4️⃣Finances
👋 Introduction
To make Obvious a workplace worth being part of, we practice equal pay for equal work, offer our employees the benefit of using a financial planner and have a transparent expense policy.
1️⃣ Compensation
Driving principles
Fair and equitable: Everyone at the same overall level gets paid within the same salary band. This ensures pay parity and helps us stay aligned to being a bias-conscious workplace
Adaptable: Our salary framework will adapt and evolve with changing times
Competitive: Our compensation package will be equal to or more than the industry’s standard for that role and level
Getting paid
We make all salary payments on the last working day of the month. Additionally, every Friday, we clear all pending payments for the preceding week.
We deduct and submit taxes (TDS) on your behalf to the government towards your income tax. When you are hired we will get you set up on our banking system. Please make sure you go through the finance checklist which you should get about a week before your first day.
Compensation changes
Compensation changes do not follow an annual cycle. As indicated by quarterly assessments, there is an opportunity for every quarterly role review to see an upward trajectory. That means subsequent compensation changes can happen almost immediately. You can be eligible for a salary increment without being promoted, provided your mentor(s) recommend a salary hike.
People will spend at least a year at the start of each level. There is space to move up mid-level in a year’s time.
Obvious does not currently give bonuses for any reason.
2️⃣ Finance and expense policy
Like all small companies, Obvious is attempting to minimise expenses as much as possible in order to extend our financial "runway" for as long as possible. Most of our expenses—over 65% typically*—*are people-related: salaries, contractor expenses and benefits.
All team leads have business credit cards; if you need to purchase something, just ask one of them.
Guidance
Online services that save us time and effort are totally worth the money. We subscribe to a bunch of them: GitHub, Slack, Figma, G Suite, and Digital Ocean to name a few.
When travel is possible, please use Cleartrip, Makemytrip, or a similar service for good fares. If you have a long flight, it's OK to book an "extra room" seat in coach so that you can get work done. We'd advise being reasonable — no business or first class, super fancy restaurants and cars.
When travelling on work to other cities (If you are Bangalore-based) or travelling to Bangalore (If you are remotely located and are required to work out of the studio for a period of time),
Your travel and stay will be booked by the office, unless specifically requested by you, in which case, you can get the expenses reimbursed.
There is a daily allowance on food & cab expenses (to the studio from your hotel & back, if relevant). This is Rs. 1,000 per day. Unless otherwise specified & signed off by your function head, that is the upper limit on reimbursable expenses. To claim reimbursement, you can apply via Razorpay by EOD Wednesday on any week and the reimbursement will reach them by Friday of that week.
3️⃣ Financial Literacy
We have partnered with Insightful, a boutique, fee-only financial planner to offer everyone at Obvious free financial planning and investment advice. Once you have completed your probation period, you will have access to this along with all the other standard Perks and Benefits.
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