Time off

In some circumstances Frits could request you to take a compulsory annual leave day as we will close the office entirely for a specific day. If this is case we will notify you a couple of months in advance.

4.2 - Annual leave 📲

At Frits we believe that people should have enough time to relax and recharge their battery. Therefor Frits' employees contracted to a full-time working week of 40 hours receive 30 statutory annual leave days per calendar year. If you’re a part-time employee, you will receive a pro rato number of annual leave days.

Employees who work for part of the year build up an amount in proportion to the entitlements that would have been accrued for the whole year. Upon expiry or termination of your employment agreement, you will discuss with your manager if you take your unexpired statutory annual leave days or get them paid out.

4.2.1 Vacation Days in BambooHR

BambooHR will show your balance based on 30 vacation days a year on a fulltime bases, as per your contract. If you are working part-time you will receive the pro-rata amount of 30 days a year. Each year, on the 1st of January, you will receive the full 30 days each year. Any unused vacation days will be carried forward to the next year.

4.2.2 Unused annual leave days ✖️

Any unused statutory annual leave days will be carried forward to the next year. Dutch Labor Law prescribes that the statutory minimum of 20 days will expire when not consumed within six months after the year they were accrued. If you have unused (statutory minimum) vacation days at the end of the calendar year, any vacation taken in the next year will deplete in the following order:

Any statutory days carried forward from the previous year;
The statutory days from the current year;
Any additional, non-statutory days carried forward from the previous year;
The additional, non-statutory days from the current year;

Please note that any non-statutory days will expire 5 years after the last day of the calendar year you accrued them.

4.2.3 Applying for vacation or requesting a day off

Planning an adventure or some time to refill the battery? Do the following to request your required day(s) off:

First of all discuss your planned leave with your direct colleagues including your manager, and get their approval;
Request leave through BambooHR (website or app). You will receive a notification when your request has been approved or declined by your manager. It will then automatically be registered in our HR information system.

As a guideline to ensure you don't leave your colleagues any surprises, we recommend time off requests to come in advance, at least one week before (when 1-2 days) or 1 month before (when 3-7 days) or at least 2 months in advance for longer holidays.

For all Fritsers working in the Operations team, please read your specific vacation and handover policy here.

Your annual leave balance will be monitored and if you have many unused holiday days, your manager may address this with you. We believe that taking enough breaks and vacation is good to refresh your mind and body and boosts your creativity level.

4.3 - Sick leave 💊

Not feeling well enough to come see your awesome colleagues and dial into your online meetings? You must be sick ... Please don’t spread the germs in the office, stay home and rest up. No one is immune to getting sick, so if you’re under the weather, do the following to let us know:

Call your manager, no e-mail / Slack / Whatsapp. Your manager will then register this in the system.
In case of any urgent work - please ensure you contact your the relevant colleagues to hand it over to. So we are making sure that work does not get lost and important things get taken care of by your colleagues.
Still sick the next day(s) or feeling better? Please keep your manager up to date.

A couple of side notes we would like to make here:

When your sick leave is more than just the flu, we would need to take different steps. When this becomes clear, we will contact the company doctor to start a a formal procedure. They will decide on a possible reintegration process on how to help you get back to work. You will be examined by the doctor regularly, apart from your own doctor. This process will always be started 3 weeks into your sick leave, at the latest.

When you are calling in sick more than 3 times a year, which is above average, we will have a chat to you to see if there is anything we can help with.

4.3.1 Illness during a planned holiday

If you fall ill during a planned vacation, you may request the relevant days to be changed in your record. To do this, you must report these days as sick days on the actual days. Please inform your manager as soon as possible so we can arrange this for you.

Incapacity for work (arbeidsongeschiktheid) has arisen during holidays
If the incapacity for work has arisen during the holidays, the Employee will be reclaimed the missed holidays, provided he has informed the Employer of the work disability in writing immediately and has complied with the regulations. This includes consulting a doctor and submitting a medical statement on the nature and duration of the illness. If, in exceptional cases, such a medical statement cannot be received, the Employee will have to prove the nature and duration of the illness, for instance by submitting invoices for medical treatment.

4.3.2 Holiday during a period of absence due to illness

If you are ill and wish to take holiday during your illness, you must have received approval from your manager before taking holiday. In special situations, the advice of the Health and Safety Service (Arbodienst) can be crucial in deciding if a holiday is allowed or not. In such a case, it is already agreed in writing that the sick days will be marked as holidays. The Employee agrees to use the holidays in case of illness in combination with going on holiday and will request the holiday in Bamboo. So when you are absent from work due to illness, you will accrue the same number of statutory holidays as if you were not absent from work. According to Dutch Labor Law, in general, these days for sick employees will also expire within six months after the year they were accrued.

4.3.3 Payment during sickness

So you can focus on getting better, rather than worrying about your financials. Frits will pay you 100% of your salary if you are off sick for the first 6 months. For any sick time exceeding 6 months, we will pay 70% of your gross salary which is in line with the Dutch Labor Law. Any benefits —like a compensation from a third party—to which you are entitled due to the illness will be deducted from the above mentioned full salary.

