GitLab Commit Virtual is here. Register Now for our 24 hour immersive DevOps experience.
Gitlab hero border pattern left svg Gitlab hero border pattern right svg

Incentives at GitLab

  1. You are here:
  2. Handbook
  3. Incentives at GitLab

Can't find what you're looking for? Try the main People Operations page.

The following incentives are available for GitLab team members. Also see our separate page on benefits available to GitLab team members.

IACV Target Dinner Evangelism Reimbursement

As of Q2 FY21 we have removed the IACV Target Dinner incentive.

Discretionary Bonuses

Discretionary Bonuses per Team Member

The number of discretionary bonuses given divided by the total number of team members, in a given period as defined. The discretionary bonuses per team member target is > 0.1. This analysis can be found on the People Group Dashboard.

Discretionary bonuses are measured in BambooHR, as are the number of team members, in a given period as defined.

  1. Calculate the number of the discretionary bonuses per month
    • Pull the "Bonus" Report from BambooHR.
    • Add the report to the metrics spreadsheet. Remove all data for bonuses other than discretionary bonuses and those not within the last rolling 12 months.
    • Populate the Last Rolling 12 Months Expense Table
  2. Determine the percentage of bonuses granted for the Company
    • Using a pivot table, add in the count per month as well as headcount as of the last day of the month.
    • The formula will convert this to a percentage.
  3. Determine the spread of bonuses granted by Division
    • Using the report filtered in the first section, generate a pivot table around the number of bonuses granted by division for the metrics month currently under review. For example, on July 1st you would be looking at the June metrics.
    • Pull the headcount report to add in the number of people in each division for that month.
    • The formulas will determine the percent per division on bonuses granted
    • Review the delta of the percent of headcount granted a bonus and add it to the Prior Change Column.
  4. Outline any large deltas and note any takeaways for review at the next monthly metric meeting for People Ops.

Discretionary Bonuses for Individuals

  1. Every now and then, individual GitLab team members really shine as they live our values. We especially like to celebrate the special moments that exemplify the behavior we want to see in all GitLab team members.
  2. We recognize this through the #thanks channel, and sometimes also through a discretionary bonus.
  3. Anybody can recommend a discretionary bonus for a GitLab team member to the GitLab team member's manager for a $1,000 at the exchange rate.
  4. We are fixing this amount at $1,000 thoughtfully and purposefully. We want the focus to be on the value and the behavior, not on the perceived monetary impact to GitLab. This is about recognition.
  5. A general guideline is that 1 in 10 team members might receive a discretionary bonus each month. This can vary greatly as we don't give out bonuses just to hit a quota, nor would we hold one back because a certain number had already been awarded.
  6. There is no limit to the frequency with which someone can receive a bonus. If someone deserves a bonus a day after being nominated for one we should do a second one.
  7. As with other bonuses, only active GitLab team members can be nominated to receive discretionary bonuses. Should a nominated team member leave GitLab, they will not receive a receive discretionary bonus. It's at the discretion of the manager if they still want to publicly recognize the team member's behavior for the nomination.

Valid and Invalid criteria for discretionary bonuses

Discretionary bonuses are to celebrate team members that live by our values. To make sure we are recognizing the right behaviors, below are some criteria to help you decide if a bonus meets the requirements for approval.

Valid bonus criteria

Invalid bonus criteria

Example of a valid discretionary bonus The reason for the bonus is that this person (X, a Technical Writer) has single-handedly stepped in to act as a part-time documentation engineer in the absence of a full-time engineer.

The person's history of contributions is plain to see here: (Nominator included links to boards, issues or merge requests)

In particular, X's implementation of a Global Navigation and GitLab iconography for documentation are real highlights of X's impact for end-users. For developers, they have modernized the codebase and continues to work toward making gitlab-docs just like any other GitLab project for developers.

X's dedication to the Technical Writing team over a long period of time motivates me to do more than just thank X in #thanks channel. X has specifically:

Examples of invalid discretionary bonus

For managers: as a reminder, please make sure when you are submitting the bonus in BambooHR that your description is clear and includes the valid criteria data needed for managers and PBP to review and approve. Any bonus submitted that does not include clear and valid reasons for submittal may be denied and the manager will be asked to provide further content and details.

Process for Recommending a Team Member for a Bonus in BambooHR

We are currently testing a new process through slack for bonus requests. Please continue to use the BambooHR process until the nominator bot has been fully tested and implemented.

