People Ops FAQ

Welcome! This is designed to be a one-stop shop for all of your “hey, how do I…” nitty gritty HR needs. This is a living, breathing, document and is organized by functional area–then broken out into the different workflows based on your location (US, Canada, All other countries). If you spot something out of date, or have something you’d like to be added here–please let me know! These processes can and will change as we continue to grow. Heeeere we go!

Mental Health

I’d like to explore the mental health resources provided by SkyVerge–where do I start?

Everybody!

Head here to read more about the different mental health support and resources available to you.

Retirement

I just started as a full time team member – when do I become eligible to contribute? How do I begin contributing?

US

All new team members become eligible after 3 months of full time employment with us. Catherine will reach out via Slack once you’re eligible. You are not required to make any contributions at this point. You can also choose to enroll at any point after the 3 month period has passed! Catherine will get you started in the enrollment process. Head here for more details around our 401K plan. If you’d like to make any changes to your retirement contribution, you can do so via the Vanguard website. Navigate to My Account > Update Savings Rate and update accordingly. This will trigger an email to Catherine, who will reach out to confirm your contribution amount, and will then update TriNet, effective the date you submitted the new amount.

Canada

There is no eligibility waiting period — all full time Canadian team members can begin contributing at any point after their hire date. To enroll, fill out the RRSP enrollment form found here. Email that to 401K@trinet.com, CC catherine@skyverge.com. You can read more about our RRSP plan here.

All other countries

There is no waiting period for eligibility —  all full time international team members can begin contributing at any point after their hire date. If you’re actively contributing to a retirement or pension plan in your country of residence, or would like to start contributing to one–all we need is a copy of the documentation that shows your contribution amount. Email Catherine with a copy of that document, and we’ll confirm adding a reimbursement of that amount to your monthly invoice. Our goal is to offer parity with US/Canadian retirement plans, so we’ll work together to find a monthly reimbursement that fits that. 

Benefits and Payroll Set Up 

I’m a new team member–how do I set up my benefits and payroll? 

This is all covered in your onboarding course, but lives here for reference as well.

US

Within 24 hours of your official start date, you’ll receive an email from TriNet to log in. If for some reason you don’t see that email within 24 hours, please let me know. In the meantime, you can also follow these steps to log in for the first time:

“1.  Access login.trinet.com and use your TriNet employee ID or Social Security number to sign in.

2.  Your password is the last four digits of your Social Security number. If you’ve logged into TriNet in the past, even if with a different worksite employer, you’ll need to use your previously selected password.

3.  Read and accept the TriNet Terms and Conditions Agreement.

4.  Follow the prompts to create a new password and a secret question for password reminders.”

• Complete your I9
  • After logging in, you’ll need to set up your I9. Please note your I9 form needs to be completed within the first 3 days of your start date. To set this up, click the I9 icon on your homepage.
• Complete your W4
  • From the homepage, select Myself > Tax Withholding
  • Please note that if you don’t complete this section, you’ll be taxed at the ‘single’ marital status/zero exemption allowance rate.
• Enroll in benefits
  • From the homepage, select Elect or waive now.
  • There is no waiting period, so you’re immediately eligible to enroll upon your start date. You have up to 30 days to enroll or waive. Head here to read more about what we cover.
• Set up direct deposit
  • From the homepage, select Myself > Direct Deposit
  • It generally takes about two pay periods for your direct deposit to into effect. In the meantime, you’ll receive a paper check from TriNet.
• Confirm your personal information is correct
  • From the homepage, select Myself > Personal Data
  • Please review your email, home mailing address, and all other personal info, make any edits as necessary

Canada

Log into TriNet. You’ll first be prompted to set up your direct deposit. After this is set up, on the left hand side, you’ll find your Benefits and Payroll Forms. All benefit and payroll forms should be filled out and sent in no later than the end of your first week with us.

Payroll Forms: (2 forms required)

Form #1:  Money > Forms and Policies > Personal Tax Credits Return Forms > Federal Personal Tax Credits Return TD1

Form #2:  Money > Forms and Policies > Personal Tax Credits Return Forms > Provincial Form for which you currently work in. (Ex. Ontario Personal Tax Credits Return if you live in Ontario, vs. the Quebec Personal Tax Credits Return if you live in Quebec)

Benefits Forms from Great West Life and SSQ: (2 forms required)

Form #3:  Benefits > Resources > Benefits Forms > Great-West Life Enrollment Form

Form #4:  Benefits > Resources > Benefits Forms > SSQ Beneficiary Designation Form

Great West Life Plan number 160422

Benefit Class  – Class 1

Plan Sponsor – TriNet

Eligible date of Employment/Coverage – Your date of hire

Fill out and sign all four forms, and email to benefitchanges@trinet.com and benefitsaanalysis@trinet.com, and CC catherine@skyverge.com. Don’t forget to keep a copy for yourself too!

