FlexAtThreads x Working From Anywhere
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that we can work from (almost) anywhere.
It’s 2019, your alarm just went off at 6am and you’re now hurriedly throwing on sports gear to get to the gym before you start work in the office at 9. You travel from the gym in rush hour, breathing in some eau du armpit as you cram in on the underground. You’re living THE city life.
To take your mind off the journey, you’re planning your next trip abroad, but you can’t go to the country you REALLY want to, because it’s such a long flight and you’d need three weeks to take it all in, and you don’t want to use three weeks of holiday, you’d get work FOMO. Plus, you need to think about visiting your family back home, and that’s another two week trip. Goodbye holiday allowance.
Does this sound familiar to you? Well 2021 has news for you. Things are CHANGING.
Times they are a’ changin’
Our final drop is our favourite so far. We’re excited because it really has something for everyone in it. Whether you’re hoping to take a much-needed trip to visit family in another country, and the quarantine time isn’t feasible, or you want to take that long-haul trip of a lifetime and live out your digital nomad desires.
Perhaps you’re struggling to get the cheap return flight and a couple of extra days abroad REALLY would make the difference (because you need the money for that Kaftan, priorities). Work From Anywhere has you covered.
There are lots of things to consider when you’re planning your trip. You can make requests through Hibob from today, and there’s some detailed guidance for trip planners and trip approvers to help you with the process. Kelly and Hannah are also on hand to help you navigate the requests.
What does ‘up to 45 days every six months’ mean
The reason our policy is up to 45 days, every six months, is because this is the maximum we can offer without getting into sticky situations with tax (both ours and yours). We did all the complicated figuring out, and we thought the easiest way to explain this was to say “you can request to go to another country for a total of 45 days in a six month period”. When this is broken down, it means that you could go to multiple countries, or go on multiple trips but the total number of working days outside of your country (or state if you’re in the US) of employment should not exceed 45, in a six month period. If it feels a bit like those algebra questions from school, the people team can help you do the calculations so you stay on the good side of the taxman (or person).
Who grants my holiday dreams?
About to press buy on your ticket to dreamsville? Hold up there and take a beat. Don’t buy your ticket until you’ve had the Work From Anywhere request (WFA) approved. That’s a one-way ticket to disappointment right there.
Any WFA request should start with a conversation with your manager. Let them know WAAAAY in advance what you’re thinking. The sooner the better, because they’ll have to consider everyone’s requests in the team at any given time. Once you’ve had that conversation, pop your request in Hibob.
Some departments will only be able to approve short stints, i.e a couple of days WFA as standard, but if you know in a year’s time you’re about to embark on a 6 week trip around Australia or you have a family wedding that you need to be there to help plan, and you have the conversation nice and early, your manager will do everything they can to accommodate you, and if they can’t you’ll know ahead of time. Easy!
The bottom line is, you have options and we categorically agree that the last 12 months has changed our perception of where you can do your job from. We’re here for that, and we don’t want to go back to 2019!
