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Currently, GitLab provides the below additional benefits, in addition to mandatory state requirements. General GitLab benefits still apply. As part of the guiding principles, we will continously review our benefits design and offerings available through GitLab in Germany.
Join the #gitlab-germany channel in Slack for questions.
GitLab has introduced two supplemental Pension Plans for our Germany Team Members. GitLab offers a Support fund (effective 2023-04, GitLab contributions only) and a Direct Insurance Pension Plan (effective 2023-05, Team Member contributions with GitLab matching up to 1% via Allianz). Please see the below “Plan Design” section for additional plan details.
The plans are administered by our German Brokers at WTW. Please see below and the attached flier for additional details on the plan. Team members can also email this form directly to WTW (contact details on the form, email [email protected]) to obtain further support for the insurance tariff for salary sacrifice or request a consultation appointment with a WTW expert if needed.
Effective 2023-04 Support Fund Enrollment: Current full-time eligible Team Members will automatically be enrolled into the Support Fund as of 2023-04. Eligible full-time New Team Members will automatically be enrolled in the Support Fund, with their effective date being the following month their start date (new team members in 2023-05, will be enrolled starting in 2023-06). If for any reason a Team Member wishes to opt out of the Support Fund, please notify [email protected].
Starting 2023-05 Direct Insurance Enrollment: Team Members who wish to enroll in the Direct Insurance Plan starting on 2023-05 or on a future month will need to:
Please note: you can choose to update your elections or enroll in the Direct Insurance Plan at any time throughout the year. If a team member notifies Total Rewards before the 5th of the month that they want to join or change their Direct Insurance Plan election - their enrollment/changes will be reflected on the 1st of the current month. If they notify TR after the 5th of the month, enrollment/changes will be reflected the 1st of the following month.
Direct Insurance: Gitlab will match up to 1% of pensionable income, max 1% of SSCC towards team member's salary sacrifice contributions. - Employee contributions: The team member can elect an amount up to ~7% of the SCC maximum - Employer :Contributions GitLab Employer contributions will match only 1%. Please note: team members must elect at least 1% to receive the Employer Match.
Support Fund: GitLab will also contribute 1% of pensionable income up to SSCC, plus 6% of pensionable salary above the SSCC. - Employer contributions only
Fixed Adjustments: Salary is based on Annual Base salary; it is a fixed Salary and does not change throughout the year. Contributions are paid out monthly, but calculations are based on annual salary.
New Joiners to the plan will always be automatically enrolled effective the following month.
Support Fund Enrollment: Current Team Members will automatically be enrolled into the Support Fund as of April 2023. New Team Members will automatically be enrolled in the Support Fund, with their effective date being the following month after their start. If for any reason a Team Member wishes to opt out of the Support Fund, please notify [email protected].
Total Rewards will notify the Non-US Payroll Team, who will start deductions from your paycheck and WTW will notify Allianz to enroll you into the plan. Team Members should expect a contract from Allianz via post mail within 8 weeks of enrollment. If a team member does not receive a contract within the first 2 months of enrollment, please contact [email protected].
Team members interested in enrolled into the Direct Insurance Plan will need to complete the Direct Insurance agreement with your desired contribution and send it to [email protected] and [email protected] before the 5th of the month. Following receipt, the Benefits Team will countersign and confirm with WTW on your updated contribution change. As a reminder team members must elect at least 1% to receive the Employer Match.
If a Team member notifies Total Rewards before the 5th of the month that they want to change their Direct Insurance Plan contributions, changes will be reflected on the 1st of the current month. If they notify Total Rewards after the 5th of the month enrollment/changes will be reflected the 1st of the following month. Total Rewards will inform WTW and Non-US Payroll of the change and when to update the change. The team member will receive a new version of the contract (may take up to 8 weeks to receive the new contract), however in the meantime Payroll will update the contribution amount.
Team Members on Leave, including unpaid, maternity, paternity and extended Long Term Sickness (42 continuous calendar days of sick leave- 6 weeks) are not eligible to contribute on the plans while on leave.
Contributions will cease the month after the team member goes on leave. – For example if the team member goes on leave on May 2nd (i.e. they are active on the 1st of the month) they can continue the contribution for that month, the next month (June 1st) we will stop contribution. Contributions will start again the following month after the team member returns from leave.