All other countries

For health insurance,  please email documentation to Catherine that shows your contributions to health insurance. We offer parity with US/Canada, so we’ll agree on a reimbursement to be added to your monthly invoice. 

For invoicing in general, you are responsible for submitting an invoice directly to accounts.payable@skyvege.com each month. You can read more about that process here.

Moving

I recently moved — what do I need to do?

US

1. Email Catherine with your official move date and your updated address. This can be done  in advance of your move! 
2. Update your address in TriNet: Profile  > Personal Info > Edit
3. You should be automatically triggered within TriNet to enroll in new benefits. If this doesn’t happen, call the TriNet Solutions Center at 1.800.638.0461. Their hours are M-F, 4:30am – 9:00pm PT.

Canada

1. Email Catherine with your official move date and your updated address. This can be done  in advance of your move! 
2. Update your address in TriNet: Profile  > Personal Info > Edit
3. Confirm if any active reimbursements are no longer relevant (i.e healthcare reimbursements if moving provinces, etc)

All other countries

Email Catherine with your official move date and your updated address. This can be done in advance of your move! 

Requesting Allowances

I’d like to use one of our allowances, what do I need to do?

Everyone!

You can read our more detailed expenses and allowances overview here. TLDR:

• For any software purchases, check with your manager first. Forward all receipts to receipts@skyverge.com 
• For any non-software purchases under $100, no approval needed. Just use your SkyVerge credit card (Amex for US folks, Brex for everyone else) and forward all receipts to receipts@skyverge.com
• For all non-software purchases over $100, please fill out the benefit request form. Catherine will reach out after that. Once you’ve been approved and purchased — please forward your receipt to receipts@skyverge.com

For all receipts — please include a description of what the purchase was when you forward the email! 

Requesting PTO

Everyone!

To request PTO, simply enter /vacation in Slack. That will lead you here:

You can choose to submit with or without a reason. Your manager will get a notification to approve/deny, and that’s it! Head here to read our full PTO policy. 

Requesting Parental Leave

Everyone!

Congratulations! You can read the specifics of our parental leave policy here. To begin this process, DM Catherine. You are welcome to let her know as soon as you feel comfortable doing so. We’ll work with each individual team member and your manager to align on the specific time frame you intend to take leave, and make a plan for coverage of your work while you’re out ????

Job Referrals

I’d like to refer someone to an open role, what do I need to do? What can my referral expect?

Woo hoo! We love referrals. To refer someone to an open position, all you have to do is make sure your referral puts your name down on their initial application:

Once your referral has submitted their application, shoot Catherine a DM with their name and email so she can keep an eye out for it! 

All referrals will automatically be moved to the email screen stage of our application process. Once they complete that section, they’ll automatically receive a phone screen as well. Don’t forget about our referral bonus! Any team member whose referral is ultimately hired on full time will receive a referral bonus of $1000! ????

Giving feedback

I’d like to give some feedback to my manager, leadership, or another team member. What are my options?

Everyone!

Feedback is a key foundational piece of our transparent culture here. To that end, we have a number of different ways to give feedback:

• Discuss in 1:1s
  • This is by far our most common and encouraged method for giving/receiving feedback between team members and their direct managers. We really value transparency, and believe that face to face communication is the best way to share praise and/or constructive feedback. You can read more about this in our 1:1 philosophy here.
• Public or private feedback through Lattice
  • To give public feedback, enter /praise in Slack. That will lead you here:

This will share your feedback with everyone in the #barb-beecher-fan-club channel. This is a great way to give shoutouts to team members so the whole team can celebrate them!

3. To give private feedback, open a DM with the Lattice bot and type ‘help.’ Choose Private Feedback > Give Feedback, which will lead you here:

Please note that you can choose from three different visibility options — team member, team member + their manager, or manager only. 

• Quarterly surveys
  • Each quarter, we send out a survey to the entire team to specifically solicit feedback on how the past quarter went. This is a great space to share longer form feedback. The survey is anonymous — no names/emails are attached to your feedback. The leadership team reviews all the survey results and discusses them at our quarterly planning meet ups. We lean directly on these survey results to make improvements and changes to company processes and policies, so candid feedback on what is/isn’t working is encouraged! Catherine also writes up a summary of the results and any related changes, which is then posted in the Company Basecamp message board.

• Lattice Pulse surveys
  • Each week, every team member receives a quick (3 questions, takes about ~2 minutes to complete) Pulse survey from Lattice. These are completely anonymous, with no names/emails tied to your responses. You can read more about how we use this feedback here.

• Reach out to Catherine or Max directly
  • If you’d prefer to share your feedback directly with me or Max, please feel free to send either one (or both!) a DM! We’re always available to chat through things, whether it’s async via Slack, or setting up a Zoom call. No feedback is too big or too small for this!