I'm leaving Meilisearch

Sometimes, internships and contracts end. Life or work ambitions take us elsewhere. Aspirations or values no longer seem to be aligned.

Though we hope that people are able to grow and expand at Meilisearch, we know that sometimes the best road for that is in other companies or other projects. People leaving to pursue their own adventures outside of Meilisearch is fine and healthy. We will always encourage you to do what’s best for you.

Whether you’re leaving Meilisearch yourself or one of your colleagues is leaving, you are on the right page to find the answers to any question you might have. If yours is not answered, reach out to your manager or the HR Team.

🔮 Managers: we’ll write a specific section for you soon! In the meantime, please note you’re the one in charge of notifying everyone in your team if someone is leaving Meilisearch.

Checklist before the end of your last day

This checklist is a general guide, please discuss the particulars with your manager.

Pass your projects over

• Prepare a handover document for your team or your manager.
• If you work with Github, unassign or reassign your remaining open projects, issues or merge requests.
• Share any document, email or account access you’re the only one to have access/administration rights to.
• Notify external contributors, consumers or service providers you’re in direct contact with of your departure and introduce them to the team member they will work with in the future.

Settle the administrative side

• Attach any missing receipt of your expenses on Oyster, Payfit or Spendesk.
• Settle your computer and equipment → please see @Laurène for this.
• If some of your benefits are reimbursed and their subscriptions are not managed directly by Meilisearch, cancel them as soon as possible if you do not wish to bear their cost personally.

Save useful information

We will cut all your accesses either on your final day or the day after that, including Slack and your work email address. Team members may not be able to reply to your goodbye message or keep in touch with you.

• If you want, send your personal contact information to stay in touch.
• Copy any personal passwords currently stored in 1Password (your access will be disabled after your last day and you will no longer have any access to any of your personal passwords).
• Download all your payslips during your time at Meilisearch from Oyster or Payfit.
• Save all personal documents you may have on your work computer, or any personal email, to your own devices.
• Save the contact information for your Moka.care practitioner(s) or English teacher(s) if you want to keep in touch with them.

Inform the team

• If you feel comfortable doing so, send a message in the #general Slack channel to say goodbye on your last day.

What to do if you find yourself in conflict with your manager or the HR team

It is our aim to be a safe employer for you from your application to your last day. If you find yourself in a situation of conflict with your manager or the HR team that makes negotiations uncomfortable for you, you can:

• Ask for the HR team member to be replaced in discussions with someone else in the HR team, or by one of the founders
• Ask for your manager to be replaced in discussions by another team lead
• Ask the staff representative (opens new window) for advice. You can also ask them to accompany you to all discussions and act as a mediator if needed.
• Ask anyone at Meilisearch you trust to accompany you to all discussions and act as a mediator if needed. Your manager or the HR team representative you’re speaking to must also agree for that person to act as a mediator
• Set up an appointment with a Moka.care (opens new window) coach or therapist to set up strategies to diffuse the situation (see Mental Health Resources)
• Ask your local trade union for advice on your personal situation. You can usually do so even if you’re not a union member

Process for the settlement of your computer and equipment

Computer

You can decide to keep your computer and buy it back from Meilisearch at market value, or you can send it back to Meilisearch.

• If you live in France or in the Schengen Area, fill out the Fleex form.
• If you live outside of the Schengen Area, contact the HR team if you want to buy back your computer. Otherwise, send it back from your local post office to: Meili - 9 rue Bleue - 75009 Paris - FRANCE. If you still have access to Oyster, declare your expense with your receipts from there, otherwise send a message to someone in the HR team with your receipt for reimbursement.

WARNING

⚠️ It’s your responsibility to wipe your computer or leave us the password with the computer.

Equipment

• If you live in France, go to your Fleex account to arrange for the return of your equipment. You can also choose to buy it back from Fleex.
• If you don’t live in France or have equipment that is not rented through Fleex (bought before Fleex or that wasn’t available through Fleex), please discuss with your manager whether you want to keep your equipment or not. Depending on your individual situation, you will be able to keep it, buy it back or send it back.

