Pay & Other HRish Things

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Pay & Other HRish Things

Employment at Will – Employment at Kit is on an at-will basis with both team members and Kit retaining the right to terminate the employment relationship at any time and for any reason. Nothing in this Handbook creates a contract or promises specific treatment in specific circumstances.

Work Environment – We are committed to providing a safe and inclusive work environment for all team members which is free from harassment (including sexual harassment) and discrimination.  We encourage anyone with a complaint to bring it to HR or any manager’s attention immediately. We’ll do an investigation and take necessary steps including up to dismissal if appropriate to ensure the work environment is safe and inclusive. An important part of any inquiry is working with the reporter or victim to get their input. They will have the option to be involved in decisions about the investigation process, and in decisions about consequences and restoration for the offender. However the decision-making power and responsibility will rest with relevant leadership after they have gotten input from all affected parties. We will always seek an outcome where everyone feels safe and comfortable going forward in their work environment. We value and work to promote an inclusive and diverse culture. We need and want the input of everyone on our team in order to make this a consistent reality.

We define sexual harassment as “conduct that is sexual in nature that has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.” We’ve further clarified the minimum consequences of misconduct falling under sexual harassment.

Hostile work environment is “conduct that is intentional, severe, recurring and/or pervasive and interferes with a team member’s ability to perform his/her job.” Hostile is “speech or conduct that is intimidating, offensive, abusive and/or otherwise offensive, going beyond rudeness or casual joking.”

Drug and Alcohol Use – We do not allow drug use (regardless of whether it’s legal in a particular state or country) at company events unless there is a prescription from a doctor. While we do allow alcohol at company events, we expect everyone to know their own limits and consume responsibly. The expectations of being respectful and contributing toward a safe and inclusive work environment do not change. Not following this will result in a verbal and written warning with the possibility of dismissal depending on the severity of the act.

Weapons – We do not allow weapons (whether real or fake) at company events including team retreats and Craft + Commerce. This includes knives, guns, or other dangerous items that could harm another person. An exception to this would be paintballing as a team activity, food prep and/or first aid. If you are found to have a weapon at a company event, the minimum consequence is that you will be sent home from the event.

Injuries and Illness – Report any work-related injury or work-related illness to the Ops team immediately.

Exempt-Non-Exempt – We classify employees as exempt or non-exempt for overtime eligibility and other purposes. This is determined by hitting a minimum salary threshold, being paid a salary, and job duties falling under a specified exemption.

Exempt means you are not required to track hours and are not paid overtime. Non-exempt means you are required to track hours & be paid overtime for anything over 40 working hours in a work week.

Overtime Pay – Non-exempt employees are eligible for overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Our work week starts at 12:01 am on Monday and ends at midnight on Sunday. Paid time off doesn’t count as hours worked.

Travel to and from work events counts as work time and time at a conference (except conference meals, free time, or other optional events/parties don’t count) toward work time unless you’re working during those times.

Paydays – Core team members get paid on a semi-monthly basis: the 15th and the last day of every month.

Contractor Guidelines – Any contractor we work with is required to sign a contract and confidentiality agreement prior to work commencing. This contract outlines the work they do for us as well as assigns the copyright on that work to Kit. We pay contractors on the 1st and 15th of each month. They’re required to send in a pdf invoice, along with their W-9. We pay all contractor invoices via bill.com (direct deposit) unless an exception is approved ahead of time with the Ops team.

Jury Duty – Because state laws around jury duty vary, we’ve made a simple process to make sure you’re covered without using vacation time.Simply let your team know as soon as you get your summons, so your team has a heads up that you may be out and can plan accordingly.

Steps to taking leave for jury duty:

1. Send a copy of your jury duty summons (both sides) to Ashley and your manager via Slack
2. Share the potential dates for jury duty in the Slack message to your manager and Ops
3. Block the dates off on your calendar and communicate with your team that you may be out those days
4. As the summons dates occur, send a reminder message and update your team if you end up getting selected or not.

If you get summoned to serve on a case that lasts longer than 2 weeks, please coordinate with the ops team on how that will work.

Hiring Process – We use an applicant tracking system to manage candidate profiles, interview feedback, and our hiring process. Our hiring process usually includes a phone screen, skills assessment, technical interview, and culture contribution interview. The Ops team reviews all offer letters before they are sent. We run a structured hiring process to help ensure all candidates are considered fairly and without bias, and we encourage applicants from all backgrounds to apply to our roles. We realize that some folks’ only interaction with Kit will be as a candidate in our hiring process, and because of that we try to create a positive experience for each person by sharing clear expectations and how to prepare prior to interviews. We also try to provide feedback – when asked – to candidates who make it the later stages of our hiring process.

Performance Reviews – A documented performance review is done with your manager and you at least every six months. Reviews are done through 15Five and include a self-review, manager review, and then a conversation where you both talk through your performance and reviews together. Feel free to ask how you are doing or ask for a more formal performance review at any time.

Disciplinary Process – Fortunately, issues with team members are really rare. If something were to come up, our process is straightforward, though dependent on circumstances.

This is not a progressive process, we can start at any step, skip steps, or go straight to dismissal – at our discretion.

1. A verbal conversation in a 1:1 that is documented.
2. A formal written warning with a timeframe set for improvement.
3. Harder conversations, unpaid suspensions, and possible dismissal if progress hasn’t been made.

We’ll communicate how you are doing in your role so there aren’t any surprises.

Benchmarking Salaries – In 2018 we implemented standardized salaries which means each job has 4-6 levels and each level has a set salary. These salaries are based off of Salary.com data that we pull during Q4 of every year. The Ops team adjusts and finalizes the salary amounts using the 75th percentiles for mid-sized cities + the software industry + companies with our same revenue, in order to reach the final salary figures for every role.

Raises – Raises are not required or the norm since we’ve implemented standardized salaries. Once you’ve hit the benchmarked salary for your role, the only way to receive a raise is to move up a level in your role.

Our annual salary benchmarking may also result in a small salary increase when the market data for a role increases. If the market data decreases, we keep our salaries consistent and do not decrease team members’ current salaries.

Promotions & Title Changes – Because we have such a flat company structure at Kit, we don’t place a lot of value in titles. That means wherever you are in the company – regardless of title – we expect you to set your own goals and effectively manage your own projects and time. That said, there are lots of opportunities for growth and new roles at Kit. We encourage you to start working towards the promotion/role you want to be in by demonstrating you want the role in lieu of waiting for something to open up someday.

Company Credit Cards – All US core team members are given a company credit card for all work-related expenses. We use a system called Brex and you will receive and invite to set up your account and order your card during your onboarding. We expect team members to use their Brex cards whenever possible for company-related charges. (If for some reason, you aren’t able to, you can charge something to your personal card and submit it for reimbursement.) Brex cards can be used for travel (retreats, conferences, etc), equipment purchases, and other needs. We expect everyone to be responsible with the company’s money, and to be prompt in uploading receipts and include all pertinent information so it’s easy to categorize expenses.

Expense Reporting – All core team members have company credit cards via Brex and are expected to upload their receipts in a timely manner. For more information about how to upload your receipts, read this Guru card.

Company cards are a privilege. If you aren’t able to use your card responsibly (uploading receipts timely with accurate notes), you may lose the ability to have a company card.

Reimbursements – If there is ever an expense that cannot go on a company card, it can be submitted to reimbursements@kit.com. All you need to include is a copy of the receipt, a brief description for what the expense was for, and the total reimbursement amount.

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