We understand that while you’re here, you’ll require some necessary breaks for things like vacations, family leave, scheduled holidays and just regular days away. We all need them! So, when you’re ready to book a break for any reason, this section will cover just about everything you need to know.
First, we have to just say it: We absolutely encourage you to take time off! While we enjoy our time with you, it’s important to balance your work and personal lives. We’re here to support you in that regard however we can.
Though we like to stay busy at InterWorks, there are select company observed holidays where InterWorks offices are closed and all full-time InterWorks employees have automatic time off with pay.
If a listed holiday falls on a Saturday, the office will be closed the preceding Friday. If it falls on a Sunday, the office will be closed the following Monday.
Vacation time, sick leave, and personal days all fall under Paid Time Off (PTO) at InterWorks. Your PTO pay is based on your pay rate in effect when your PTO is used and does not include bonuses or other special forms of compensation.
Your PTO account is managed and tracked in MOAS, our Time Entry System, where you can make requests and keep track of your available PTO. Please remember that there are busy times here at IW and your request for PTO may need to be adjusted given work circumstances and customer demand. It’s always best to make PTO requests as far in advance as possible. We are generally flexible with PTO arrangements, and you should never hesitate to ask about time off when you need it.
On your first day, 112 hours will be added to your PTO account. You’ll get an annual addition of PTO hours on your anniversary, according to the chart below. We assume that you will work with us at least until your next anniversary date, so your annual addition of PTO reflects the full accrued amount of PTO that you may use for the next 12 months.
Day 1: 112 hours
1 year: 152 hours
2 years: 160 hours
3 years: 168 hours
4 years: 176 hours
5-7 years: 192 hours
8-9 years: 208 hours
10-15 years: 232 hours
16-19 years: 256 hours
20-24 years: 280 hours
25+ years: 312 hours
On each anniversary date, a maximum of 32 hours are carried over to the next year. Any hours above the 32 hours that were not used will be paid out at your hourly rate on the next pay date.
We want to be as flexible and accommodating as possible. You can go into the negative for up to 40 hours of PTO, if needed. Just keep in mind, if you leave InterWorks with a negative PTO balance, you will need to reimburse the company per the following section, PTO Payout at Separation.
Accrued and unused PTO will be prorated from your last anniversary date and paid on your final paycheck. If the prorated PTO balance is negative, you will be expected to reimburse the company for the amount equal to your negative PTO balance. This can be handled by deducting from your final paycheck or can be paid via a personal check addressed to InterWorks.
NOTE: There may be state or local laws with different requirements that supersede this general policy.
We allow for up to three days of bereavement leave due to the death of a family member or close friend before using PTO. Please discuss this with HR and your manager. You may request the bereavement leave in MOAS in the same way that you request PTO.
InterWorks supports our folks with their civic duty to serve on a jury. Employees must present any summons to jury duty to their manager as soon as possible after receiving the notice to allow advance planning for an employee’s absence.
Employees will be provided time off for jury duty in accordance with applicable laws. If an employee is released from jury duty early, we ask the employee to report to work for the remainder of that workday.
Time off for appearance in court for personal business will be the individual employee’s responsibility, and PTO will be used for this purpose.
InterWorks recognizes that voting is a right and privilege of being a citizen of the United States and encourages employees to exercise their right to vote. In almost all cases, employees will have sufficient time outside working hours to vote. If for any reason you think this will not be the case, contact your manager to discuss scheduling. accommodation. Employees will be provided with time off for voting in accordance with applicable laws.
Busy times happen as part of our industry, we’re all used to this to one extent or another. However, we believe that repeatedly working late hours or through the weekends should not be an everyday or every week occurrence. When our business commitments require such efforts, we’ve created our Time Off in Lieu (TOIL) system to help even things out a bit as you meet those critical deadlines.
TOIL is not a 1:1 hour exchange program or any version of regular flextime. It is not designed as a method to adjust your personal working hours, e.g., choosing to work ten hours on Thursday in order to leave early on Friday. We aren’t trying to balance out one day against another.
TOIL is not designed to compensate for travel time to and from our offices and/or client locations. We understand that travel can be demanding, and we work to manage this in a variety of other ways, but not through the use of TOIL.
TOIL is there to help those forced by project or client demands to work an inordinate amount of time and at odd hours to meet those demands.
If you believe your day or week qualifies to be handled within the TOIL system, speak with your manager in order to work out the details.
Life happens, and there are several instances where traditional PTO structures don’t quite apply. Beyond the federally mandated provisions, we’ve tried to cover the big life events that require a different set of leave guidelines, for example, let’s cover our Parental Leave policy:
We take pride in the family-friendly environment at InterWorks, and we recognize the special challenges you may face when your family is growing. To help, we offer paid time off for parents of newborn and newly adopted children who have recently moved to your home.
Eligibility
Any employee who, at the time of the eligible birth or adoption, has been a full-time employee for at least six months is eligible for benefits under this leave policy. Leave under this policy may only be taken during the first twelve months following birth (including birth by surrogacy) or adoption.
