There are a few areas of work that overlap or nudge up against your managerial responsibilities, but you won’t be solely responsible for them. Below is a list of those areas with explanations of where your authority begins and ends.
Policy at 37signals is that employees inform their manager and team of their Paid Time Off (PTO) plans, they don't request PTO. The difference is subtle but important; the former is how to treat responsible, capable adults. You as manager are responsible for ensuring coverage, if that's a concern for your team. And you're responsible for working with your report to ensure their cycle work is completed as scheduled, accounting for their plans. You should not be denying PTO unless there's a critical event happening that precludes any time off, and you should not be asking your report how they plan to spend their time. Of course if it comes up in conversation, that's fine! Overall your job should be to facilitate your report's preferred time off if they need help doing that, and getting out of their way if they don't.
37signals has a few paid leave policies that fall outside of the regular Paid Time Off benefit.
- Short-term and Long-term Disability. Employees transition to these policies when the company sick time policy isn't enough for their situation. If your report is taking frequent sick time to the point that it's disruptive to the team, escalate to People Ops. If your report is unexpectedly out of work or has plans to be out of work due to illness or injury for more than 7 consecutive work days, escalate to People Ops. Please don't advise your report on how to use Disability Leave without consulting People Ops.
- Parental Leave. All employees are eligible for Parental Leave when they welcome a new child. Escalate to People Ops when your report informs you of the new addition to their family.
- US State-specific Leave. Some US states have state-funded leave programs that supplement or replace 37signals' benefits. If your report asks you about any state-funded leave policies, escalate to People Ops without advising your report on their eligibility status.
- Sabbatical. Just like Paid Time Off, your report should be able to inform you of their plans for their Sabbaticals without fear of denial (unless there's a true business need for it). Work with your report to set them and their team up for success ahead of their 6-week leave, and do what you can to allow them to take the time when they want it.
Consult with People Ops immediately upon receiving a complaint from your report about serious conflict with another employee. They'll work with you to conduct a proper investigation into the complaint, keeping details as confidential as possible with all involved. People Ops will assume responsibility for taking disciplinary action when warranted and conducting remediation with injured parties.
Likewise if you receive a report of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, or hostile work environment, or you are informed that a complaint has been or might be made to a regulatory agency like the US Department of Labor or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), inform People Ops immediately and end the conversation with your report, citing the firm requirement to involve People Ops before proceeding, e.g. "I need to bring People Ops into this before we go any further."
Conduct complaints and allegations of labor violations are some of the most serious circumstances you can find yourself in as a manager. Please escalate both immediately so People Ops can help you navigate them.
Unlike most other companies, managers have no input on employee compensation. Salaries are determined by an annual benchmarking study performed by People Ops. 37signals does not offer incentive pay.
37signals' comp strategy is that it pays at the top 10% for the tech industry at San Francisco salary levels, regardless of where employees live. The comparison data is provided by Radford, and they gather compensation data from major companies in our industry and plenty of our smaller peers as well.
Some jobs at 37signals are not matched to Radford comparison data. Compensation for common technical roles like programming and design is reliably competitive in a market like San Francisco. For some non-technical roles, like Support, compensation is much lower and less competitive. To compensate for that industry disparity, we instituted a $77,175 salary floor. The floor is adjusted periodically to account for inflation.
The Radford data is reviewed once per year at the end of November. If it’s warranted (meaning the market rates in the top 10% have gone up for a role), we’ll increase pay on January 1 to follow suit. We don’t decrease pay, even if the market rates may have dropped. If that happens, salaries hold where they are until they come up again. Everyone in the same role at the same level is paid the same at 37signals, regardless of location or years of work experience.
People Ops communicates salary information directly with employees in December every year with letters sent through 37signals' HRIS BambooHR. People Ops will inform you, as manager, of what's happening with your team before sending letters. Your role in the salary adjustment process is to make yourself available for questions and to communicate any feedback of note to People Ops.
Much like annual compensation, 37signals' profit sharing benefit is determined by a formula that requires no input or interpretation from managers. However, you should be available for any questions from your team, communicate any substantive feedback from your team to People Ops, and reiterate the details of the profit share policies.
37signals shares 10% of its annual company profits with its employees, which is distributed in shares based on tenure. Profits are distributed after the books are closed on the previous fiscal year, usually around March 15. Employees become eligible for profit sharing after two years of working at 37signals. They accrue one share per month starting the month following their second anniversary with the company, and they max out at 10 years. Shares are calculated based on months of tenure so there’s no unfair cliff between being hired in December vs January.
Year to year, profits and therefore the amount shared with employees may swing wildly or not be paid out at all. Compensation from the profit share program is not something your report should factor into their home budget. The company isn't planning on abandoning the profit share benefit, but it's always a possibility for your report to keep in mind. If your report leaves the company by resignation or termination, they immediately forfeit their shares in the program. The company won't negotiate a payout, no matter how close to the distribution date they resign or are terminated.