Welfare Policies

Time off

Sick Leave

Parental Leave

Raising an issue

Grievance

 
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Time off

We’re building a high-performance organisation that builds a challenging product. We recognise that this requires a lot of hard work and our team needs to be healthy physically and mentally. There is an annual allowance of 25 days of annual leave available to you and we strongly encourage you to take the full amount. 

  • 25 days of annual leave per year
  • Holiday accrual period is 1st of January to 31st of December
  • You’ll be able to carry up to 5 days over into the new year. 
  • Any holiday above 5 days will be lost 

To request time off please use CharlieHR. The request will be sent to your Line Manager for approval. We trust you’ll use your best judgement when taking holidays but here is some guidance around notice periods:

    

Time                                                        Recommended Notice

Less than 1 week                                        at least 2 weeks notice

1 week to 2 weeks                                     at least 4 weeks notice

More than 3 weeks                                    2 months notice so we can prepare for your absence

 

How will it affect your team?

Having several team members away at the same time can make life difficult for everyone else. Try to plan for your holiday proactively to minimise the affect on your team and help others plan their time off too.

Our general guideline is that only 1 person per team may be away at any one time. If you wish to book holiday outside of this please raise this at the earliest opportunity with a director.

Ensure your responsibilities are covered whilst you’re away. 

 

 

Sick Leave

For sick leave please use the following guidelines

  • Don’t try to be a martyr. If you’re sick, take time off. We’d rather you stayed at home than come into the office and infect others.
  • On your first day off, send an mail/slack message to your team and relevant company lead to let them know you’ll be away and what you’ve had planned for the day. Aim to let them know as early as possible so they can factor your absence into their tasks for the day
  • Provide regular updates and an expected return date as soon as you have one.
  • If you are taking four or more days sick leave please supply a doctors note.
  • Please also add your sick days to CharlieHR
  • If you accrue five or more days of sick leave annually, we’ll set up a meeting with HR. Sick leave can sometimes be a sign of a more deep routed issue (such as too much pressure, unhappiness with role, unhealthy lifestyle) and a meeting will enable us to talk openly about the sick leave and look at ways we can help to improve the situation.
  • Support with mental state? 

 

Parental Leave

 

Maternity, Paternity and Shared Parental Leave

 

Maternity Leave

You are entitled to a minimum of 26 weeks and a maximum of 52 weeks of maternity leave - https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave

You must take a minimum of 2 weeks leave after childbirth. 

Please give the company notice before the end of the fifteenth week before the due date. 

 

Pay

We provide 2 weeks Maternity Leave at full pay followed by statutory pay for a further 37 weeks

The breakdown of pay is as follows:

  • 2 weeks at 100% pay
  • 4 weeks at 90% pay
  • 33 weeks at £145.18 or 90% pay which ever is lower
  • Early Return to work Bonus? return no later than 29 weeks and receive one months salary bonus?

There are detailed government guidelines here: www.gov.uk/employers-maternity-pay-leave.

 

Return to work

Unless you let us know otherwise, the date you return to work will be the first working after the end of the 52 weeks maternity leave. If you would like to return sooner, contact HR at least 8 weeks before you wish to return. 

 

Paternity Pay

We provide 2 weeks Paternity Leave at full pay and the option of shared parental leave. The paternity leave must end within 56 days of the birth.

The breakdown of pay is as follows:

  • 2 weeks at 100% pay

Government guidelines available here: www.gov.uk/paternity-pay-leave.

 

Shared Parental Leave

We provide two weeks Shared Parental Leave at full pay and up to 37 weeks at statutory pay.

The breakdown of pay is as follows if you qualify for SPL:

  • 2 weeks at 100% pay
  • 4 weeks at 90% pay
  • 33 weeks at £145.18 or 90% pay which ever is lower

The rules around SPL are fairly complex, government guidelines are available here: https://www.gov.uk/shared-parental-leave-and-pay.

 

 

Raising an issue

There may be times where you have experienced problems or have concerns about colleagues, customers, company leaders or the work environment. We want everyone in the organisation to be empowered to raise an issue and have it dealt with swiftly and fairly. 

Here are some steps you can take to take action.

Have a conversation with the person involved

The first thing you should do, if you feel comfortable and able to do so, is raising the issue directly with the person involved. This type of direct and informal approach is encouraged and we expect your colleagues who are approached responsibly to respond in a similar manner.

This approach may be particularly appropriate when dealing with matters of speech and expression, where individuals may not be aware that their behaviour is causing distress.

 

Ask a colleague or HR to intervene on your behalf

You may ask a colleague or HR to intervene informally on your behalf. In some situations, you may not feel able to directly approach the person, or people, involved. In particular, if you have a grievance with a director and feel unable to raise it directly, you should speak to HR.

 

Seek third party advice

You can also call ACAS on 0300 123 1100 who give independent advice to employees.

 

Grievances

Grievances are concerns, problems or complaints that employees raise with their employer. We follow the Acas Code of Practice on Grievance Procedures.

If a grievance cannot be settled informally, the employee should raise it formally with management, using the formal grievance procedure.

 

Step 1: Write a letter or email to HR setting out the details of your grievance. HR will investigate the matter. 

Step 2: HR will arrange a formal meeting with you to discuss the issue as soon as possible. You have the right to be accompanied by a colleague to this meeting.

Step 3: HR and company leaders will decide what action, if any, will be taken. The decision, and a full explanation of how it was reached, will be communicated to you in writing without unreasonable delay.

Step 4: You have the right to appeal any such decision in writing. The appeal will be heard within a reasonable time and include impartial staff who haven to already been part of the grievance procedure. The outcome will be communicated in writing.

Please find the Acas guide here: http://www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/l/c/Acas-Code-of-Practice-1-on-disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures.pdf