrator ratings on many peoples' accounts. If we uncover
anything that another party has a right to know, while we are doing an arbitration, we document it
publicly on the rating (including who
won the arbitration and why). This gives you complete information when deciding whether to work with
that person or not.
For complete details, see the complete rules of arbitration in either the
employer or
worker legal agreements.
Expert Guarantee
20) What is the Expert Guarantee?
The Expert Guarantee is a useful feature, if you happen to be an employer and...
- ...have a crucial deadline and MUST find an expert who will finish the project on time.
- ...OR...have too many "look-alike" bidders and aren't sure how to separate the experts from the amateurs.
The Expert Guarantee is also useful, if you happen to be
an expert worker, whose bids are getting crowded out by a throng of less qualified bidders.
If you fall into any of the above categories, then the Expert Guarantee solves your problem, by quickly
connecting expert workers with serious employers. Here is how it works. At the beginning of the project, the expert worker puts
their own money "on the line", to prove that they have the skill to complete the project and are also 100% committed to completing it on time. They
do this by placing a deposit into escrow, which is a percentage of the bid amount (for example 10%).
- If the expert worker completes the contract as promised (100% by the deadline), then they receive the deposit back (along with full payment for the work, as usual).
- If the expert worker does not complete the contract, then they forfeit the deposit.
The deposit is used to pay for the employer's cancellation charge, and the remainder is donated to a non-profit charity. (The money is not kept by vWorker.com, nor the employer).
- If the employer is responsible for the project failing (for example: by pulling out prematurely, withholding important information, etc.) then the worker receives back the deposit.
A worker does this via the arbitration process.
(Note: To reimburse vWorker.com for the cost of processing the deposit, the worker is
sometimes charged a small, non-refundable processing fee when making their deposit.
The worker can eliminate or reduce this fee by choosing a less expensive method of payment).
The above is merely a brief overview of the Expert Guarantee feature, and there are many additional important
details that are not included here. Please DO NOT USE THIS FEATURE, until you've read and understood all of those details.
Links to frequently asked questions and the detailed legal agreements are below:
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21) I am not an expert, but want to bid on a project. Should I still put down an Expert Guarantee?
NO...do not put down a deposit because you will most likely lose it (as well as receive a poor rating). Instead bid on a project where the deadline is not as crucial (i.e there is no Expert Guarantee required). Also, make sure you are truthful to the employer about your level of expertise. If you do this and enter
arbitration, your deliverables will only be judged
at performing competently at the level you claimed to be at. On the other hand, if you pretend to be more of an expert than you really are, your deliverables will be judged at that higher level...and you will most likely lose arbitration and receive a poor rating. Honesty is always the best policy.
22) How do I pay for an Expert Guarantee?
Once the employer accepts your bid, you have up to 3 days to pay for an Expert Guarantee.
You can use the funds in your worker account (from other jobs), or you can use any of the normal site payment methods (which are currently credit card, PayPal or a check mailed via postal mail). If you choose the latter,
just remember to factor in the time required to send the payment as well as the delay of any possible security verification (if you haven't preverified or completed them already). It is a good idea to pre-verify in advance to
avoid an emergency situation.
Remember that if you do not escrow the Expert Guarantee within 3 days (or decline the project in that time...per the below), the employer will be switched to another worker and you will receive a poor rating. To avoid this, only bid on Expert Guarantee projects if you intend to follow up on them.
23) What is the cost of using the Expert Guarantee?
Depending on the method you use to deposit funds, there may be a small processing fee to cover our expenses. Full details are here.
24) I would rather not pay a Expert Guarantee processing fee. Can I reduce or eliminate it?
Yes, you can reduce or eliminate the cost by choosing a less expensive method for us to process. Full details are here.
25) Can I "back out of" an Expert Guarantee project?
Once you choose to escrow the Expert Guarantee, it is final...and you cannot "back out of it" if you change your mind later. So do not commit to this type of project unless you are willing to fulfill the contract 100% by the deadline.
However you do have up to 3 days from the time the employer accepts your bid, to choose between escrowing the Expert Guarantee or declining the project.
During this period, you can decline it with no penalty. A decline would simply be recorded as a neutral rating on your record.
Please note that the normal
24 hour grace period for cancelling projects is not honored on these types of projects, since you actually have
the previously mentioned 3 days to make a choice.
26) If I complete the project, how is the Expert Guarantee returned to me?
When you complete the project and receive the escrowed funds, the Expert Guarantee is simultaneously credited back to the deposit account in your
worker account. (To see it, go to 'My worker Financials' submenu, and look at the worker deposit section.)