When a team member leaves the company, Total-Rewards will notify Allianz of the GitLab alumni’s leave date. The alumni can then expect a letter from Allianz with instructions on how to update the insurer of the pension plan from GitLab to the Team Member. Please contact [email protected], if you have any questions or may not have received your letter from Allianz.
GitLab and team members contributions to pension, health insurance, care in old age insurance and unemployment insurance are mandatory, as required by the state system. The payments are calculated each month by payroll and are shown on the employee pay-slips.
Further information can also be found on the Germany Trade & Invest Website.
Effective July 1, 2022 GitLab provides team members in Germany Personal Accident Insurance Coverage with Allianz Versicherungs-AG. All team members are automatically enrolled.
Direct Entitlement is excluded from the plan, meaning the premiums are only taxed in the event of a claim payment. Insured value for death due to an accident is 1x annual salary- limited to 500,000 Euros, the insured value for dismemberment due to an accident is 2x annual salary for a 100% claim - limited to 1,000,000 Euros. For additional details please find the Fact Sheet in English and the Fact Sheet in German.
In the unfortunate event of an accident, please find the Group Personal Accident Flier in German & in English with information on how to report an accident and start a claim.
Accidents at work that are fatal or lead to an inability to work for more than 3 days must be reported within three days of the accident to our Berufsgenossenschaft VBG.
Further things to note: The injured team member has the right to a copy of the accident report and can request the final document by emailing [email protected].
GitLab does not plan to offer different Life Insurance Benefits because team members can access employer insurance and government pension schemes to help with payments in the event of a death of a family member. The GitLab Life Insurance plan still applies.
To initiate your Parental Leave, submit the dates in Time Off by Deel under the Parental Leave category. This will prompt the Absence Management team to process your leave. You can find out more information about our Parental Leave policy here.
Maternity Protection
Maternity Leave: Regardless of the length of service, under the Maternity Protection Act, pregnant team members are entitled to 6 weeks of leave prior to their estimated due date. If a woman does not give birth on the expected day, the period of protection before childbirth is shortened or extended accordingly. Team members may choose to opt-out of the six-week maternity protection period before their due date. This declaration can be revoked at any time with effect for the future.
The Maternity Protection period after the delivery is 8 weeks following the birth (or 12 weeks in case of multiple or premature birth and if the child is medically diagnosed with a disability within the meaning of sec. 2 para. 1 sentence 1 of Book 9 of the Social Code (Neuntes Buch Sozialgesetzbuch) before the end of eight weeks after delivery). Team members may not opt-out of the maternity protection period following childbirth. In case of premature delivery, the period of protection after delivery is extended by the period of reduction of the period of protection before delivery; if the child has been diagnosed with a disability in the sense described above, the period of protection after delivery is extended only if the woman applies for it. The team member will receive full payment during this period. GitLab may receive reimbursement of these payments from the team member's health insurance carrier. Please notify the Absence Management team at leaves@domain of your health insurance carrier name and your insurance number.
Under the Maternity Protection Act, a breastfeeding woman may request time off during the first 12 months after delivery for the time necessary for breastfeeding, but at least twice a day for half an hour or once a day for one hour; the woman retains the wage claim against the employer during the period of breastfeeding.
Parental Leave
Parental Leave: All team members who are or become parents are entitled to take up to three years of Parental Leave.
Regardless of the length of service, under German law employees may take up to three years of parental leave following the child’s birth, adoption or foster care placement. The entitlement is valid until a child reaches the age of three years. A period of up to 24 months may be taken between the child's third birthday and the completion of his or her eighth year of life. The parental leave can be distributed over three time periods, without approval of the employer. Distribution over further periods is possible only with the employer's consent.
In case a woman takes parental leave subsequently to the child’s birth, the period of maternity leave is credited for the parental leave. For expecting mothers, they may take the Maternity Protection period followed by Parental Leave. GitLab will provide full Parental Leave pay (provided the team member meets the eligibility criteria) for up to 16 weeks of the total leave (including the Maternity Protection period). The team member may apply for state benefits for the remainder of their Parental Leave.
Maternity Leave Payment
leaves@domain with the name of your insurance provider and Versichertennummer (insurance number).Parental Leave Payment
Applying for Parental Leave in Germany
Submit your Parental Leave in Time Off by Deel by selecting the Parental Leave option.
