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At Spoke, the Compassionate Support Leave covers both bereavement and other serious personal circumstances that might affect your ability to work in the right state of mind.

We want to give you the time and space you need to recover, process, and take care of yourself, while also giving you support and understanding as a team. 💙

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In Summary

• Take up to 14 days of paid compassionate support leave each year. And if you need more time, let’s talk and find the best solution for you.

• You don’t need to take this leave all at once. Adapt these days to your grief process.

• We don’t need ‘proof’ of your grief. If you tell us something has happened and you need to take this leave, we trust you.

• Leverage our Wellness Stipend to cover therapy sessions.

• We will support your return to work. For example, if a slow return to work helps you, you can use your leave to work part-time.

• Your compassionate support leave renews on the 1st of January each year. </aside>

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Overview

Here are some examples of situations where you may discuss the use of Compassionate Support Leave with your manager:

• Serious illness of a family member, close friend, or pet, including medical emergencies or mental health crises
• The death of a family member, close friend, or pet
• Caring responsibilities that arise from any of the above situations
• Major unforeseen events such as a house fire, natural disaster, or the breakdown of significant personal relationships (e.g. separation or divorce)
• Pregnancy loss (birthing and non-birthing parents)

Leave duration

You can take up to 14 days of paid Compassionate Support Leave each year without requiring any formal documentation, and you only need to share whatever you feel comfortable sharing. If you need more than 14 days off, we ask that you discuss this with your manager and our Ops Director, so we can find the best approach together.

Since every situation is different, the numbers of days are a guideline, and you can adjust the days to suit your situation.

This leave doesn’t have to be taken all at once. Grief comes in waves and you might need another time in the future for days when you don’t feel able to work.

Depending on your contract type and local law requirements, Ops may discuss whether a medical sick note might be a helpful way to support your leave.

You can also decide to take unpaid time off if you wish; you just need to have a chat with Ops and/or your manager, and together we will work out the best plan for you.

Confidentiality and communication to the wider team

Any details you share about a loss or personal circumstance will be treated with confidentiality and respect. Your manager will work with you to decide what, if anything, you would like the wider team to know about your leave. You can choose to share as little or as much as you feel comfortable with, and whatever you decide will be fully respected.

Sharing any details with the wider team may open up discussions with team members who have experienced similar things.

Return to work

Returning to work after a break can be tough at the best of times, and we are here to support you.

Talk with you manager about how you would like the first few days/weeks to work.

If you wish to return to work on a part-time basis, you can do so by using the 14 days of paid compassionate leave.

Here is how it would work:

1. You can take full paid days off
2. You can work for a portion of the week and book the remaining days as paid leave
3. You can do one or the two combined up until you reach the maximum of 14 days.

Practical Information

Staying connected

During agreed periods of leave we will plan in some check-in moments to stay connected, discuss how you’re doing and for when you are ready to plan your return to work.

Compensation and benefits

Stipends

• You will maintain access to the stipends during your leave.

Holiday Allowance

• You will still accrue holiday leave during compassionate support leave. If compassionate support leave overlaps with pre-scheduled holiday you can reschedule the days.

Your equity and your yearly bonus

• Your bonus amount will not be affected during the time off when you’re entitled to your full pay.
• However, if you take additional unpaid time off, your bonus and equity will be prorated based on the salary paid during that time. This means that you will not accrue a bonus for the unpaid time off.
• More details about our bonus and equity policy can be found here.