Why?

As an organization, Hildreth Design & Associates (HDA) takes pride in the work ethic of employees and in fostering a culture of trust in which employees are given the flexibility to take time off as personal needs dictate. We want to reward that dedication with a flexible, unlimited leave policy. We recognize the need to rest and enjoy time outside of work, and we encourage the use of this time to refresh and recharge. 

Eligibility

The unlimited leave policy includes taking time off for leisure/vacation, to recharge and refresh, personal reasons (other than sick), religious observances, bereavement, voting, and volunteering. Employees should plan to use no less than 3 weeks per year. Any employee who fails to take at least 10 days of leave will be required to take that time at the end of the year. 

The policy does not apply to time off for sick or medical reasons as defined in the Sick and Safe Leave Policy or extended leaves of absence such as parental leave or medical leave. All legally established paid time off will apply under a separate appropriate policy. See Human Resources for more information. 

In the event of voluntary resignation, the employee’s termination date on file will be their last day worked. Employees are not permitted to extend their termination date by adding leave after their last day worked. Once notice is received of an employee’s voluntary resignation, leave will not be permitted in the 2-week period leading up to the employee’s last day. 

All regular full-time  employees, with contracts of at least 30 hours per week are eligible. Temporary staff employed through a staffing agency , for a specific project , and interns are not eligible for this policy. 

Appliclable Leave

Each full time employee (based on a 40 hour work week) will accrue PTO bi-weekly in hourly increments based on their length of service as defined below. PTO is added to the employee's PTO bank when the bi-weekly paycheck is issued. PTO taken will be subtracted from the employee's accrued time bank in four (4) and eight (8) hour increments. Temporary employees, part-time employees, contract employees, and interns are not eligible to accrue PTO.

Eligibility to accrue PTO is contingent on the employee either working or utilizing accrued PTO for the entire bi-weekly pay period. PTO is not earned in pay periods during which unpaid leave, short or long term disability leave or workers' compensation leave are taken.

Time that is not covered by the PTO policy, and for which separate guidelines and policies exist, include company paid holidays, compensatory time, bereavement leave, required jury duty, and military service leave.

To take PTO requires two (2) days of notice to the supervisor unless the PTO is used for legitimate, unexpected illness or emergencies. (Use the Leave Request form to request PTO.) In all instances, PTO must be approved by the employee's supervisor in advance. Employees should plan to give as much notice as possible when they expect to miss work for a scheduled absence.

Employees are responsible for monitoring and taking their PTO over the course of a year so that they do not lose time accrued when the current calendar year ends. (PTO is subject to supervisory approval and not every employee can take accumulated time in December; as this tends to be a busy time for HDaA and the company must continue to serve customers.)

Employees are paid for the PTO they have accrued at employment end. If an employee has used PTO time not yet accrued, and employment terminates, the PTO taken is deducted from the final paycheck. Employees who give two weeks notice of employment termination must work the two weeks without utilizing PTO.

Guidelines

Employees are encouraged to communicate with their supervisor and collaborate with teammates to ensure everyone has the opportunity to take leave without disrupting operations. Employees should take care of responsibilities before leaving and plan to delegate, reschedule or otherwise manage projects that will be affected by their time off. 

Employees are expected to submit a leave request through the time-off request system as far in advance of the desired time off as possible. In case of an unexpected absence, employees should notify their supervisor as soon as possible. 

At no time should an employee take more than 10 consecutive business days off unless approved by their supervisor in consultation with Human Resources. Unpaid leave will be utilized for requests exceeding 15 consecutive business days off (see Unpaid Personal Leave policy). 

HDaA will make all reasonable efforts to grant an employee’s leave requests; however, operational needs may override  leave requests to ensure adequate coverage of business operations. No leave under this plan may be taken or will be paid unless and until the request is approved by the employee’s supervisor and, where required, Human Resources.

Accummulation Rights

Under the unlimited leave policy there are no accrued annual leave hours; leave/PTO/vacation will not be carried over and accumulated in subsequent calendar years. The organization will not compensate unused leave and no leave/PTO/vacation time will be paid out upon termination of employment or otherwise. 