BambooHR Process

Any GitLab team member

  1. Write a few sentences describing how the GitLab team member has demonstrated a specific GitLab value in their work. Please make sure you have viewed the valid and invalid criteria listed above. The nomination request should tie to our values and be detailed enough to ensure that the nomination meets the criteria.
  2. Email that sentence to the GitLab team member's manager, suggesting a discretionary bonus, and set-up a 15 minute Zoom meeting to discuss your proposal.
  3. Remember that the manager may or may not agree and has full discretion (with approval of their manager) on whether that person gets a bonus. If you are a people manager and you are not approving the team members nomination for a discretionary bonus, in the spirit of transparency and collaboration, it is strongly suggested that you have a conversation with the team member on why you are not approving the discretionary bonus.
  4. Don't forget that you can also use the #thanks channel to recognize people, as well.

Manager Process

  1. Login to BambooHR.
  2. Navigate to the team member you would like to give the discretionary bonus to via the search field in the top right.
  3. In the top right hand corner, click Request a Change.
  4. Select Bonus.
  5. Bonus date: today.
  6. Bonus amount: 1000 USD
  7. Bonus type: Discretionary Bonus
  8. Nominated by: select relevant option
  9. Bonus comments: Include the justification details how the GitLab team-member demonstrated one or more of our values in this specific instance. There is a 255 character limit in this field. Please be as detailed as possible to ensure the approval chain has enough information to approve the bonus based on the valid criteria.
  10. Comment for the Approvers: Give the most relevant URL for the work they did, something interesting for others to look at.
  11. Submit the bonus request.
  12. Once the request is reviewed by the manager and People Business Partner for the group, you will receive an email from BambooHR with the subject line: "Your Bonus request has a response".
    • Verify the status of the request: either "Bonus Approved" or "Bonus Denied" You can also use this link to view the request to see if there were any comments (specifically if the request was denied.)
  13. If the bonus is not approved, please do not communicate your nomination to the team member. Work with the manager, or whoever denied the bonus, to understand reasons why your nomination was not approved. Please note there may be confidential reasons (e.g., performance, conduct) for denying a bonus that a manager may not want to share with another team member.
    • If nominated by someone other than yourself, let that team member know as soon as possible if the bonus was denied. Keep in mind not to share confidential details.
  14. Once approved please notify the team member outlining the reasons for the bonus. Please let the team member know they will see the bonus on the next available paycheck. If they are a contractor, please let them know to add this bonus amount to their next invoice.
  15. Lastly, you must copy and paste the justification and url into the GitLab Slack channel #team-member-updates to recognize their outstanding efforts (once the team member has been communicated to 1:1). Be sure to @ the person that's receiving the bonus as well so they're notified of the posting. Remember, a discretionary bonus is for recognition so make sure to take this final step.
  16. If nominated by someone other than yourself, remember to keep that team member updated on the progress of their nomination. Particularly on when you will announce it in Slack!

Approval Process:

  1. The Manager's Manager receives an alert from BambooHR and can approve or deny.
  2. The request is then sent to the PBP of the group and to confirm that there is justification comment in the Bamboo record.
  3. Once approved, the request is sent to the Total Rewards Coordinator to process the bonus in the applicable payroll. BambooHR automatically notifies the manager via email. If the Total Rewards Coordinator is taking time off, the Total Rewards Analyst will approve and process.
    • Approve the request within BambooHR and ensure the date and amount transferred properly to the BambooHR profile.
  4. Notify Payroll of the bonus by updating the proper payroll google sheet based on entity.
    • United States: "Payroll Changes", Contractors: "Non-US contractor bonus changes", Everyone else: "Monthly payroll changes for non-US international team members".
Nominator Bot Process

This process is currently being tested by the People group. Although everyone can access it.

Any GitLab team member

  1. Go to Slack and type /nominate name of the team member
  2. Slack will open a dialog and ask you for some details about the nomination. Use the motivation text field, to write a few sentences describing how the GitLab team member has demonstrated a specific GitLab value in their work. Please make sure you have viewed the valid and invalid criteria listed above. Don't forget that the nomination request should tie to our values and be detailed enough to ensure that the nomination meets the criteria. You can select the values it applies to.
  3. Once submitted, the bot will send this over to the manager to kick-off the approval flow
  4. Once everyone has approved the bot will report back to you with the good news. If it's rejected we ask the person who rejects, to reach out to you. That is not done by the bot.

Manager Process

  1. The Nominator bot will send you a Slack DM asking to approve or reject the nomination.
  2. When you decide to approve, all you need to do is click the approve button. The bot will take care of the next steps (sending it to the second level manager, PBP, Total Rewards team)
  3. When you decide to reject, click the reject button. The nomination will be updated as rejected_by_manager. The bot will ask you to reach out to the nominator as to make sure they understand why the nomination was not approved.
  4. When everyone else has approved, the bot will reach out to you so you can share this with the team member and share it in the Slack channel.

