Design principles
With transparency being at the forefront of our company values, we felt it’s appropriate to share the principles that guide our thoughts and decisions when crafting (and updating) our benefits, perks, and policies. The reality is that there are a multitude of organizations that can be compared to the way we do things, but we feel confident that our approach is optimal overall for team members.
The overarching theme that drives our people ops decisions is the idea that the company’s role is to provide ample benefits and perks, and the team member’s role is to manage them in the way that suits them best. We do this by affording substantial flexibility within firm and predictable boundaries that are objective, rather than arbitrary based on individual circumstances. What this means is setting clear expectations that consistently apply to all team members, and giving each team member the autonomy to decide how those expectations are met. Let us elaborate…
Paid time off
One notable example of this is our paid time off policy, which does not separate team members’ time off into different buckets like vacation, sick, etc. Instead, we provide a single bucket with a generous amount of time that team members can use however they’d like. This means they can use PTO to go on vacation, spend time with loved ones, participate in their favorite hobby, or just relax & do nothing! What this also means is that team members will eventually use PTO for the not-so-fun stuff like taking a sick day, attending a doctor’s appointment, reporting for jury duty, or arriving late due to unexpected traffic.
We understand that using hard-earned time off doesn’t feel great when it’s for unplanned circumstances, but we’ve designed our PTO policy this way in order to give team members the maximum flexibility possible when it comes to how and when they use their accrued time. Other companies often split time off into designated buckets, so even if the total amount of time off is similar, there are more restrictions on how and when time off can be used from each bucket. Here at Sparksuite, though, all we ask is that you properly account for your time spent away from work, and that’s it! That also means we don’t ask you to prove that you’re using time off within certain restrictions, like via a doctor’s note, which is a common occurrence for companies who have a designated “sick time” bucket.
Another great advantage of our approach is that it gives each team member the flexibility to decide how much of a cushion they prefer to keep with their PTO balance to accommodate unplanned circumstances. Companies with separate buckets usually decide the allocation of time off for each bucket, and that allocation might not match each team member’s own preferences. For example, you might only use 2 sick days one year, but if the company allocated 5 days to “sick days,” you aren’t able to use the remaining 3 days for other reasons—effectively limiting the way you redeem your time off.
Ultimately, we have determined the maximum amount of time off we feel comfortable providing, and then give team members the freedom and responsibility to choose how that time is redeemed.
Flexible working hours
Another example of offering an exceptional amount of flexibility is our flexible working hours perk. The start & end times you choose can change from day to day—no need to gain approval or notify anyone. Team members are also encouraged to take as many short breaks as desired throughout the day. The boundaries are firm in that we expect PTO to be used if you aren’t able to complete a full workday or aren’t able to start and end your day within the respective time frames. Combining flexibility with clear boundaries gives team members the autonomy to choose the hours that work best for them given their personal preferences.
Flexible remote work
Our flexible remote work policies give the opportunity to work from anywhere with reliable internet for all or part of a workday. We’ve designed this policy to be ultra-flexible by giving each team member full control over when they choose to use their remote days—once again, no approval or advance notice is needed. While other companies may designate specific days you can work remotely, we allow you to choose your days week to week; this avoids losing remote days when there are holidays or if you take time off. We also provide floating extra remote days that you decide how to use—whether it’s to save for unplanned circumstances or redeem as soon as they’re accrued. This design offers the maximum amount of flexibility and predictability by giving ample opportunity to work remotely and letting each team member decide how to make that work with their preferences and schedule.
Reducing uncertainty
One significant upside to using a more objective and automatic approach with our policy design is that it eliminates the uncertainty that’s often associated with the benefits and perks a company provides. For example, you don’t need to wonder if your manager will approve a request to work remotely or wait for approval on a last-minute request. At Sparksuite, as long as you have the remote days available, you decide when to work remotely. The same concept generally applies to other benefits and perks like flexible working hours and time off. We want team members to have confidence that they can make plans for when and where they work, without the uncertainty of whether those plans will be permitted by the company or their manager.
Maximizing benefits
It’s worth pointing out that your benefits stretch further here because our flexibility affords the opportunity to avoid using benefits in situations where other companies might require it. An example is if you need to attend a doctor’s appointment in the morning, the flexible start time window means you can come in later and still complete a full workday. Or you can start your day earlier than usual to be off in time to attend an event in the afternoon. If you’re sick but feeling well enough to work, but don’t want to pass that sickness to others, our flexible remote work policy allows you to work remotely without using PTO. If you get to work later than anticipated due to traffic, you can work later to cover that time as long as you give yourself enough of a cushion. We’ve even had team members take advantage of our flexible working hours and flexible remote work policies to work within our expectations from different continents.
Ultimately our goal is to promote a healthy work-life balance and offer perks and benefits that team members love. Because we recognize that team members have their own unique preferences, we design our policies with flexibility in mind to achieve that goal.