Part-time work during parental leave
During Parental leave, employees are statutorily entitled to part-time work (15 to 30 hours per week) if:
The request must include the start and scope of the reduced working hours.
For expecting fathers, team members will need to apply for a state benefit (Basiselterngeld, ElterngeldPlus or Partnerschaftsbonus). If a team member is eligible for Parental Leave, GitLab will supplement Parental Leave pay for up to 16 weeks of Parental Leave. Please notify the Absence Management team at leaves@domain which state benefit you are applying for and how much you will be receiving so that payroll can process the appropriate supplementary amount. Team members can find further information on parental leave benefits via the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth.
https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/benefits/general-and-entity-benefits/#parental-leave
Vacation Leave
Team members are entitled to at least 20 vacation days which run concurrently with GitLab's PTO policy. The days will accrue from the team member's start date. In general, team members must take their annual vacation days during the calendar year, otherwise it is forfeited. However, unused vacation days can be carried forward until the 31st of March of the next calendar year if the team member was unable to take the holiday due to operational or personal reasons. Team members must designate all vacation time taken as Vacation in Time Off by Deel to ensure that vacation entitlement is properly tracked.
Long-term care insurance was introduced on January 1, 1995 as an independent branch of social insurance. Comprehensive compulsory insurance applies to all those who are legally or privately insured. Everyone who has statutory health insurance is automatically covered by social long-term care insurance. Anyone who is insured in the statutory health insurance automatically belongs to the social long-term care insurance scheme.
Family Care Leave and Nursing Leave
Per the Family Care Leave Act and the Care Leave Act, in certain cases team members are able to receive partial or full care allowance as a wage replacement benefit. This is granted on request by the long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) of the team member in need of care. Please contact the German citizen hotline for health insurance at (030) 340 60 66-01 or the German Federal Ministry of Health at poststelle (at) bmg.bund.de for more information. Please also review the Care Guide
Eligibility:
This leave runs concurrently with GitLab's Sick Time policy. When partial paid leave is claimed, GitLab will supplement the team member's benefit so that they receive 100% of their pay for the first 25 days of leave. Please contact the Absence Management team at leaves@domain to ensure your eligibility and provide awareness of your proposed leave.
How to Apply:
Team members are entitled to 100% of their salary, to be paid by GitLab, for up to the first six weeks if they are unable to work due to an illness. This runs concurrently with GitLab's Sick Time policy.
Beginning January 1, 2023 team members with statutory health insurance are not required to provide GitLab with a hard copy of their certificate of incapacity to work (AU certificate). Instead, the health insurance company will provide corresponding incapacity data electronically and GitLab will then "call up" this data.
Team members are still required to report their absence(s) to GitLab, but AU certificates are not required until after the 3rd day of an absence. Beginning the first day, team members should notify their Manager first, and then enter the time away into Time Off by Deel by selecting the label Out Sick. After 3 days of continuous absences, team members should first notify the Absence Management team (leaves@domain) of their sick leave (including the start and anticipated end date) and then enter the time away into Time Off by Deel using the label Out Sick`. The Absence Management Team will then "call up" the AU certficiate on behalf of the team member.
We encourage all team members to meet with a virtual doctor for the certificate to avoid the need to leave home.
Infection Protection Act
The Infection Protection Act was recently updated with a few amendments related to entitlement to expanded children's sickness benefits related to the Coronavirus. Please review the current law of the Infection Protection Act (IfSG)and contact your doctor to see how it applies to your situation and family.
Key Date Reporting:
[email protected]
Claims Reporting
Cloudpay is the current pay slip provider. It is recommended to regularly download the pay slip pdf documents (German / English) and store them in a safe place. The provider also allows to access important tax documents:
Any post sent to our German entity address is forwarded to RPI based in Germany and then scans are sent to payroll, RPI payroll and Vistra.
Our legal council has the German company stamp and can stamp government forms for us. Please see 'Entity & Co-Employer HR Contacts' in the People Connect 1password folder for contact details.
During onboarding you may have been asked to set up your GitLab Gmail and your email signature using the following example as a guideline. If you are a employed by our German entity, you will need to add some company related details to the end of your email signature as set out here (accessible internally to GitLab only).
Some company related details are required to be added as a signature to certain forms of communication, where that communication is going from a team member employed by our German entity GitLab GmbH to outside of the company, and relates to GitLab's business activities. There are further details listed here (accessible internally to GitLab only).