Reconciliation with Former Policy

Employees hired prior to January 1st 2024, day the policy was announced: 

Vacation Time: Employees who have accrued vacation under the previous vacation policy will retain their accrued vacation balance, after hours are rolled over on February 27, 2023. This accrued vacation may be used in cases of extended leave or other absences not covered under current time off policies. Any remaining vacation balance accrued prior to February 27, 2023 will be paid out upon termination of employment at the employee’s regular rate of pay, or as otherwise required by law. 

Personal Days: Employees who have accrued personal days under the previous policy will have access to the current Unlimited Time Off policy. Previously accrued personal days will not roll into/be paid out in the new year following February 27, 2023. 

Years of Service

As the job becomes more demaning and your work interwoven into HDaA’s structure, the recommended time off to ensure a correct work-life balance, increases as follows:

• 1-2 years: 96 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 1.8462 hours for each full work week in a year.

• 3-4 years: 112 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 2.1538 hours for each full work week in a year.

• 5-6: 128 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 2.4615 hours for each full work week in a year.

• 7-8: 144 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 2.7692 hours for each full work week in a year.

• 9-10: 160 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.0769 hours for each full work week in a year.

• >10: 176 working hours per year, earned at a rate of 3.3846 hours for each full work week in a year.

Holidays

While you are welcome to take a day off on whichever holiday you observe, the following holidays are the ones in which the office is closed, and consequently, no employee needs approval or is expected to report if there decision is to observe such holiday.

Approval for any other holiday, while approval exempt, needs to be reported, clarifying in the notes field: name of the holiday and duration.

Some time off does not qualify as PTO, as paid time off is offered as a benefit in addition to the standard PTO

life event time off

Maternity and Paternity Leaves are granted at 60% of the employee’s salary, for 7 consecutive calendar days. On top of this week, mothers will be able to claim additional time-off, through the short term disability insurance offered at no cost to you. The 7 days of time off will start the day of delivery, and will stop the day LTD starts coverage.

Fathers, or employees adopting will be able to use this benefit any time within the year after delivery or effective adoption date.

Jury Duty Leave

The company regards Jury Duty as a citizenship obligation. Employees called for Jury Duty will be extended a leave of absence for the duration of the Jury Duty services. The employee must submit documentation of their call to Jury Duty within 7 calendar days of receiving the notice to serve. The employee is required to report for work on business days when s/he is released from Jury Duty temporarily. The employee is required to submit documentation certifying that s/he attended Jury Duty. This documentation must be supplied within 7 calendar days of returning to work. DMG will pay the employee the difference between their regular salary and their judicial compensation (excluding jury member travel allowance).

Military Leave

DMG complies with all applicable federal, state, and local laws relating to military leave. Employees must give as much advance notice as possible of service in the armed forces to preserve their military leave rights. Advance notice may not be required if it is precluded by military necessity

Bereavement Leave

When a death occurs in an employee’s immediate family, all regular full and part time employees may take up to two (2) days off with pay to attend the funeral or make funeral arrangements. The company may require verification of the need for the leave.

Immediate family members are defined as an employee’s spouse or partner, parents, stepparents, siblings, children, stepchildren, grandparent, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, or grandchild.

The company understands the deep impact that death can have on an individual or a family, therefore additional non-paid time off may be granted. The employee may make arrangements with his or her supervisor for additional unpaid days off in the instance of the death of an immediate family member. Additional unpaid time off may be granted depending on the circumstances such as distance and the individual’s responsibility for funeral arrangements.

*if you are eligible for LTD, go to benefits 

effective Jan 1st 2024

This document establishes policies governing the reimbursement of travel, entertainment and other business expenses incurred during the conduct of company business, as well as the issuance and use of credit cards. It is the company’s policy to reimburse employees for ordinary, necessary and reasonable expenss when directly related to the transaction of company business. Directly related expenses are those in which there is the expectation of deriving some current or future benefit for the company, the employee is actively engaged in a business meeting or activity necessary to the performance of the employee’s job duties, or, in the case of entertainment, there is a clear business purpose.

Employees are expected to exercise prudent business judgment regarding expenses covered by this Policy. Reimbursement for expenses that are not in compliance with this Policy requires the prior written approval of the company’s Managing Director and/or President. Company employees are responsible for complying with this Policy. Employees submitting expenses that are not in compliance with this policy risk delayed, partial or forfeited reimbursement.

documentation

Each expense shall be separately identified. Original receipts are recommended for all expenses submitted for reimbursements under $25.00, but required if the amount exceeds such value.