Answers to your questions

Contract

• My contract includes a non-competition clause. Can we wave this off?

  You will have to clear this with your manager and your HR rep depending on your individual situation.

• How long will my notice be?

  • If you’re on a trial period, the notice depends on the time you’ve spent at Meilisearch (check your contract as it depends on your personal situation). You and your manager will discuss if that time should be worked or paid.
  • If you’re a confirmed employee, your notice is usually 3 months (check your contract as it depends on your personal situation). If you’d like it to be shorter, we encourage you to speak as soon as possible to your manager to see what would be possible.

• If I ever want to go back to Meilisearch in some time, will the fact that I left Meilisearch play against me?

  Not at all. If we parted ways on good terms, or if the situation that may have caused tensions the first time is resolved, we won’t hold a previous experience at Meilisearch against you if you ever want to apply again. Experience is good!

Administrative

• When do I need to submit my final reimbursable expenses?

  Please do this before your last day, with the attached receipts. If you have some expenses after the final settlement (such as postage to send back your computer), send an email to the HR team with the receipt.

• Will I keep my access to Payfit and Oyster?

  Yes, you will keep your access to Payfit/Oyster and through them all your payslips after you leave Meilisearch. Make sure to change your email to a personal email if you signed up with your work email.

• Will Meilisearch delete all personal data and documents associated with me?

  We legally need to keep certain documents, such as all your payslips. However, we will delete any other personal information you shared with Meilisearch (such as your sweatshirt size, your preferences for the offsite, your personal profile on Notion). If there’s a particular document you want Meilisearch to delete, please reach out to the owner.

  • Your inbox and emails will be deleted one month after your departure from Meilisearch (your account will be put on hold on the day of your departure).
  • Your shared Google Drive documents will be reassigned to your manager.
  • Your 1-1 Slack messages will not be deleted and the teammates you exchanged them with will still have access to them. Check the old Python script Slack Cleaner (opens new window) or the extensions for bulk deletion if you’d like to delete them before you go. We ask you that you please do not delete work-related messages in the open channels and let individual people know you’re going to delete your history with them.

Perks and benefits

• When will my benefits coverage end?

  All the monthly subscriptions will be valid until the end of the month. Other perks and benefits may be suspended immediately: English lessons, access to Moka.care, etc. Make sure to keep the contact details of any person you came across from these services if you want to ask for their services again. If Meili is reimbursing you for a subscription you’re managing yourself, make sure to cancel that subscription if you do not want to bear the cost yourself.

• Can I keep my health insurance (mutuelle)?

  • If you have a French contract, you will keep the rights from your health insurance (mutuelle) for as long as your unemployment benefit. See more information here (opens new window) (in French).
  • If you’re employed through Oyster, check with them the rules relevant to your country.

• What will happen to my shares of Meilisearch (BSPCEs)?

  You may buy your BSPCEs within 30 to 90 days after your last contractual day in the company, otherwise you will lose them permanently. See When can you use them?

Life at Meilisearch

• Can I tell people myself that I’m leaving?

  Yes of course. You can tell individual people privately or write a message for everyone in the #general channel on Slack. If you’d rather write an email, you can address it to everybody@meilisearch.com. Before making a public announcement to everyone in the company, we’d appreciate you to inform your manager first.

• I’ll be leaving in a few months, can I still go to the team events during that time?

  Of course, you are a full Meilisearch employee until your last day is up.

• Can I ask my manager or other team members for a written or a phone recommendation?

  Please do! We can’t be definite in a FAQ as it depends on the individual situation, but we certainly encourage you to ask and see what the people you’d like a recommendation from have to say.

• Can I organise a (virtual) leaving party?

Yes! We don’t have a policy on leaving parties so Meilisearch won’t organise one for you, but either a coworker or yourself can get something going.