These funds are then available to you for use on a future Expert Guarantee at any time.
If you wish to receive the funds back, then you can request a refund from finance. They will process it as follows (depending on how you paid for it):
| Credit Card/PayPal |
These will be refunded back to the original credit card or PayPal account that they came from. Please note that due to chargeback rules, these CANNOT be refunded to a different credit card or PayPal account, nor transferred to your worker credits for payout during your next chosen pay period. |
| Snail Mail |
These can be refunded back to you via snail mail (note: a $2.00 postage and handling fee applies). Or you can choose to transfer them to your worker credits for payout during the next pay period you have selected. |
| Bank to bank wire transfer |
These can be refunded back to you via bank to bank wire (note: a wire transfer fee applies--$10.00 U.S.; $20.00 International). Or you can choose to transfer them to your worker credits for payout during the next pay period you have selected. |
| Transfer from worker account |
These will be transferred back to your worker credits for payout during the next pay period you have selected. |
27) Why are forfeited Expert Guarantees donated to charity?
After covering the employer's cancellation charge, the remainder of the Expert Guarantee is donated to charity. We do not keep the funds, so as to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest during the arbitration process.
28) If I go into self mediation (or arbitration) can the Expert Guarantee be PARTIALLY returned to me?
The Expert Guarantee is a deposit that either is 100% refunded or forfeited. As a result it may NOT be split as a result of self mediation or arbitration.
29) How are U.S. taxes handled for the Expert Guarantee?
Disclaimer:
The following is NOT guaranteed to be accurate. Neither vWorker.com nor Exhedra are tax professionals, nor licensed to give tax advice. Do not rely on the following, but instead, consult your tax professional, as the law may be
complex, subject to interpretation and/or change without notice. (This tax information applies only to U.S. workers. If you are a non-U.S. worker with tax questions, please consult your local tax professional for appropriate answers. vWorker.com is not familiar with your country's local tax laws.)
As described above, your earnings on projects are reported to the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) on IRS 1099 Form. Handling this is very straightforward.
However the status of an Expert Guarantee it more ambiguous.
Should it be treated like a deposit that you place in a bank? Such money is "held" by another party, but is still "your money" and thus no taxable event occurs when it changes hands.
Or should it be treated as an expense when you deposit it, and earnings when you receive it back? Only your tax professional can answer this question for you. For informational
purposes only, here are two possible ways to handle it. Both result in the same net tax result, but do it in different ways.
The IRS may not consider one or both of the above methods proper. Again, be sure to consult with your tax pro before actually filing your taxes.
- Option A: Bank Deposit Method
This is the simpler of the two from an accounting perspective. If you consider Expert Guarantee deposits to be like a bank deposit (as described above),
then you do not have to record when you deposited them, nor when you received them back. The only thing you would record (as expenses) would be:
- Any Expert Guarantee deposits that you FORFEITED that year.
- Any Expert Guarantee processing fees that you paid that year.
- Option B: In/Out Method
Record each Expert Guarantee deposit as an expense the year that you escrow it. If and when it's returned to you, record it as an earning in that year. It is considered "returned" when it is
either refunded back to your credit card/PayPal account, etc...OR if credited to your worker credits account via a transfer.
You can see your yearly financial summary related to the above information by going to "My worker Financials" and clicking on "Show My Expert Guarantee Yearly Summary Info".
Note: The earnings on your 1099 form will NOT include any Expert Guarantee financial information...so that it is possible for you to report your taxes using either of the
above methods.
Copyright Information
30) Why is violating copyrights considered a fraudulent action?
RAC takes copyright issues very seriously since the same can lead to a lawsuit against the person making use of the software that contains copyrighted material ? who in this instance would be the employer. Although copyrights may not be strictly enforced in all countries, they are in the USA. When working through RAC, both employer and worker are working under US law and therefore the copyright laws governing such practices in the USA apply to all projects undertaken on RAC and RAC arbitrators are responsible to ensure that projects undertaken on the site do not contravene the relevant laws.
Therefore it is possible that a project can come into arbitration for something completely different and the Worker still lose the arbitration for violating copyright laws.
31) How can one violate the copyright laws on a project?
One of the most common methods is the use of third party code and/or reuse of previously written code (for another project on or outside RAC).
32) What is third party code?
Third party code is any code that the Worker has not written from scratch and has/had obtained from another source and includes free code, free modules, free components, open source code, licensed code obtained for a specific person, code previously used in another ?work-made-for-hire-project? in which the exclusive rights were sold to another person and also code that the worker had written themselves and submitted to sharing type sites. In other words, it is any line(s) of code or components that the Worker cannot sell the ?exclusive rights? of to another person. If the Worker did not write it themselves, they cannot sell it to another. If the Worker did write it themselves but has already sold it, they cannot sell it again.
