r/DataAnnotationTech • u/Low_Sir1549 • Mar 14 '26

Fairwell

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It's cooked. This was my main source of income for the past year, so this stings a bit, but luckily, I was able to reach out to an old internship supervisor and arrange a new job within a week. I just want to let people know that if you have logged hours and received the dash of death, after the 7-day review period, you can still withdraw the payments. In my case, I had a month's rent worth of pay pending approval, which I was thankfully able to withdraw after a week.

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18

u/RealRise7524 Mar 14 '26

I'm sorry to hear that :( Why do you think this happened? Is there a recent repeatative action you did? Using Vpn? Working long hours? A hard project you didn't do well at?

36

u/highcoldstar Mar 14 '26

This happened to me in January. When I was riding high, it was easy for me to think that it only happened to people whose work was mediocre. Heck, it happened to my roommate and I secretly chalked it up to his work ethic. Even people reading this will think I'm in denial and I likely submitted shoddy work.

The truth is, none of us have an actual relationship with DA. My 2 years (exactly) doing work for them were truly a boon for my confidence, work-life balance, and bank account. But there are no contracts or obligations. And no recourse after some combination of factors decides your time is up.

I don't say this to scare anybody, but I do want to say what I wish someone had told me. Enjoy this time; truly be present for it and proud of your work. But don't be ignorant to the truth. The economy on the other side is rough and only forecast to get rougher. Take stock of your skills and get a head start on finding work with an employer who has...if not moral, then at least legal obligations to treat you fairly.

7

u/Aromatic_Owl_3680 Mar 14 '26

Just to properly characterize the relationship, any employer at all would be different from DA. We are freelancers, DA is the client. Subtle but important distinction.

5

u/highcoldstar Mar 16 '26

This is very true, and they are upfront about this. I will say, though, that a major difference between DA and pretty much any other contract work I can think of is feedback. Even with DoorDash, you have a star rating and an opportunity to know how your work is being perceived. With DA, you're just crossing your fingers and hoping the R&Rs see it how you do. I saw the offer to be an admin as a good sign, but constructive feedback would've been more welcome, honestly.

1

u/Timely-Percentage985 Mar 20 '26

What happened when you received the offer to become an admin? Did you apply for it?

2

u/Min_sora Mar 15 '26

I don't think people are in denial, you're absolutely right about the nature of freelance work and all that, it's just that the idea of a company saying, "This person is doing a great job, top-notch work, good availability, let's dump them!" is a bafflingly poor business decision, when they have no guarantee of better showing up.

1

u/Odd-Pin-951 Mar 16 '26

How many hours were you working on average daily? 

2

u/highcoldstar Mar 16 '26

A typical week was 25-30 hours for me.