Health Insurance
Detailed information about all 37signals insurance policies and other benefits can be found in Basecamp.
Medical Insurance
In the United States, medical insurance is provided through Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO. The company pays 75% of the premium and the employee pays the other 25%. Open enrollment is in November every year, with new coverage beginning December 1. Marriages and domestic partnerships are covered. You’re eligible for coverage on your first day of employment. If you are terminated or resign from 37signals, your coverage will end on the last day of the month of your separation date and you may be eligible for continued coverage after that (COBRA).
Each pay period, you’ll see a payroll deduction for medical insurance:
- Employee-only medical coverage: $78.46
- Employee-partner medical coverage: $160.22
- Employee-child(ren) medical coverage: $167.23
- Employee-family medical coverage: $248.99
Dental Insurance
Dental insurance in the US is provided through MetLife. The company pays 100% of the premium. Open enrollment is in November every year, with new coverage beginning December 1. Marriages and domestic partnerships are covered equally. You’re eligible for coverage on your first day of employment. If you are terminated or resign from 37signals, your coverage will end on the last day of the month of your separation date and you may be eligible for continued coverage after that (COBRA).
Vision Insurance
Vision insurance in the US is provided through MetLife. The company pays 100% of the premium. Open enrollment is in November every year, with new coverage beginning December 1. Marriages and domestic partnerships are covered equally. You’re eligible for coverage on your first day of employment. If you are terminated or resign from 37signals, your coverage will end on the last day of the month of your separation date and you may be eligible for continued coverage after that (COBRA).
Health Insurance for Staff Outside the US
If you’re outside of the US and pay out of pocket for private health insurance, you can request reimbursement for 75% of your insurance payments on your monthly invoice. Your monthly reimbursement is capped at the amount 37signals pays per employee per month on the US employee group plan. You may be asked to provide documentation to support your request for reimbursement.
Life Insurance
37signals offers a $400,000 life insurance/AD+D policy to all staff through MetLife. The company pays 100% of the premium. You’re eligible for coverage on your first day of employment, and it’s terminated automatically on your final day of employment. Open enrollment is in November every year, and participants are auto-enrolled at that time.
Short Term Disability Insurance
37signals provides a MetLife short-term disability policy to all US employees, at no cost to the employee. The policy may replace up to 70% of your salary on a weekly basis, for up to 12 weeks and up to $3,000 per week. There is a 7-calendar-day waiting period when you become ill or injured.
You’re eligible for coverage on your first day of employment, and the policy will be terminated on your final day of employment.
More information about the policy and filing claims can be found in Basecamp.
Retirement Plan
Our retirement plan for US employees is with Vanguard. 37signals matches 100% of what you contribute, up to 6% of your salary. You are eligible to enroll in the 401K plan with your first paycheck.
If you’re outside the US, 37signals will match what you contribute to a retirement account in your home country, up to 6% of your salary. In these cases, 37signals will pay you directly via your monthly invoice. It’s up to you to invest that payment and maintain administration of the retirement account and its taxes. You may be asked to provide documentation to support your request for a match.
Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
The FSA is an account where you can set aside pre-tax money for out-of-pocket medical expenses, such as prescriptions, over-the-counter medicine, vision care, etc. You have to decide up front how much money you want to put in the account, and the max is $3,200/year per person in your household. There is a separate type of FSA for dependent care, and the max for that plan is $5,000/year or $2,500/year if you split this with a partner. This is an entirely optional program. Open enrollment is in December every year, with new coverage beginning January 1. Both FSAs are with Paychex, our payroll provider.
Paid Time Off
37signals offers 20 days of vacation and personal days plus 11 local holidays every year. We ask that you track your time off. Your vacation time is prorated based on your start date during your first year at 37signals. Your vacation time rolls over year to year with a maximum bank of 27 days at any time. If you are terminated or resign from 37signals with vacation days in your bank, you’ll be paid the monetary equivalent for those unused days (prorated at the time of your departure). Unused holidays are not paid upon termination or resignation.
Sabbatical
In addition to annual PTO and holidays, every three years employees may take a 6-week paid sabbatical. Give your team a heads-up, preferably three months in advance, so they can coordinate. If you’re terminated or resign from 37signals with an unused sabbatical, 37signals will pay you the monetary equivalent of those unused days only if your unused sabbatical was earned within the previous 12 months.
Paid Sick Time
We don’t offer a bank of sick days, nor do we ask you to track your sick days. When you’re sick, please notify your manager as soon as you know you’ll be out, and for how long you expect to be out.
If you’ll be away from work due to illness or injury for more than 7 consecutive work days, you may be required to file a short-term disability claim.
37signals does not pay out for unused sick time upon resignation or termination.
Your manager will check in with you if you’re taking frequent unplanned sick days. Excessive use of sick time may result in disciplinary measures. If you have a medical condition that you know will take you away from work regularly, please work with your People Ops team and your manager.
