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Draft policy

Payout Policy

Status: Draft — requires legal review before public launch.

This document is an operational policy draft for Kaziworks. It is not final legal wording, does not replace formal Terms of Service, and must be reviewed by qualified legal and compliance advisers before public payment launch.

Purpose

This policy describes Kaziworks's intended rules for freelancer payout eligibility, payout timing, payout destinations, payment holds, failed payouts, provider payout fees, and payout provider direction.

Kaziworks's approved payment direction is:

  • TradeSafe is the approved primary escrow and milestone partner.
  • Peach Payments is the approved primary payout and platform-payment partner.
  • PayPal remains supported but secondary.

Freelancer Payout Eligibility

Freelancers may become eligible for payout only when:

  • The contract and milestone are linked to the freelancer.
  • The milestone was funded through an approved provider-supported flow.
  • Work was submitted.
  • The client approved the work or the dispute process resolved in the freelancer's favour.
  • Provider state confirms funds can be released or paid out.
  • Fraud, scam, or dispute checks are clear.
  • Required freelancer verification is complete.
  • A valid payout destination is available.

Kaziworks's internal ledger may show payable balances, but it is a record of payout eligibility and provider state. It should not imply that Kaziworks is operating as a bank or casually holding funds without proper legal structure.

Completed Milestone or Approved Work Requirement

Payouts should not be triggered for incomplete, unapproved, disputed, or unfunded work.

Before payout, Kaziworks should confirm:

  • Milestone status.
  • Delivery or completion evidence.
  • Client approval or dispute resolution.
  • Provider payment confirmation.
  • Platform fee and provider fee accounting.

Verification Requirement

Freelancers may need to complete verification before payout.

Verification may include:

  • Email verification.
  • Phone verification.
  • Profile review.
  • ID verification where required.
  • Bank account or payout destination verification.
  • Fraud and risk checks.

Kaziworks may hold payout if verification is incomplete, inconsistent, suspicious, or pending provider confirmation.

Payout Destination Requirement

Freelancers must provide an approved payout destination before payout.

Expected payout destination direction:

  • South African bank account payouts should be the primary local flow where Peach Payments supports it.
  • PayPal may be supported as a secondary or future payout option where technically, commercially, and legally viable.
  • Payout destination verification rules are pending provider and compliance confirmation.

Kaziworks should not send payouts to unverified, suspicious, or mismatched payout destinations.

Minimum Payout Threshold Placeholder

Kaziworks should define a minimum payout threshold before public launch.

Planning guidance from the Source of Truth suggests a minimum payout threshold in the range of R100 to R250, pending provider pricing, operating cost, and legal/compliance review.

Batch Payout vs Instant Payout Assumptions

Recommended launch assumption:

  • Batch payouts should be the default if payout costs are material.
  • Instant payouts may become a future premium option if provider pricing supports it.

Batch payouts may help reduce provider costs and protect Kaziworks margin. Instant payout fees should not be absorbed unless Kaziworks's net margin remains profitable.

Payout Holds

Kaziworks may hold payout when:

  • A dispute is open or unresolved.
  • Fraud, scam, or policy abuse is suspected.
  • The provider reports payment, refund, reversal, or payout issues.
  • Verification is incomplete.
  • Payout destination details are missing, invalid, or suspicious.
  • Off-platform payment attempts affected protection or evidence.
  • The payout amount is below the minimum threshold.

Held payouts should be reviewed through documented support or admin operations.

Failed Payout Handling

If a payout fails:

  • Kaziworks should record the failed payout state.
  • Provider references and failure reasons should be preserved where available.
  • Freelancer should be asked to review or update payout destination details where appropriate.
  • Support/admin may need to review repeated failures.
  • Ledger and provider transaction state should remain consistent.

No payout should be marked paid until provider confirmation is received.

Provider Payout Fees

Provider payout fees must be separately tracked.

Possible fee handling models:

  • Peach payout fee is paid by Kaziworks only if the remaining margin is profitable.
  • Peach payout fee is passed to the freelancer as a disclosed payout fee.
  • Peach payout fee is included in the freelancer platform fee.
  • Instant payout has a separate premium fee.
  • Batch payouts are used by default to reduce cost.

Provider fees must be passed through or separately accounted so Kaziworks margin is protected.

Peach Payments and PayPal Direction

Peach Payments is the approved primary payout and platform-payment direction for:

  • Payout operations.
  • Bank verification or payout validation where available.
  • Payment operations and reconciliation.
  • Featured project or subscription payments where escrow is not needed.

PayPal remains supported but secondary. PayPal payout support must be confirmed separately before implementation.

Legal Review Warning

This payout policy is a draft. It requires legal, compliance, tax, provider, and operational review before public payment launch.