How to take time off

Types of Paid Time Off

There are a few types of paid time off (PTO): Sick Days, Vacation, and Family Leave.

Sick Days

• Purpose: PTO due to a physical ailment.
• Request Timing: It is usually last minute and is not coordinated ahead of time.
• Approval: Sick time can be taken at any point without approval. If more than 2 consecutive sick days are required, it must be discussed with your manager.
• Amount: Unlimited.

Vacation

• Purpose: Vacation is chosen by the employee for any reason they desire. Purpose does not have to be disclosed.
• Request Timing: General rule of thumb for request timing is to request 2x the amount of days prior as you are taking, with the minimum being 1 week in advance. For example, if you are taking 3 days off, request it 7 days in advance. If you are taking 2 weeks off, request it 4 weeks in advance. The more time in advance you can request, the more time you have to work out any conflicts.
• Approval: Vacation is part of your compensation and you don't need approval to use it. With that said, coordinating with your manager to make sure all duties and responsibilities can be delayed or covered is essential to keeping operations smooth regardless of PTO. In some cases, the manager may have feedback about the timing due to specific projects or deadlines and will discuss options with you.
• Amount: 20 days a year.

Family Leave

• Purpose: Family Leave is intended for families that are introducing biological or adopted children into their family.
• Request Timing: Family leave should be coordinated 3-6 months in advance.
• Approval: Family Leave is part of your compensation and you don't need approval to use it. You also cannot be penalized because of taking Family Leave in the form of termination or pay reduction. With that said, it is a big chunk of time and major changes may be required to make it work, including hiring to fill the gap.
• Amount: 3 months. This can be broken up into chunks across a 1-year period.

How to Request PTO

• Ping your manager with the details (written is better than verbal)
• Describe dates and a plan on how duties can be covered if applicable
• Add time off request in Rippling
• Add time off to the Team OOO Calendar

Note: you are not obligated to share why you are taking time off or what you will be spending it on. You are welcome to share those details if you would like to for your own interest or if you feel it would be helpful to others.

How to Leave for PTO

This is a generic list that can apply to all employees and roles. There will likely be specific actions you can take before you leave for PTO that apply to your role.

• Set autoresponder for your email
• Set Slack status to OOO message
• Document any tasks that other people need to take and are not trained on
• Share project/task updates with your manager or stakeholders
• Share a second message in #all-ooo when you are signing off (people forget)

Working While on PTO

You are not expected to work while on PTO unless a special arrangement has been made with your manager for specific tasks. It is tempting to keep tabs and complete high-value tasks while on PTO, but there are many benefits to not doing that:

• You come back more restored (improves your quality of life and makes you more productive)
• We discover if there are tasks that no one else can do but you (something we can consider fixing when you return)
• We invest in the long-term health of you and the business (if we build a business that cannot let anyone take PTO, that business will not last)