Summer Hours
We work 4-day work weeks from May 1 through August 31 every year. An employee who has just been hired may have to complete a training program, designated by their team lead, to be eligible. When a holiday occurs during summer hours, you can take the holiday off or your normal summer day off. Any additional days off count as vacation days.
Scheduling Time Off
37signals doesn’t have a formal time off request process. It’s your responsibility to work with your manager and team to ensure coverage and manage your scheduled workload. The sooner you can inform your manager and team of your planned absence, the better, especially longer absences like sabbatical or long vacations. If your team has a defined process for scheduling time off, please follow that first.
Family Leave
If you become the primary caregiver of a child, you can take up to 16 weeks leave at 100% pay. If you become the secondary caregiver of a new child, you can take up to 6 weeks leave at 100% pay. You may choose to take an additional unpaid leave as the primary or secondary caregiver. All parental leave must be taken within the first year of the child’s birth or placement.
Some states offer additional benefits to their residents.
Bereavement Leave
When you lose a loved one, you can take paid time off from work for bereavement, making arrangements, settling family affairs, and attending the funeral or memorial service. Let your manager know your plans as soon as you can so they can arrange for your absence.
You can take ten days of bereavement leave for the death of an immediate family member, and three days leave for the death of an extended family member. If you know you’ll be away from work for much longer, please talk to your manager to discuss that special case.
Pet Insurance
Everyone has the option to purchase pet insurance through Figo at a 10% discount. There are no set rates, and you can visit our portal on Figo’s website to get your quote and sign up. There’s no open enrollment period to sign up for pet insurance, and 37signals doesn’t administer or contribute towards your policy.
Employee Profit Sharing
37signals shares 10% of its annual company profits with employees, which is distributed in shares based on tenure. Profits are distributed after the books are closed on the previous fiscal year, usually around March (e.g. 2022 profits distributed in March 2023).
You’re eligible to participate in profit sharing after two years of working at 37signals. You’ll accrue one share per month starting on your second anniversary at 37signals, and you’ll max out your shares at 10 years. We calculate shares based on months of tenure so there’s no unfair cliff between being hired in December vs January.
We ask that you think of any compensation from this program as not something to be counted upon, not something to be budgeted with, but as a true bonus. Year to year, profits and therefore the amount we’re able to share with employees may swing wildly or not be paid out at all.
This Program does not have any set expiration date, but the company reserves the right to amend it or cancel it at any time. You forfeit your shares in the profit sharing program if you resign or are terminated from 37signals before the distribution date.
Employee Liquidity Pool
There are no plans to sell 37signals or take the company public! But, in the slight chance of that happening, employees may be eligible to receive a portion of 10% of the value of the company if 37signals is sold or made public. That 10% would be divided into shares, and shares distributed amongst employees based on their tenure at the time of the sale/offering.
Employees are eligible for shares in the liquidity pool after two years of working at 37signals. You’ll accrue one share per month starting on your second anniversary, and you max out your shares after 10 years. We calculate shares based on months of tenure so there’s no unfair cliff between being hired in December vs January.
This Program does not have any set expiration date, but the company reserves the right to amend it or cancel it at any time. You forfeit your shares in the liquidity pool if you resign or are terminated from 37signals before the distribution date.
Laptop Policy
We order a new MacBook for everyone hired at 37signals. You can choose the model and specs, within reason and considering the demands of your role. You can upgrade your laptop at any time – when yours breaks, gets too old, or if a more efficient model is released and replacing your machine would benefit your work. Please get approval from Finance before purchasing a new laptop.
Home Office Set-up
During your first year at 37signals, you can expense up to $3,000 on a new desk, new desk chair, computer accessories, or other office furniture.
When your office furniture needs to be replaced, you can do so with approval from People Ops.
Coworking Space Stipend
You can expense up to $200/month towards renting coworking space in your city. Please make sure you’re using a true coworking space that’s meant solely for working, not a club or social space like Soho House.
Everyone at 37signals has a subscription to Deskpass, a co-working desk reservation service. You can use Deskpass to find co-working spaces near you, and your $200/month benefit is pre-fixed in your account. You’re not required to use Deskpass to use your co-working space benefit. Your Deskpass budget is capped at $200/mo, but none of that gets paid out unless you book a desk.
Personal 37signals Accounts
All employees can have a free personal Basecamp account and a free personal HEY account. We’ll comp your existing accounts during your on-boarding process when you join the company. If you decide to sign up for either account later, you can comp the accounts in Queenbee so you won’t be charged. Ping Andrea or Support if you need help with that.
Expense Account
All staff carry a 37signals Visa card that you can use for work expenses like the benefits described above, software, computer equipment, meet-up travel, or office supplies. Check with your manager or your People Ops team if you have any doubts about whether or not a purchase qualifies as a work expense.
We use an expense management platform called Airbase. You’re responsible for the monthly categorizing of your expenses and uploading receipts for purchases over $75. Full instructions on how to log your expenses in Airbase can be found in Basecamp.