Requests for exceptions to this policy should document extenuating circumstances and be approved by your supervisor. The company complies with IRS regulations, which require that all business expenses be substantiated with adequate records. This substantiation must include the following information:

1-Client code

2-Billing code (billable / NB)

3-Dollar amount3

4-The time and place of the expenditure

5-The business purpose of the expenditure

Approvals

Once completed, print the consolidated report by selecting “Print Entire Workbook”. Sign the PDF electronically, and submit to your supervisor for approval.

The Managing Director and/or President may approve expense reimbursement in the absence of the employee’s supervisor. Supervisors approving expense reports are responsible for ensuring that the expenses reported are proper and reimbursable under this Policy, the expense report has been filled out accurately and has the required documentation; and the expenses are reasonable and necessary.

reimbursement eligibility

The following are reimbursable expenses, as long as they are in compliance with the applicable provisions of this Policy, and are for business purposes:

- Hotel charges and related tips

- Airfare, train fare, bus fare, taxicabs, and related tips,

- Meals, including tips between 15 and 20% not to exceed $100.00 per day

- Charges for internet connectivity at destination or transit

- Car service expenses

- car rental is only to be used when car services are not an option

- Personal mileage, if using own vehicle.

- Toll and parking charges

- Conference and convention fees

- Business center costs (i.e., copying, faxing, etc.)

- Reasonable business entertainment expenses

- Other reasonable and necessary business expenses, not specifically excluded by this section

air travel

All employees are expected to travel coach class, and are encouraged to search for the lowest available restricted but changeable fare, rather than the fully-refundable fare. Personal frequent flyer credits may be used to upgrade travel class; however, no reimbursement will be made and no contribution recorded on behalf of the employee for the business use of frequent flyer credits.

The cost of cancelling and/or rebooking of flights is not reimbursable, unless it can be shown that it was necessary or required for legitimate business reasons (such as a changed meeting date). All unused airline tickets are to be promptly returned to the Managing Director and/or President. Employees must identify and pay for all personal flights, even if such flights are incorporated into a flight schedule that serves business purposes.

lodging

Prudent judgment should be used when selecting a hotel.

For all lodging expenditures, hotel receipts must be submitted; credit card charge slips do not represent adequate supporting documentation.

The company will not reimburse an employee for separate travel costs associated with his/her spouse or partner. However, the cost of a shared hotel room need not be allocated between an employee and his/her spouse or partner for purposes of this Policy.

rental cars

It is expected that reservations will be made for a compact vehicle, depending on the type of travel. Occasionally a mid-size vehicle may be appropriate when more than one employee will be using the vehicle. The cost of premium, luxury or four-wheel drive vehicles will be charged to the employee renting the vehicle and reimbursement will be made at the compact or mid-sized rate as appropriate. Employees are expected to accept “Loss Damage Waiver” coverage so that any damage to the rental car is covered with no deductible. Employees driving rental cars for business purposes will have liability coverage under the company’s business liability policy.

personal vehicles

Employees who utilize personal vehicles for business purposes are required to have a valid driver’s license and at least the minimum insurance coverage required by law. Mileage will be reimbursed at the currently allowable IRS rate. Miles submitted for reimbursement should be net of any normal commuting miles.

Primary insurance for employees who use their personal vehicles for business purposes shall be through their own personal automobile insurance policy, and will be responsible for any damage to the vehicle, as well as for liability.

The expenses related to gasoline consumed by personal vehicles are the responsibility of the employee. The owner/driver of the vehicle is responsible for all parking fines and moving violation tickets.

Credit Cards

Credit cards issued in the name of the company may be provided, at the Managing Director and/or President’s discretion, to those employees whose jobs require a significant amount of travel, entertainment, or business purchasing. Credit cards issued in the name of the company are a privilege which may be revoked at any time. Company-issued credit cards shall not be used for personal expenses.

policy exceptions

Generally, any exception to this policy must have the prior written approval of the employee’s Managing Director and/or President. Requests for exception should document extenuating circumstances or proposed overall savings to the company.

No policy can anticipate every situation that might give rise to legitimate business expenses. Reasonable and necessary expenses, which are not listed above, may be incurred. Each employee and supervisor must use his/her best professional judgment in determining if an unlisted expense is reimbursable under this Policy.