Approval flow

graph TD; A[Nomination] -->|Bot logs and sends to manager| C; C{Manager} C -->|Reject| D[Bot logs]; C -->|Approve| F; F{Manager's Leader} F -->|Reject| H[Bot logs]; F -->|Approve| I; I{PBP} I --> |Reject| J[Bot logs]; I -->|Approve| L; L{Total Rewards} L -->|Reject| M[Bot logs]; L -->|Approve| N[Bot logs and sends to BambooHR];

Discretionary Bonuses for Working Groups

  1. Sometimes a working group strongly displays GitLab Values over a period, project or situation. For this case, we have group discretionary bonuses.
  2. As with individuals, we recognize those who make up that group through the #thanks channel and sometimes through a group discretionary bonus.
  3. Anybody can recommend a discretionary bonus for a working group through the managers of the individuals involved for $100 per person at the exchange rate.

Process for Recommending a Working Group for a Bonus in BambooHR

Any GitLab team-member

  1. Write a 1 sentence description of how the working group has demonstrated a specific GitLab value in their work.
  2. Email that sentence to the managers of the individuals, suggesting a discretionary bonus, and set-up a 15 minute Zoom meeting with all the managers to discuss your proposal.
  3. Remember that the manager(s) may or may not agree and they have full discretion (with approval of their manager) on whether their reports get a bonus. Don't forget that you can also use the #thanks channel to recognize people, as well.

Manager Process

  1. Login to BambooHR.
  2. For each team member, select the team members you would like to give the discretionary bonus to and do the following:
  3. In the top right hand corner, click Request a Change.
  4. Bonus date: today
  5. Bonus amount: $100 (this is fixed, we don't vary the amount)
  6. Bonus type: Discretionary Bonus
  7. Bonus comments: 1-sentence justification that details how the team demonstrated one or more of our values in this specific instance.
  8. Comments for the approvers: leave empty
  9. Submit the bonus requests to your manager for approval.
  10. Once approved, you must copy and paste the justification and url into the GitLab Slack channel #team-member-updates to recognize the teams outstanding efforts (once the team has been communicated to 1:1). Be sure to @ the people in the team that's receiving the bonus as well so they're notified of the posting. Remember, a discretionary bonus is for recognition so make sure to take this final step.

Approval Process:

  1. The Manager's Manager receives an alert from BambooHR and can approve or deny.
  2. The request is then sent to the People Ops Admins for final approval and to confirm that there is a 1-sentence justification comment in the Bamboo record.
  3. Once approved, the request is sent to the Total Rewards Analyst to process the bonus in the applicable payroll and notify the manager via email.
  4. Notify Payroll of the bonus.
  5. Per the email from Total Rewards Analysts, the manager will notify the team member of the bonus and the nomintaor will announce it on the GitLab Slack channel #team-member-updates. The nominator announces the “who” and “why” of the bonus. The announcement should include the 1-sentence justification of the bonus.

GitLab Anniversaries

At 10:00 UTC on Thursday of every week, PeopleOps Bot slack bot will send a shout out on the #team-member-updates channel congratulating all team members who celebrates a hire date anniversary that week. Visit our GitLab Anniversary Gift section for more information about the gifts.

Real Examples of Real Team Members Who Received Bonuses for Doing Great Things

Referral Bonuses

Chances are that if you work at GitLab, you have great friends and peers who would be fantastic additions to our Team and who may be interested in joining our team. To help us grow with exceptional people, we have Referral Bonuses that work as follows:

We encourage and support diversity and frugality on our team and in our hiring practices, so we will offer the following referral bonuses once the new team member has been with the company for 3 months. We will award the highest cumulative dollar amount as outlined below:

The following is an example of a cumlative Referral Bonus:

Add-On Bonus for Select Underrepresented Groups

An underrepresented group describes a subset of a population that holds a smaller percentage within a significant subgroup than the subset holds in the general population. The accepted definition of “underrepresented minorities” from the National Science Foundation and other major research institutions focuses on racial and ethnic groups whose representation in a profession is significantly below their representation in the general population. While any non-majority group in the workplace is a “minority”, they are not considered to be “underrepresented” unless they meet this definition.

We offer an add-on referral bouns for the following groups:

How to make a referral

For information regarding the program details and team member eligibility and understanding, please visit our guide in the Hiring section of GitLab's handbook.

If a team member has been referred, the People Experience team will review team members' self-identification data in BambooHR including Gender, Ethnicity and Veteran status to determine if the team member qualifies as belonging to a select underrepresented group. The People Experience team will edit the referrer's referral bonus as applicable. The Total Rewards Analysts will confirm the bonus amount when it is entered into BambooHR and will process the bonus.

