How to request time off?

What is considered time-off?

Vacation, Public and Religious Holidays, Sick/maternity/paternity/bereavement leave, etc

Best practice for requesting time off:

• You are expected and encouraged to take time off periodically to avoid burnout

• Typically there is no time off for the first 90 days (F90) on a client engagement unless pre-planned or a religious holiday

• Plan ahead - request time off as early as possible, and ensure your team is notified with enough time to plan around team deliverables and impact

• Update your email, calendar, and messaging tools (e.g. Slack, Teams, Andela Chat), with out-of-office flags so teams are aware when you are away 🌴

• Let your Talent Delivery Partner know when you have time off approved by your client manager and submitted in the Andela platform.

How do I request time off?

Note: BambooHR is no longer in use for time off requests as of 01-Dec-2022. Access to BambooHR will be deprecated from December 1st.Time off submitted in BambooHR prior to that date will be migrated across to the new tool; no need to resubmit requests entered prior to November 30th. 

Time Off Process - Simple Steps

1. Speak with your Client's Engineering Manager about your time off request with reasonable notice for approval. This includes local country holidays.

• General guidance
  • • • If the client gives no separate guidance, requests should be made at least four weeks in advance.
      • For eight or more consecutive leave days at least two months notice in advance is required.
      • Follow any team protocols on the client-side for their specific team, such as sharing out-of-office days in a team calendar.

2. Process

• Schedule the approved time off directly in the Andela Platform.

3. Inform

• As a matter of courtesy, send your assigned Talent Delivery Partner (TDM/TSP) a message via Andela Chat, letting them know about the scheduled time off.

If you have any additional questions, speak with your Talent Delivery Partner (TDM/TSP), or submit a ticket to the Andela support team at help.andela.com.

Using the Time Off Tracker 

• An automated reminder email will arrive at your Andela inbox 2x per month

• The email contains a link to update your time off in the platform in <2 minutes

• The email also has a button that you click to confirm that your time off is up to date

Additional functions

• All time off history will be stored and remain accessible in the tool for future reference - no additional record-keeping required.

Please keep in mind: 

• Contractors are not eligible for paid time off and will not be paid for any days not working. This includes national holidays. 

• The default for requesting time off is always client preference. The “best practice” guidance above should be followed if the client does not provide additional rules.

• It is expected that all engineers follow the time off request process. Late requests should be an exception, but we understand that urgent situations can arise. In the event of any last-minute requests that arise, approval is at the discretion of the client and/or Talent Delivery Partner.

• If you book time off but don’t take it, you must update it in the Andela platform or via the automated biweekly email ASAP. Failure to do so will result in the time off being processed and deducted from your upcoming payment.

• Extended leave should not impact client delivery at the point time off is taken; if there is an indication that delivery could be compromised, there may be a replacement consideration. These circumstances are very rare, and we will work with Talent, and your teammates for coverage, and clients for the best solution.