Raises, contracts, hours and salary decisions

When is a raise considered?
We consider salary raises once a year, the first time being 12 months after you started at Springest. Besides this yearly moment, a raise may be considered (or requested) when a significant core role change has been made. The  Salary structure, budget & communication  role is accountable for considering and deciding on salary heights.
For certain roles, a division between  junior / medior / senior level  has been made by the Lead Link. Clear criteria prescribe at which level any role holder operates. A raise is also considered when the role holder reaches the next role level.



How gathering input for salary & contract renewals works 
When the due date for contract renewal is approaching, the  Salary structure, budget & Communication  starts gathering input. This is done by asking the core Lead Link(s) the following questions.  Employment contracts, salary administration & tools  will make a new contract if that is needed. 
Questions for Lead Link:
  • How indispensable is this Springeteer for your circle?
  • How is this Springeteer performing compared to peers / circle members?
  • How “heavy” is the role of this Springeteer in your role circle? Indicate per role from: 1. Min / Fun / non-core / supportive role to 10: The circle would collapse without this role.
  • Enough learned / progress within the Springeteer's roles in your circle?
  • Any relevant input from the 360 degree feedback you want to share here?
  • Are you in favor of renewing the contract for <<NUMBER OF>> months?
The answers to these questions are by default not shared. between core Lead links, as to not influence the response of the role that gives input. 
Note: The input of the 360-feedback is not to be used in direct connection to raises or contract renewals (great feedback alone is not a reason for a raise, neither is a lot of feedback a reason not to give a raise), but recognition and the kind of feedback is part of how we come to a full picture of someone’s position at Springest.
How is the decision for / against a raise made?
The Salary budget and communications role is accountable for checking whether a raise is due once a year and gathering input. This is done by assigning the core Lead Link(s) the following task:
Soon, it's been a year since his / her last raise, so possibly it's time for a raise again and I want to pro actively show that we care about that. I need your input as his / her Lead Link. 
Inflation will be corrected separately so you don't have to account for that. The question now is, does this person deserve:
    .1No raise, s/he just did a decent job to (if relevant) deserve a contract extension and working at a great company, learning a lot
    .2A raise, cuz s/he did a good job by growing, owning the roles very well and improving within them
    .3A big raise, cuz s/he did an exceptional job by growing a lot and owning the roles plus taking on more responsibility / autonomy in it or even new accountabilities / roles
All input is taken very seriously and when roles give conflicting answers, a chat is opened to discuss this with those roles. Salaries are a sensitive topic and treated as such, given all the attention they deserve (see more under header communication). That is why it sometimes takes longer than processing another task. We always strive to come up with the most fair number towards both Springeteer and Springest.

Budget
There is predefined budget available, with predefined maxima when all expectations are met. The  Salary structure, budget & Communication  makes the decision with the current salary, history of raises and the salaries of Springeteers that are comparable in mind. 
Communication
We communicate decisions on contract renewals and raises as soon as we can and at latest 30 days before the expiry date. If you have a three month contract, the notification day is legally one day before end of the contract, but we aim on deciding and communicating the decision 30 - 15 days before the end of the three-month contract.
The height of the salaries are not communicated to the entire company deliberately. We want to be as transparent - specifically about the decision making process - as possible but  research  has shown that it’s not effective or happiness increasing to be completely open about salaries. People tend to only compare to colleagues who earn more and not to people that earn the same or less. See Killian Wawoe’s presentation on the  Blaricum syndrome  (from minute 6.00 onwards, it's in Dutch) for some nice examples of this.
Never feel awkward about asking questions re salaries and raises. It’s always good to give your view on it and it’s treated with respect. Talking honestly to the Salary Structure, budget & communication and happiness role about your salary is always to be preferred to not daring to ask and feel not ok about in the meantime. Even when a raise request is turned down (that happens), it can be very clarifying on both sides to talk and explore options for later on.

Working more or less hours

If you are on a parttime contract but you want to work fulltime, or you need a bi-weekly day off for example, you can take the following steps:
  • Ask your Lead Link if there is room for more hours or how it would work with your work (and transfer) if you work less
  • Please note: for salary administration and clarity purpose: try not to change in the middle of the month (especially it's hard administratively to go from fulltime to parttime). If it's urgent we can find a way of course, but try to keep to the beginning of the month. Also, do not move hours every month, but stick to a fixed schedule: to avoid an overload of work in pension settings, reimbursements of travel costs and salary administration. So do not say: "working fulltime in March, then 2 months parttime and then fulltime again". If you need to work parttime super temporarily, talk to the contracts role about unpaid leave and other options. 
  • If you Lead Link is ok with more / less hours - after the Lead Links has an ok from the  Resources & Budget role  if it concerns more hours - make a task for the  Employment contracts, salary administration & tools  and add the following information:- Per which date will you work more / less hours- Tag your Lead Link so the contracts role knows he/she is ok with it and to confirm budget is ok.
  • If you want to work less in the Netherlands, because you had a child, check out your rights to  ouderschapsverlof   and let the contracts & salaries role know per when and how many hours you want to take up (and an ETA on how long)