33) Why can I not re-use my own code?
The base contract in most of the projects on RAC states:
>>>3) All deliverables will be considered "work made for hire" under U.S. Copyright law. Employer will receive exclusive and complete copyrights to all work purchased.
3b) No part of the deliverable may contain any copyright restricted 3rd party components (including GPL, GNU, Copyleft, etc.) unless all copyright ramifications are explained AND AGREED TO by the employer on the site per the worker's Worker Legal Agreement.
This means that the Worker cannot even reuse the code that they had written earlier for some other project(s) since they had agreed to give that Employer "exclusive" copyrights on this project. If the Worker wants to re-use their own code then this is only possible for code that had not been sold exclusively to any previous person. The Worker is required to explain to the new Employer that the code has been used, but that no exclusive copyrights had been sold and also notify the new Employer whether or not they would own the copyrights of this particular code.
34) What does 'Work made for hire' mean?
In simple words it means that the employer will own
'exclusive' copyrights to the work. The author/worker will not own any copyrights to the work unless something else has been negotiated prior to bid acceptance.
This does not simply mean that this work is contract work. This requirement is related to the copyrights.
For more information on copyrights please visit: http://www.copyright.gov/
35) Where can I read more on RAC's stand on the above points?
Information can be obtained in the Worker Contract under the headings
'Additional Copyright Indemnification of Work Produced
for Employer' and 'Third Party Code'.
Furthermore in most projects, more information is contained in the base contract in the project, more particularly in point 3 of the legal section.
However, it should be noted that even if the Employer removes the Legal section from the contract in the project, this does not give the Worker permission to use third party code, since this issue is also covered in the Worker contract with RAC.
Pay for time
36) What is the difference between pay for time projects and pay for deliverables projects?
Click here to read all about the differences.
37) Can I get an overview on how pay for time projects work?
Yes, click here for full details.
38) What is a manual entry?
If you forget to log your normal time via the desktop application (or wish to subtract time), you can add a manual entry. This is done on the
weekly time card page. Remember that the employer is never under any obligation to accept manual entries, so it is much safer to
simply log your time via the desktop timecard application. Click here for more information on entering manual entries.
Other Information
39) How does Instant Messaging work?
Click here for
full information on instant messaging.
40)
What is Rent a Coder (and/or
RentaCoder.com)?
Rent a Coder is the former name of
vWorker.com, before it was changed in 2010. Click here
for
more information on the name change.
41) Can I get more information on picking up my Western Union payment?
Yes.
Click here for the
Western Union Fee Calculator,
the Western Union Pickup FAQ,
or the Western Union site.
42) How is the Western Union fee calculated
(and why is it different than sending personal payments via WesternUnion.com)?
In the past we used to send money via Western Union as a "personal payment"
(rather than a "business payment"). We did this to
take advantage of the cheaper rates you see for payments on WesternUnion.com and save
you money.
However, we ran into a number of problems:
- We could not use the WU website because it limits users to $2,000-$3,000/month
(and we send hundreds of thousands of dollars a month). So we were forced to go
to physical stores that supported WU payments, instead.
-
The stores were fine with regular customers sending 1-2 payments, but quickly
realized that when we sent hundreds, it took a long time (7-8 hours). It would
tie up one of their employee unexpecetedly for hours, and took away from
their other existing responsbilities. We typically would be banned from using a store after
doing this once or twice, and would switch to another, but eventually that would have
stopped working too and we would have no way to send the money.
- It was unexpectedly expensive on our side as well
to pay an employee to
sit for hours and watch over the money (and make sure it was done properly).
Even if it didn't have other problems, we would have had to raise our fee to
cover this additional expense.
- There was a security issue with sending an employee to a store with
hundreds of thousands of
dollars on their person.
Even in the safest neighborhoods, a person with that amount of money can be robbed.
But the safest neighborhoods would not
allow us to use their stores after a few times (see above).
- WU requires cash and our bank (like most) would not always have that amount of cash on hand.
So we often had to wait several days to get the money which delayed payments.
- Technically, businesses are not supposed to send payments that way through WU, but
are supposed to use "business payment" instead.
So we are forced to send them as "business payments" instead. This is why the fees are
unfortuantely more expensive and do not
match the "personal payment"
fees you may see listed on the Western Union website.
43) Can you give me more advice?
Yes. Check out these additional articles for workers...
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