1️⃣Paid time off
👋 Introduction
Time away from work can be extremely helpful for maintaining a good work-life balance. Obvious encourages everyone to take time off when needed, and ensure that your colleagues do the same.
🏖️ Types of Time Off
1️⃣ Paid Time Off
You can take up to 21 days of paid leaves — think holidays, feeling under the weather, burnt out, etc. Apart from this, we’re also closed for public holidays.
Even if you are not planning to travel, it’s a good idea to take time off to rest and recharge. You could take a day off to do some spring cleaning or take some time for yourself at home.
2️⃣ Parental Leave
When you welcome a new child (birthed or adopted), Obvious encourages all full-time employees to take parental leave. This can be taken all together or spread over the first year of your child’s birth.
For new mothers: We offer up to 26 weeks of parental leaveFor new fathers: We offer up to 8 weeks of parental leave. Fathers can opt to take 12 weeks of paternity leave at 75% of their regular salary.
When taking parental leave, give the rest of the team as much notice as possible. The more that a team can anticipate the absence, the easier it will be to handle.
3️⃣ Menstrual Leave
Obvious offers paid menstrual leave for anyone who needs it, no questions asked. This is additional to the annual leave and therefore doesn’t get deducted from 21 days of annual leave.
A hat-tip to Nilenso from whom we have stolen this policy, the rationale and the explanation, wholesale.
4️⃣ Bereavement Leave
Obvious offers bereavement leave to any employee who wishes to take time off due to loss of a loved one.
Paid bereavement leave can be 15 days. However, different people process grief in different ways and employees can discuss how much time they need with their manager.
5️⃣ Special Occasions
For special occasions (think: your wedding, sibling's graduation, best friend's wedding) your manager can grant you an extra 10 days of paid leave. This is considered on a case-by-case basis.
6️⃣ Very Sick Leave
In case you're very sick because of a certain illness and need significant time to recover (think: dengue, chickenpox), the leaves you take will not be counted towards any quota. Talk to your manager so that we can help you in any way possible, and work can be managed accordingly.
💬 Communicating Your Time Off
Communicate broadly when you will be away so other people can manage time efficiently, projects don't slip through the cracks, and so that you don't get bothered while away.
1️⃣ Request your time off in Pause
Apply for time off for the relevant dates and share the reason for being away (if applicable).
Your request for time off will be approved by your respective team lead.
2️⃣ Update your Google Calendar
Use Google’s "out of office" feature and include the dates you plan to be away. This feature will decline any meeting invitations during those dates.
Set up an automated response and include the contact details of a co-worker in case anything urgent or critical comes into your inbox while you’re away.
3️⃣ Plan ahead for meetings
If you are the organiser for a meeting: Cancel, move, or find coverage for the meetings.If you are not the organiser for a meeting: Decline any meetings you will not be present for so the organizer can make appropriate arrangements.
4️⃣ Let your team know in advance
Letting your team know when you’ll be taking time off helps plan client work and project timelines better.
The rule of thumb is that the more time off you're taking, the more advance notice you should give your team and your Lead. For example:
If you're taking a day off, a heads up a day or two in advance is usually sufficient.
If you're away for more than three days, let someone know the previous week.
If you're going away on an extended vacation, at least a few weeks notice is necessary to ensure that we keep our clients informed and ensure that your time off is factored into their deadlines.
✅ Approving time-off requests as a team lead
If you discover that multiple people in your team want to be off at the same time, see what the priorities are, review the impact to the business, and use your best judgement. Discuss this with your team so you can manage the time off together.
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