Paid time off

A Guide to Time Off

Mattermost is a high-performance, fast-paced startup where staff are empowered to do the best work of their careers. We love what we do and we love doing it from anywhere, working remotely and often blending our work and personal lives.

In many ways, Mattermost can be "the Olympics" of our professional careers, with the opportunity to grow and achieve far beyond anywhere we've worked before. At the same time, like star athletes, our growth and peak performance benefit greatly from the ability to interleave periods of exertion with periods of rest and reflection.

Planned Time Off ("PTO") is a process to help ensure our staff develop a strong practice of self-care by effectively rotating their time around work, family, friends and all the things that matter most to them. Mattermost is committed to supporting the well-being and work-life balance of our staff through our Unlimited PTO policy. This policy allows our team members the flexibility to take time off as needed, encouraging rest and making sure everyone is bringing their best selves to work.

Note: If you are taking Pregnancy or Parental Leave, please see Leave Policies.

Statutory Vacation Requirements

There may be statutory vacation entitlements in countries where Mattermost has an entity or EOR. At a minimum, staff must use their statutory vacation entitlement each year and it is the responsibility of managers to ensure that their direct reports are taking the required statutory minimum vacation. We understand there may be circumstances where, due to exceptional operational needs or personal issues, it isn’t possible to use up the full annual statutory vacation entitlement. Exceptions may be granted for vacation carry over in those situations or where there is a statutory requirement to do so. Statutory vacation day carryover must be approved in advance by your manager, Team MLT, and the People Team. Staff members should work with their managers to discuss a plan for booking any accrued but unused statutory vacation.

You can find the list of the different statutory vacation requirements for each entity and EOR location here.

Communicating time off

When you take time off (full days only) please do the following

1. Communicate your Planned Time Off (PTO) by booking time off in Rippling > Time Off > Schedule Time Off. You can also watch this short video on how to book time off in Rippling. PTO covers any number of things - including vacations, stay-cations, moving days, etc. When submitting vacation requests in Rippling, select "Planned Time Off". PTO is in addition to official public holidays in your region of residence. In some countries where there are statutory vacation requirements, public holidays are a supplementary entitlement.

2. For audit and compliance purposes, Time Off for EOR staff will also be recorded in Deel by the People team.

3. Statutory public holidays for FT Staff in entity and EOR locations (Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Sweden, US, UK) are automatically listed in Rippling. For all FT Staff outside of entity and EOR locations, please ensure to enter any statutory public holidays taken in your region of residence in Rippling > Time Off > Public Holiday to distinguish it from PTO.

4. If time off is being taken for sickness, including physical and mental needs, please enter these days in **Rippling > Time Off > Sick, to distinguish from other types of PTO. Follow the appropriate process according to the statutory requirements in your region of residence. If taking extended time off for medical leave or for other types of leaves, reach out to HR: [e-mail].

5. PTO requests must be "approved" in Rippling to show up in the "Who's Out" calendar.

6. Managers are responsible for approving their direct reports' time off requests in Rippling before they proceed on time off.

7. Be vacation-ready:

   • Assign PTO backups and list your PTO Backups in GSuite Vacation Responder

   • Rippling will automatically set your GCal status to OOO. Make sure to auto-decline new and existing meetings while you're away

   • Change your Mattermost status

   • Set automatic direct message replies in Mattermost.

   • Watch this vacation-ready video from Ian Tien, CEO of Mattermost.

   • Enjoy your time off!

Where to go to see who's out

• Stand-up channel
• Rippling homepage via the ‘Feed’ menu on your dashboard. Here, you will find information regarding who is out of office and who has upcoming time off scheduled.

• Rippling Who's Out Calendar. You can create an iCalendar Feed to link the Who's Out Calendar to your GCalendar. To configure this, go to your Calendar > Add other calendars > Select from URL option > Paste the calendar link and you're done!

Common time off questions

1. Is there really no limit? There is no limit to how much time off you can take when your work is meeting or exceeding expectations. We strongly recommend a minimum of 2 weeks per year.

2. Is PTO monitored? PTO is not monitored, but we encourage managers to ensure their direct reports are taking at least the recommended minimum of 2 weeks off per year (and/or the statutory minimum in their region of residence). Time off is reported in regions where there is a statutory requirement to do so.

Holidays

Please take off holidays relevant to your culture, resident country/region, and preferences. When doing so, please follow the time off process in Communicating Time Off.

Typical public holidays in our entities and EOR locations- Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, Sweden, UK, and US

We have entities and EOR locations in Australia, Canada, Germany, Spain, UK, and US, so below are holidays we’re expecting people from those countries to take off. Please see Communicating Time Off*

Entity and EOR locations holidays for 2025

Australia

• New Year’s Day (1/01/2025)

• Australia Day (1/27/2025)

• Good Friday (4/18/2025)

• Easter Monday (4/21/2025)

• Anzac Day (4/25/2025)

• King's Birthday (06/09/2025)

• Labour Day (10/06/2025)

• Christmas Day (12/25/2025)

• Boxing Day (12/26/2025)

Canada

• New Year’s Day (1/01/2025)

• Family Day/Islander Day (2/17/2025)

• Good Friday (4/18/2025)

• Victoria Day (5/19/2025)

• Canada Day (7/01/2025)

• Civic Holiday (AB, BC, ON) (8/04/2025)

• Labour Day (9/01/2025)

• Truth and Reconciliation Day (BC, MB, PEI) (9/30/2025)

• Thanksgiving (10/13/2025)

• Remembrance Day (AB, BC, MB, PEI) (11/11/2025)

• Christmas Day (12/25/2025)

• Boxing Day (ON) (12/26/2025)

Germany

• New Year’s Day (1/01/2025)

• Epiphany (Bayern) (01/06/2025)

• International Women's Day (Berlin) (03/08/2025)

• Good Friday (4/18/2025)

• Easter Monday (4/21/2025)

• Labour Day (5/01/2025)

• Ascension Day (5/29/2025)

• Whit Monday (6/09/2025)

• Feast of Corpus Cristi (Bayern, Nordrhein-Westfalen) (06/19/2025)

• Assumption Day (Bayern) (08/15/2025)

• German Unity Day (10/03/2025)

• Reformation Day (Bradenburg) (10/31/2025)

• All Saints Day (Bayern)

• Christmas Day (12/25/2025)

• Boxing Day (12/26/2025)

Spain

• New Year’s Day (1/01/2025)

• Epiphany (1/06/2025)

• Good Friday (4/18/2025)

• Labour Day (5/01/2025)

• National Day (10/13/2025)

• All Saint's Day (11/01/2025)

• Constitution Day (12/06/2025)

• Immaculate Conception (12/08/2025)

• Constitution Day (12/6/2025)

• Christmas Day (12/25/2025)

UK

• New Year’s Day (1/01/2025)

• Good Friday (4/18/2025)

• Easter Monday (4/21/2025)

• Early May Bank Holiday (5/05/2025)

• Spring Bank Holiday (5/26/2025)

• Summer Bank Holiday (8/25/2025)

• Christmas Day (12/25/2025)

• Boxing Day (12/26/2025)

US

• New Year’s Day (1/01/2025)

• MLK Jr. Day (1/20/2025)

• Memorial Day (5/26/2025)

• Independence Day (7/04/2025)

• Labor Day (9/01/2025)

• Veterans Day (11/11/2025)

• Thanksgiving (11/28/2025)

• Christmas Day (12/25/2025)

It’s up to meeting chairs to decide whether to reschedule if few people can attend (e.g. if a large number of staff will not be attending the meeting).