Timeliness expectations

Timely delivery is one of the key performance metrics for writers at Draft. Here's what that means, and how you can avoid getting penalized for overdue work.

What do deadlines mean?

At Draft, every job has a deadline associated with it. We expect our writers to submit the job by the date and time listed next to the job (time is in your local timezone).

You can see the deadline for an article both on your dashboard and at the top of the job page.

What happens if I go overdue?

We take timeliness very seriously at Draft. Just like independent freelance writers are held accountable by their clients for timely delivery, Draft expects our freelancers to meet the job deadlines given. If you go overdue, a few things could happen, depending on the situation:

Articles may be automatically reassigned

If you're going to be late with an article - or get an overdue notice from us - please talk to our team right away.

If we don't hear from you within 24 hours, we'll have to reassign the article to another writer, and any work you've completed on the job will be lost. You'll not be compensated for jobs that need to be reassigned.

A job will also be reassigned if you don't submit the job within 24 hours of the job going overdue and we haven't heard from you. The exception is cases where a client is unresponsive to a question.

Note, if we have to automatically reassign a job that's now 24 hours overdue and we haven't received a response from you, other jobs due within 24-36 hours that you've claimed may be reassigned under the assumption that these will go overdue as well. We may reassign jobs due further out depending on the number of pieces you have currently over due.

If reassignments happen, you'll be temporarily suspended while our team reviews your account

If you go more than 24 hours over the delivery time on a single job, it'll be considered overdue and your account will be temporarily suspended while our team looks into the incident.

Specifically, we'll be investigating the reason for the overdue and any history or patterns of overdue work.

These reviews should take no more than 1-3 business days. You'll be able to complete any work currently in progress, you just won't be able to claim new work until our team completes their review.

You may receive a "strike" on your account

In order to balance timely delivery for our clients with the fact that life happens, Draft has a "three-strike" system for overdue work. Your first and second strikes will be instances where we'd had to place your account on Limited Access until pending jobs are completed, but if you accrue a third strike, we'll have to dismiss you from the platform.

Please note automatic dismissal may result before three strikes if your previous overdues have resulted in automatic reassignment of the work, and we never heard back from you with a reason as to why you went overdue.

A suspension does not automatically equal a strike.

While suspension due to overdue work will often lead to a strike on your record, we understand there are good reasons for going overdue (such as circumstances outside your control or a client being unresponsive).

If our team finds that to be the case in their review, your suspension will end and no strike will be given. However, if the reason for the overdue is poor time management, or if you're unresponsive to our overdue notifications after several days, your account will accrue strikes.

Note that strikes will be removed from your account if you go three months without going overdue (on a rolling basis).

You may be dismissed from the platform

After your third strike, we'll have to part ways with you and deactivate your account with us. You'll be notified by our team, any existing jobs that are in progress will be voided but any jobs that are completed will be paid out. After that, your account will be locked.

What if I'm late because a client was unresponsive?

We know that sometimes you need clarification from a client before you can finish the job. Clients aren't always quick to answer messages, which we know can cause a lot of frustration and concern when you're up against a deadline.

Utilize the request clarification feature in such cases. This will ensure the job is 'frozen' until we receive a response from the customer and will also ensure you're not penalized if the job goes overdue.

Ultimately in such cases we do ask that you try to be proactive with these questions and reach out to our team as early as possible, instead of alerting us to the problem after a job has gone overdue.

What if I'm late because I was sick or had a family emergency?

Life happens—we've all been there! So while you may still get temporarily suspended if you go overdue because of something outside your control (such as illness, lost internet, or a family emergency), our team will take the reason for the overdue into account when we do our review and it won't be counted as a strike against you if this was something outside your control.

What can I do to improve my timeliness on Draft?

We want all our writers to be able to succeed on our marketplace, so here are some tips for how to keep your deliveries timely!

DON'T: Wait until the last minute to start writing.

We understand that you don't always have time to start a job the moment you claim it. But we do ask that you at least take some time immediately after claiming a job to review the brief. This way, you can identify any missing details you need to do the job and ask the client for additional information or clarification right away.

DO: Plan to deliver early

If the job deadline is listed at a weird time for your timezone, try setting your own deadline for EOD the day before the job is due.

DO: Review the brief right away and request an extension within 24hrs if needed or ask clarifying questions

If you think you need more time than the job deadline allows, please  request a deadline extension  within the first 24 hours of claiming a job. Similarly, use the request clarification features to ask your questions before it's too late.

DON'T: Claim too much work at once.

We know the marketplace can be a little "feast and famine," so it's tempting to claim a lot of jobs as they're available. However, if you claim too many jobs—especially jobs that are due on the same day—it's easy to end up with a domino effect of missed deadlines if life happens or one job takes longer than expected.

Since multiple overdues at once are more problematic than single job going overdue, limiting the number of jobs you claim at once is a great way to avoid the potential for suspension.

DO: Proactively communicate with the support team if something comes up

Life happens—we've all been there! But if you have to miss a deadline for reasons outside your control (such as illness, lost internet, or a family emergency), we'd ask that you let our support team know so that we can extend deadlines or reassign work accordingly.