Paid Leave
If you give birth, or are the primary caregiver of an adopted child, you may take up to twelve weeks of paid leave at 100% of your current salary, followed by four weeks where you‘ll be back at work 50% of the time with 100% of your current salary.
If you are the spouse or domestic partner of the birth mother or of the primary caregiver of an adopted child, you may take up to four weeks of paid leave at 100% of your current salary followed by two weeks where you ‘ll be back at work 50% of the time with 100% of your current salary.
Notification
Please provide as advance notice of your intent to use paid parental leave to your manager and directly to HR. Also, please give as much notice as possible as to when you will return to work.
Additional Benefits
Additional leave benefits may be available based on local and state law. Paid leave under this policy will run concurrently with any available FMLA leave and may be used in conjunction with any short-term disability benefits to which you may be entitled.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that was established to assist employees in balancing their work and family life. It is intended and designed to give workers assurance that they will not lose their jobs in order to meet their personal and family obligations or to tend to vital medical needs at home.
Confidentiality
Medical information received for FMLA leave is considered confidential and shall be disclosed only to those involved in the FMLA leave determination.
InterWorks Responsibility
Required to provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave, job protection and continued health care benefits.
Employee Responsibility
Requests should be made 30 days in advance of the need for leave. In the event of an emergency leave, notice to HR should be given as soon as possible.
Notice to the company is accomplished by emailing HR@. You may be required to provide a appropriate documentation and periodic updates during your leave.
Eligibility
Qualifying Event
Pay & Benefits During Leave
FMLA leave is unpaid. FMLA will run concurrently with qualified Parental Leave and Short-Term Disability where applicable. Available PTO balances may be used while on FMLA.
Health insurance premiums must be paid by you during FMLA leave. A premium payment plan must be set up through HR before the FMLA leave begins.
Return to Work
Please notify the company of any medically necessary changes in the date of return or physical restrictions that we may need to accommodate and provide the appropriate certification. Any failure to abide by this policy could result in absences counting against you, the employee’s insurance coverage being discontinued and/or disciplinary action up to and including termination.
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal law that was established to assist you in balancing work and family life. It is intended and designed to give assurance that you will not lose your job in order to meet personal or family obligations due to members in the armed services.
Employer Responsibility
InterWorks will provide 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a “qualifying exigency” and 26 weeks of unpaid leave for an employee to care for a “covered service member” injured while on active duty. InterWorks will continue health care benefits and provide job protection. InterWorks may require health care provider and/or next-of-kin certification for injured Service member leave.
Employee Responsibility
Employee Notice: When an employee requests leave based on the “qualifying exigency,” and the leave is foreseeable, the employee must provide the employer with “reasonable and practicable” notice. An employer may require the employee to provide certification that the Service member is on active duty or has been called to active duty.
When an employee requests leave to care for an injured Service member, when leave is foreseeable based upon planned medical treatment, the employee must provide 30 days’ notice of the leave, if the date of the treatment requires leave to begin in fewer than 30 days, the employee shall provide such notice as is practicable.
Provide timely, written notice for leave and certification.
Eligibility
An employee is entitled to take 12 weeks for “qualifying exigency” or 26 weeks of unpaid leave to care for a “covered service member” injured while on active duty during a rolling 12-month period, provided:
Qualifying Event
“Qualifying Exigency” arising out of the fact that the spouse, son, daughter or parent of yours is an active-duty service member or member in the National Guard and Reserves, or has been notified of an impending call or order to active duty in the Armed Forces in support of a contingency operation.
An eligible employee who is the spouse, son, daughter, parent or next of kin of a Service member or Veteran may be entitled to up to 26 weeks of leave during a single 12-month period to care for the Service member or Veteran who has a serious injury or illness that may render him or her medically unfit to perform the duties of the Service member’s office, grade, rank or ration (The caregiver leave provision includes veterans who are undergoing medical treatment, recuperation or therapy of serious injury or illness that occurred any time during the five years preceding the date of treatment).
Pay and Benefits During Leave
FMLA leaves are unpaid. Health insurance premiums must be paid during FMLA leave. A premium payment plan must be set up through Human Resources before the FMLA leave begins. Any failure to abide by this policy could result in absences counting against the employee, the employee’s insurance coverage being discontinued, and/or disciplinary action up to and including termination.
No person will be denied employment, reemployment, promotion or other benefit of employment on the basis of such membership. Furthermore, no person will be subjected to retaliation or adverse employment action because such person has exercised his or her rights under this policy. If any employee believes that he or she has been subjected to discrimination in violation of this policy, the employee should immediately notify HR.
Requirements
Return to work from military leave or reemployment after military leave will be granted according to the requirements of state and federal regulations. The employee will provide InterWorks with military discharge documents that establish the timeliness of the application for reemployment and length and character of the employee’s military service as soon as the documentation is available.
An unpaid personal leave of absence may be granted upon request to regular full- and part-time employees for important pressing personal needs, at the discretion of the CEO. Unpaid personal leave is limited to one instance per year.
Applying for Unpaid Personal Leave
Requests for unpaid personal leave must be made in writing to your manager with a copy to HR@, indicating the reason and the length of leave. All unpaid leave must be approved by the CEO.