VA Policies (Pakistan)

All questions over policy should be directed to management. Deviation from policy is more likely to be accepted if you also offer a solution along w/ the deviation request. Make it easy for Alex & Bailey to say yes and they probably will.
  • Ex. "Can I leave early on Friday if I come in to work early on Mon?" is much more likely to be approved than "Can I leave early on Friday?"
  • Ex. "Can I work from home on Tues if I guarantee to accomplish {SET OF TASKS}?" is much more likely to be approved than "Can I work from home on Tues?"

Paid Holidays

If the number of holidays for team members in Pakistan runs exceeds 8, additional time can be pulled from PTO.
  1. 8 Eid holidays (consecutive 4 days off occurring twice/year)
  2. Kashmir Day (5th Feb)
  3. Pakistan Day (23rd Mar)
  4. Labour Day (1st May)
  5. Independence Day (14th Aug)
  6. Ashura (10th Muharram-Islamic Year)

Eid

We understand and celebrate that Eid is an important time of the year (twice per year). It's very similar to Thanksgiving and the Christmas / New Year time in the US. It's a time to spend with family and loved ones and to celebrate. In the US, not much work is done during Thanksgiving and Christmas / New Year (collectively referred to as "The Holidays".) The problem is that Eid falls during times in the US where much work is accomplished and we can't shut the office down during that time. We tell our agents and staff that work will be done "on a skeleton crew" during Eid and that you guys are celebrating. Everyone is sensitive to this and understands. Please be aware that critical work must still be accomplished in Pakistan during this time.

Paid Time Off Policy

  • Unlimited PTO is allowed. You can set "working vacations" which are easier to accomplish and "unplugged vacations" which are encouraged at least once/year.
    • PTO generally requires help/coverage from others. Present your plan for minimal disruption when you ask for PTO.
  • Must be approved by management in writing (email) at least 2 weeks in advance.
  • Sick PTO days are exempted from the 2 week advance notice rule. We may ask for a doctor's note (but generally don't). Please stay home if you're sick.
  • Key employees can generally not be approved for PTO at the same time. (Exceptions are emergencies and possibly Christmas/Thanksgiving, but there will be availability requirements for this to be approved.)

Weekend Hours
  • If someone ends up working over the weekend (beyond phone calls/emails), then we will balance that with equivalent time off during the week, i.e. if you track 1 hour of weekend work, you can take off an hour early one day during the week, as long as all tasks are completed.
  • We are instructing Abel to handle all work orders over the weekend and to only alert SLM/Antonio if there's a true emergency.

Pak-based VAs Job Schedule + Daylight Saving Time

As per company policy, client-facing VAs need to start no earlier than 8 AM Central time (whether that's Standard or Daylight Savings) and they need to finish no later than 7 PM CST. The USA follows Daylight saving time (DST)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time. So here in Pak, we need to make sure we're following accordingly.

Bilal will inform VAs when the shift occurs. Here are the timings (in UTC+05:00/PST/Pakistan Standard Time) that VAs need to follow.

  • In DST: 6 PM - 3 AM
  • In Standard: 7 PM - 4 AM 

Note: The email signatures always need to be updated to reflect what time they're working in Central Time. Bear in mind that everyone in the US assumes that everyone is on Standard or Daylight Saving Time based on whatever the US is on.

Emailing on US Federal Holidays

On the following days (if these days are Monday through Friday) :
  1. Christmas Day
  2. Good Friday
  3. Memorial Day
  4. Labor Day
  5. 4th of July
  6. Thanksgiving Day

Very few US-based people (clients, agents, team members) will be expecting emails on these dates, and we want to avoid bothering people on these holidays. Please send time-sensitive and critical emails as usual, but for anything that is not time-sensitive or critical, please aim to send out these emails either the day before or 1 business day after these holidays. You can use Gmail's native email scheduling for this: https://www.howtogeek.com/413377/how-to-schedule-sending-an-email-in-gmail/

Use your best judgment here. If it can wait a day, then wait. If not sending out a particular message would mess things up, then please send it. The idea is to 1. avoid bugging people on holidays while 2. making sure everything is covered.

