Time Away Philosophy

GitLab’s Philosophy to Time Away from Work

Why Time Away Matters

Time away from work isn’t just beneficial—it’s just as important as your work ethic and can contribute to productivity. At GitLab, we understand that regular breaks from work serve multiple important purposes:

• Maintaining mental health and preventing burnout
• Refreshing creativity and problem-solving abilities
• Strengthening personal relationships and family connections
• Gaining new perspectives that enhance your contributions
• Demonstrating our commitment to sustainable, efficient and results-focused performance

GitLab encourages managers and leadership to model this by taking time off when needed and ensuring their reports do the same, fostering a healthy work-life balance across all levels.

When you return from time away, you bring renewed energy and fresh perspectives that benefit both you and GitLab. This makes time off not just personally restorative but prepares you to do your best work ever!

A Culture of Results and Sustainability

At GitLab, we measure impact, not activity. Our approach to time away reflects this fundamental value:

• Flexible working hours mean you can step away when needed without guilt.
• Regular life activities like going to the gym, taking a nap, grocery shopping, or helping loved ones are part of normal work-life integration.
• No glorification of overwork – not taking time off is viewed as a weakness, not a strength.

Not taking time off is counter to GitLab’s values because:

• It creates single points of failure – When team members don’t take time away, they become the only ones who understand their work. This makes the organization vulnerable when that person is eventually unavailable and prevents others from learning.
• It hinders documentation and knowledge sharing – Regular absences create natural opportunities for documenting processes and sharing knowledge. Without these breaks, important information often remains in one person’s head rather than being accessible to the team.
• It limits growth opportunities for others – When team members take time off, colleagues have valuable opportunities to step up, develop new skills, and demonstrate capabilities they might not otherwise have a chance to show.

We encourage all team members, especially managers and leadership, to set the example by taking time away when needed. By doing so, you create a culture where everyone feels empowered to disconnect and recharge.

Encouraging Meaningful Time Away

We believe that how you spend your time away matters too:

• Health and wellbeing come first – We encourage taking time off for both physical and mental health needs proactively rather than waiting until you’re depleted. Taking care of your health is a legitimate and important reason for time away.
• Public holidays – we encourage all team members to use their public holiday balance, and as a company that values Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, team members have the flexibility to elect different dates and celebrate what’s important to them.
• Extended breaks are encouraged – we recommend taking time off throughout the year in order to rest and recharge while also ensuring that you have communicated with your manager and have a plan for coverage while you are taking a break.
• Community involvement is valued – whether volunteering, voting, or supporting causes aligned with GitLab’s values.

Transitioning Back Mindfully

Returning from time away can feel overwhelming, but how you re-enter work is just as important as how you leave. Consider these approaches to preserve the benefits of your time off:

• Expect a transition period – It’s normal to need time to catch up after returning. Don’t feel pressured to work extra hours before or after your time away.
• Return with intention and insights – When returning from time away, resist the urge to immediately catch up on all messages. Instead, begin by applying any reflections or insights gained during your break to high-impact work. This approach, articulated by John Fitch—working on your projects before working in them—allows you to make meaningful contributions while managing the natural adjustment period. Consider blocking time for strategic thinking or creative work before diving into tactical responses.
• Reconnect intentionally – Schedule informal coffee chats with colleagues to reconnect, share experiences, and ease back into work relationships. In our all-remote environment, these connections require deliberate attention.

The way you return to work can determine how long the benefits of your time away last. A mindful transition helps you integrate rest and reflection into your ongoing work, rather than immediately negating those benefits.

Note: While this page focuses on our philosophy regarding time away, you can find detailed policies on all Time Off types (Paid Time Off, Sick Time, etc.) and Leave types (Parental Leave, Sick Leave, etc.) in their respective handbook sections.

Communicating (& Preparing for) Planned Time Away

At GitLab, we believe in taking time to recharge. This guide helps you prepare for time away while maintaining our values of collaboration, results, efficiency, diversity, inclusion & belonging, iteration, and transparency.

Communication Essentials

Knowledge Transfer and Work Continuity

On-Call Coverage

Please see the On-Call page for information on how to handle scheduled leave for someone from the On-Call team.

Summary of Best Practices: Results-Focused Approach

• Share PTO plans 2-3 weeks in advance or more when possible
• For global remote teams, coordinate with others to ensure adequate coverage during busy periods and ensure that your team is able to cover your workload while you are away by providing documentation and transition plans in advance
• Give team members advance notice at least twice as many days as your planned time off
• Remember that at GitLab, we measure results, not hours—taking time to recharge is essential to doing your best work

Communicating Unplanned Time Away

Unplanned time away encompasses various situations that require immediate or unexpected absence from work, including illness, bereavement, emergencies, or other unforeseen circumstances.

If an unexpected emergency occurs please contact your manager via Slack or email as soon as possible if you will be unavailable or unable to work. This will allow your manager to confirm your safety and reassign any critical work during your absence. Please make sure you’ve added at least one emergency contact in Workday. We will only contact your emergency contact if we are unable to reach you via Slack, email or phone.

After notifying your manager, and as soon as reasonably practicable, please ensure you have:

1. Entered your time off in Workday. If you aren’t sure how to classify your time-off within Workday (i.e. Out Sick, Bereavement, Emergency Leave), please reach out to the Absence Management team.
2. Update your Slack and Google Calendar. If you have the Time Off by Deel integration this should occur automatically after entering your time into Workday. Note: the OOO event will not auto-decline your meetings.
3. Set an out-of-office automated Gmail response including your away dates and identify someone to contact in your absence.

Workday: Single Source of Truth for Absence

Overview

All team members and managers (including those employed under a PEO and independent contractors) must log time away requests (PTO, Public Holiday, Out Sick, etc.) in Workday.

Workday and Workday Slack are the primary systems for all time away management. While integration with Time Off by Deel continues, all data flows from Workday to Deel.

It’s expected that you provide your manager and team members who may expect to work with you with as much advance notice as possible about your planned time off. When requesting paid time off, provide at least twice as many days of advance notice as the duration of your planned absence. For example, a 3-day absence requires at least 6 business days of advance notice.

For Workday questions, please use the HelpLab portal.

Key Features

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