Upwork Expands Freelancers’ Benefits Access With Catch Partnership

Freelance platform Upwork on Monday (Jan. 10) partnered with portable benefits program Catch to provide access to healthcare benefits and personal payroll to independent workers who have Upwork accounts.

Recent Upwork research shows that 36% of the entire U.S. workforce freelanced in 2021. Catch gives freelancers, contractors and other independent workers in the U.S. a way to access their personal payroll, including health insurance, automatic tax withholding and payments from various income streams, savings accounts and retirement investing services.

“This partnership between Upwork and Catch is in service of enabling freelancers to do the work they love without worrying about the complexity of securing their benefits and finances,” Sam Bright, chief product and experience officer at Upwork, said in the joint announcement. “With Catch and our other talent offering partnerships, we aim to empower highly skilled professionals to stay laser-focused on their careers and business opportunities.”

Freelancers can shop, apply for and renew their health insurance quickly and efficiently on Catch, and can also access free tax withholding and payments for their independent (1099) income.

“Freelancers on Upwork are leading the new world of work, and we’re here to support them with the benefits they need to thrive in it,” said Kristen Anderson, CEO and co-founder of Catch. “Catch is the only personal payroll platform where freelancers can get benefits they would otherwise receive from an employer.

“We look forward to supporting the hundreds of thousands of professionals on Upwork who proudly choose to be independent.”

Related: Upwork On Streamlining Cross-Border Gig Economy Payments

Michelle Swiec, senior director of global payment operations for Upwork, told PYMNTS in November that the work-from-home transition has unlocked gig-based work for more businesses and workers.

“Remote work and the hybrid workforce have a symbiotic relationship with freelancing,” Swiec said.

The rise of remote and hybrid workforces — and of businesses’ comfort with the new setups — “have opened up all kinds of flexibility and control for freelancers and allowed them to pursue further economic opportunity through freelancing as a viable career path,” she said.