Time Off and Holidays

Planning Vacation or PTO

Telling Your Rotation Leader

Well before you take time off:

  1. Check the on-call schedule in Incident.io
  2. If you’re scheduled during that time, tell your rotation leader ASAP. You can do so by reaching out in #sscs-tier2-rotation-coordination to your reporting manager or @adil.farrukh, @ajaythomasinc and @ken.mcdonald as rotation leaders.
  3. The rotation leader will either:
    • Find someone to swap with in your region
    • Create an override (reassign that slot)
    • Adjust the rotation temporarily

How much advance notice? Ideally 2-4 weeks, but at least a week for emergencies unless event doesn’t allow for advance notice.

Using Overrides in Incident.io

An override is a way to reassign a shift when someone can’t make it. If you need assistance finding someone to take over your shift, ask for swaps in #sscs-tier2-rotation-coordination.

You can:

  • Remove yourself from your shift
  • Assign it to someone else in your region

Public Holidays

Please refer to the general on-call documentation regarding holidays.

Regional Considerations

Since the SSCS rotation covers three regions (APAC, EMEA, AMER), public holidays vary significantly:

  • APAC engineers may have holidays that EMEA/AMER don’t observe
  • EMEA engineers may have holidays that APAC/AMER don’t observe
  • AMER engineers may have holidays that APAC/EMEA don’t observe

Your responsibility: Check your schedule well in advance and notify your rotation leader if you’re scheduled during a public holiday in your country.

Finding Coverage for Holidays

When you have a public holiday:

  1. Check your schedule in Incident.io
  2. Notify your rotation leader as soon as possible
  3. Find a swap with someone in your region who doesn’t observe that holiday
  4. Create an override in Incident.io or ask your rotation leader to do so

Exception for Netherlands: Team members in the Netherlands must notify the rotation leader with at least 2 working days notice, and the rotation leader (not the team member) is responsible for finding cover, as agreed with the Works Council.

What Happens If You’re Assigned During PTO?

This is a mistake. Here’s what to do:

  1. Don’t just miss it. Tell someone immediately.
  2. Contact your rotation leader or manager
  3. They’ll create an override ASAP

Cross-Region Coverage

In some cases, if your region is short-staffed during holidays:

  • Your rotation leader may ask for volunteers from other regions
  • This is optional and should be compensated appropriately
  • Coverage should still align with the volunteer’s work hours when possible

Planning Ahead

To make holiday coverage easier:

  • Share your holiday calendar with your team at the start of the year
  • Coordinate with teammates in your region to ensure coverage
  • Be flexible when possible to help teammates who need coverage
  • Plan swaps early rather than waiting until the last minute
Last modified November 10, 2025: Fix oncall directory path and update links (5ca7f7ca)
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