Daily Standups

Standups are an integral part of working with a remote team. All Bramlett employees are required to perform daily standups. At first, they seem like a TPS Report, but over time, most everyone finds value in Standups' ability to help you organize your own day and communicate to the team what your day looks like, so that they can better plan their own days. (A great way for a team member to see if they should ask for a favor or not.)

Morning Standups: As soon as you get into the office or to your work station to begin work, send an email titled "Daily Standup - {MONTH/DAY}". Say something like "On seat" and then give a quick bullet list of what you plan to work on that day. If it makes sense to organize a before/after lunch set of bullets, please do so.

EOD Standups: When you're done working for the day, reply to your morning standup with something like "Done for the day" and then give a bullet list of what you accomplished that day. If you weren't able to get to something you planned to, include a list of what you didn't accomplish that day, why you didn't accomplish it, and when you will complete it. If it's critical, please message management separately to notify them.

If you don't complete a task, please don't be afraid to note this down, in fact we encourage it. These standups are not for any punitive process; they are intended to communicate workloads in case someone is getting overloaded and needs assistance! Sometimes, not everything can get completed, it happens! Because of this, it's good to communicate so we can identify areas where team members can assist. If you see another teammate struggling and you have free time, please feel free to offer help!

Standup FAQs
Q: What if I forget to do my morning or afternoon standup?
A: Complete the standup as soon as you remember and post the time you actually quit working.

Q: Is our standup our time sheet?
A: No. If you're an hourly employee, you'll have a separate time sheet. (See below.)

***Please comment any other common questions here and we'll add answers to the doc.***
 

Employee Misconduct

We all want to have a healthy and productive work environment, but sometimes that isn't always going to be the case. Please note that the following issues are classified as misconduct.

In the interest of keeping standards of excellence, please notify leadership if you find another employee showing difficulty in meeting company policies. We want everyone to be happy and successful, and are ready to compassionately work with anyone to help bring them in line with company values. Additionally, if you find yourself having difficulty in your own workload due to another employee, we want to work to fix this.

General/Minor Misconduct

The following are instances of general/minor misconduct and consistent presence of the issues below may warrant dismissal. Any employee found to be conducting themselves in a way that isn't in line with expectations will be issued a formal warning. If the issues persist after formal discussions, then the employee may be dismissed.

  • Persistent lateness
  • Not completing a piece of work on time
  • Not working the amount of time expected of an employee
  • Not following requests from a team leader
  • Missing stand ups
  • Lack of adherence to any company or role-specific policy
  • Not completing a task fully
  • Not completing a task at all
  • Not managing attendance correctly
  • Not following procedures properly
  • Not notifying team or leadership of planned or unplanned time off (emergencies are exceptions)

Gross Misconduct

Gross misconduct may warrant dismissal of any employee with immediate effect, without any notice. Gross misconduct can include:

  • Theft or fraud
  • Physical violence or bullying
  • Deliberate and serious damage to property
  • Serious misuse of an organization’s property or name
  • Deliberately accessing internet sites containing pornographic or offensive material
  • Serious insubordination
  • Discrimination or harassment of any kind
  • Bringing the organization into serious disrepute
  • Serious incapability at work brought on by alcohol or illegal drugs
  • Causing loss, damage or injury through serious negligence
  • A serious breach of health and safety rules
  • A serious breach of confidence
  • Not notifying team or leadership of planned or unplanned time off (emergencies are exceptions)

Formal Warning/Discussion

If any employee is found to be having issues meeting expectations, the formal warning & discussion will address the points below:

  1. What the issues are and examples of these
  2. How we & the employee can work to correct these issues
  3. When these issues ideally need to be corrected by
  4. Alternatives if the issues can't be resolved

Again, we love making sure everyone on our team is happy & successful and are ready to take steps to help get everyone to that level.
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