Document a future bonus in BambooHR

  1. Go to the team member who referred the new team member in BambooHR
  2. Under the "Jobs" tab
  3. Under the "Bonus" table, click "Add Bonus"
  4. The bonus date is 3 months from the new team member's start date
  5. Enter the bonus amount, dependent on above
  6. Enter the bonus type to be a Referral Bonus
  7. Enter a note stating that this is a future bonus (this will be changed once the bonus has been paid)

Notification to Process a Bonus

  1. BambooHR will send an email to Total Rewards Analysts on the date that the referral bonus should be paid for processing through the applicable payroll system.
  2. Notify Payroll of the bonus by updating the proper payroll google sheet based on entity.
    • United States: "Payroll Changes", Contractors: "Non-US contractor bonus changes", Everyone else: "Monthly payroll changes for non-US international team members".
  3. Once the bonus has been processed, change the note in BambooHR from "future" to "paid".
  4. Reply all to the email confirming the bonus has been processed in BambooHR and payroll.

Visiting Grant

As we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our team members, GitLab is temporarily suspending the Visiting Grant program until further notice. We continue to monitor the situation and will update this information and the travel policy accordingly.

This means that at this time we ask team members to refrain from booking travel that would normally be covered under the visiting grant. This includes local events and co-working days that don't require long-distance travel. In the event you had previously planned a visit, please cancel it and attempt to maximize any credits for future travel or refunds that you may be eligible for.

For those team members who have already completed visits, please expense your visit per the instructions below.

GitLab is an all-remote company with GitLab team-members all over the world (see the map on our Team page. If you want to visit other team members to get to know them, GitLab will assist with travel expenses (flights, trains, and ground transportation to and from airport) for a total of up to $150 for every team member that you visit and work with. Please note lodging is excluded. To be clearer, if you meet 2 GitLab team members during your visit, the maximum limit of your visiting grant could be $150x2. You don't need to work on the same project or team, either, so long as you discuss work for at least part of the time you're meeting. Before booking any travel using the travel grant budget please discuss your proposed travel with your manager. We encourage team members to utilize the travel grant, however in some cases - for example, a team member has performance issues related to their role - the visiting grant would not be applicable.

Note that meals and local travel while visiting are not typically covered for anyone as that wouldn't really be fair to those being visited. It may be acceptable to cover a meal, however, if the meeting is pre-announced to other people in the region to encourage as many of them to attend as possible and there are four or more GitLab team-members attending.

There are many regular meet-ups of GitLab team-members in many cities. We have a shared calendar to view the schedule. Subscribe to it, make use of the visiting grant, and join meet-ups near you (or far away!).

Douwe and Robert took advantage of the visiting grant when they traveled to 49 different colleagues in 20 cities, in 14 countries, on five continents, in 6 months. Inspired by them, Dimitrie went on a similar journey and provided a great template. Also, check out tips on working remotely while abroad.

To claim the grant, include a line item on your expense report or invoice along with the receipt of your flights, trains, and/or transportation to and from the airport with a list of the team members you visited. The expense report may be submitted during the first month of travel or up to 3 months after your trip has concluded. That said, if it's more frugal to book and expense your travel further in advance, please do so.

Significant Life Event Grants

As we continue to prioritize the health and safety of our team members, GitLab is temporarily suspending the Significant Life Event Grant program until further notice. We continue to monitor the situation and will update this information and the travel policy accordingly.

Recognizing that GitLab Team Members may wish to share significant events in each other's lives, such as weddings or civil partnerships, GitLab will assist with travel expenses to attend these events. This grant works the same way as the Visiting Grant, except the reimbursement limit is $300 per team member you visit at an event.

Sharing your Visiting Grant stories

If you're a GitLab team member who has traveled and utilized GitLab's Visiting Grant or are planning to do so soon, consider sharing your story! You can submit your experience using the GitLab Visiting Grant Story Submission Form. If you've made use of the Significant Life Event Grant, please check with the team member who invited you to their event if they are comfortable with you sharing their story first.

These stories are useful in showing the world how we stay connected as a geographically diverse team. This is important as we recruit the world's best talent to join us, as well as encouraging colleagues to take a leap, explore a new culture, and visit a team member in a new locale. They may be shared on GitLab's social media platforms, on hiring portals such as Glassdoor, or on the GitLab blog.

Each quarter, 3 GitLab team members who submit Visiting Grant stories will be randomly selected for a $50 voucher for the GitLab Swag Shop!

GitLab Gold

Every GitLab team member can request the Gold tier for GitLab.com. In case a team member has separate private and work accounts on GitLab.com, they can request it for both. This incentive does not apply to groups owned by GitLab team members (Group-level Gold features such as epics will not be available for Gold GitLab team-member personal accounts, for instance).

In order to request this benefit please submit this form. Your account(s) will be upgraded to the Gold tier within 30 minutes of submission.

GIT is a trademark of Software Freedom Conservancy and our use of 'GitLab' is under license
View page source — Edit in Web IDE — please contribute. Creative Commons License