Leave & Other Policies
Vacation, Sickness, Health Care, Parental Leave, and more.
This section gives a high-level overview of the various leave, benefits, and other policies at Octopus. It's not exhaustive, so check the policy page it links to for specific details.
Since we employ people in Australia, the US, and the UK, the arrangements for each are a little different. You'll actually be employed by a different company:
- Octopus Deploy Pty. Ltd. for Australian staff
- Octopus Deploy Inc. and TriNet for US staff
- Octopus Deploy Ltd. for UK staff
The US and UK companies are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Australian company. We don't hire people as contractors (except for short engagements), so everybody is a permanent employee.
In the US, we use TriNet, a professional employer organization. They administer your health benefits and payroll. It's a co-employment relationship; you're employed through Octopus and TriNet.
Vacation, Annual, and Sick/Carer's Leave
This varies by country. We've tried to standardize and harmonize where we can, but the legal requirements and norms in each country are different, so there are a few differences.
In Australia, we offer 20 days of annual leave, plus 10 days of paid sick leave per year. All public holidays are of course included.
In the US, we offer a combined 30 days of paid time off, which can be taken for vacation or sick/carer's leave. We also offer paid time off for a number of public holidays.
In the UK, we offer 25 days of annual leave, plus 10 days of paid sick leave, plus the mandatory government sick leave entitlements.
Leave needs to be booked into either Xero (Australia/UK) or TriNet (US).
Christmas/New Years shutdown
Between Christmas and New Years' day, there are a number of public holidays. Our customers generally aren't around, and many people take annual leave at this time, so it's impossible to get anything done. For this reason, we shut the company down during this period.
We do ask a few people to stay on to handle incoming tickets, but for most people, it will mean there will be 3-4 days of time off during this period, which will come from your annual leave allowance.
The Leave Policy page has the full details of our leave policy, including how to enter leave, how negative leave works, and so on.
Healthcare and Benefits (US)
In the US, we offer generous healthcare benefits through TriNet. This includes:
Employee
Dependents
Medical
100%
50%
Vision
100%
50%
Dental
100%
50%
Life Insurance up to $50,000*
100%
n/a
Long term disability
100%
n/a
We have two Healthcare plans to choose from, both through United HealthCare - one on a Choice Plus Network, the other is HSA Eligible. Full details can be gotten from the manager you're interviewing with, or from the TriNet portal if you're already employed with us.
Australia and the UK have functioning first-world public healthcare systems 😉, so we don't offer these programs there.
401(K), Pension and Superannuation
In Australia, Octopus pays the mandatory superannuation guarantee on your behalf to your nominated fund.
In the UK, we pay 5% of your salary to your pension on your behalf. The company also contributes an additional 5% that is not deducted from your pay.
In the US, you can contribute to a TransAmerica 401(k) fund. Octopus matches your contribution depending on what you contribute.
View the full details of our 401(k) matching, and how superannuation or pensions work, on our retirement fund policy.
Parental Leave
We offer paid maternity leave at 90% of your salary for the first 6 weeks. We also offer paid paternity leave at 90% of your salary for the first 2 weeks. You can also take any other accrued annual leave at that time. We of course also fulfill any other programs that the relevant government requires.
Last modified 1yr ago
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