4.3.4 Sickness after your employment

Due to Dutch Labor Law, you have to report ill to Frits in the event that you become ill within four weeks after the end of the employment, if you’re not employed by another employer at that time.

4.3.5 Open consultation hours - company doctor

As an employee you are expected to be proactive when it comes to your own health. In line with that you can always take the initiative to contact the company doctor if potential health issues are (partly) work related. Please find more information here (in Dutch) if you want to use this service.

4.4 - Special leave 🌸

Generally speaking Frits will support you in everything that is important to you. We want you to be a happy Fritser and we will support you along the way. Taking your dog to the vet, a dentist appointment or getting married? Please take the time you need, and if you are unsure please speak to your manager.

We have set some guidelines to give you an indication about how much time to take off when certain life events occur:

Moving house; 1 day
Marriage / registered partnership: the day of the wedding and 1 working day following the wedding;
Marriage of parents, children, brother or sister: 1 day;

You can apply for time off in Bamboo for these specific life events.

4.4.1 Bereavement (loss of a dear one)

In case of bereavement (loss of a dear one), please take the time you need. We believe it is better to approach situations like this on a one by one case. We are here to support you! We ask you to discuss this with your manager.

4.4.2 Medical visit / Dentist appointment

You are granted the necessary time in situations where the visit cannot take place outside working hours, however we would like to ask you to book your appointments at the beginning or end of the day as much as possible.

4.5 - Emergency leave and compassionate leave 🆘

Sometimes you may need to deal with an emergency or an unexpected situation. In these situations, the Dutch Work and Care Act (Wet Arbeid en Zorg) will apply. Should you need to take time off for one of these situations, notify your manager of the reason for your absence as soon as reasonably possible, including the likely duration. You can register all the types of leave below in Bamboo. More information can be find here.

4.5.1 Emergency leave

Emergency leave is leave you can take when you suddenly and unexpectedly need to take time off. For example, a serious sudden family matter or a household emergency such as burst pipes. During such leave, you will receive 100% of your gross salary. Emergency leaves covers you for up to 48 hours. However, should the emergency last longer than two working days, please discuss this with your manager to find a suitable solution. More information can be find here.

4.5.2 Short-term compassionate leave

You are entitled to short-term compassionate leave if you are the only person available to provide care for a relative, flat mate, or a friend. Every twelve months you are entitled to no more than twice the number of hours you work in one week. When both emergency and short-term leave are applicable, the emergency leave shall terminate after one working day and will be converted into short-term leave. During short-term leave you will receive 70% of your salary.

4.5.3 Long-term compassionate leave

Long-term compassionate leave allows you to take care of a relative in your direct surroundings, who has a life-threatening illness. This applies when you are the only person who is able to provide the care at that time. Every year you are entitled to a long-term compassionate leave for a period of up to six times the number of hours you work in one week. A request for long care leave needs to be filed with the Talent Specialist at least two weeks prior to the start date of the long care leave. You will not receive any wages for the number of hours that you use for long-term compassionate leave.

4.6 - Pregnancy and maternity leave 👨‍👩‍👧

All female employees welcoming a child into the world are entitled to 16 weeks maternity leave to support pregnancy and motherhood. Frits will request a maternity and childbirth allowance from UWV on behalf of any pregnant team member that covers this 16-week timeframe. This means you will get paid 100% of your salary during this period. Please discuss the exact dates with your manager at least 2 months before the startdate of your leave and request in BambooHR on time. More information can be find here.

4.7 - Partner leave 👨‍👨‍👧

The partner is entitled to 5 days of 100% paid leave which can be taken in the first 4 weeks after delivery. In addition the partner can also take 5 weeks of leave in the first six months of their child’s life at 70% pay. The amount and duration of this leave will be discussed with your manager. Please request your leave in advance in BambooHR. Adoption and foster care leave is 6 weeks. More information can be find here.

4.8 - Paid parental leave (betaald ouderschapsverlof) 👨‍👨‍👧

From August 2022 both parents are entitled to 9 weeks paid parental leave at 70% pay which can be taken in the first 12 months after the baby is born. Please discuss with your manager, and request your leave in advance in BambooHR. More information can be find here.

4.9 - Unpaid parental leave (onbetaald ouderschapsverlof) 👩‍👧‍👦

As a parent, you have the right to take time off from work to spend more time with your child(ren). When you have a ‘lawful family connection’ with a child, you are entitled to parental leave. Every parent can use this (unpaid) parental leave once for each child younger than eight years old.

When you want to use parental leave, you should communicate this in writing to your team two months prior, including a start and end date of the leave and to which days the leave applies — this is subject to consultation with the founders. The maximum entitlement to parental leave is 26 times the agreed working week. This means that, in the case of full-time employment, the parental leave amounts to a maximum of 1040 working hours.

4.10 - Sabbatical 🌍

Every 2 years, every employee may take a 3-month sabbatical (the first possibility is after 2 years of employment). A request like this does need to be made at least six months in advance to your manager. Everything goes by mutual agreement. So it is not a right, but you really need to get approval from your manager. In fact, there may be a good reason from Frits to not accept the request.

On to the next chapter!

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