Hello all,
We’ve gotten some questions regarding BHIS human resources and maternity leave policies.
I wanted to take a few moments and address those questions.
FAQ: Does BHIS Have a Restrictive Non-Compete Policy That Prevents People From Working at Other Companies?
The short answer is no. The restrictive future employment clause was removed in January of 2024.
The longer answer requires a little bit of history and context.
When Black Hills Information Security started, we worked with attorneys to create a lot of our early legal and HR documentation. At the time, many of the agreements used very standard templated legal language that was extremely common in that era.
However, there was also a clause stating that an employee could not work in computer security, or a related field tied to their role at BHIS for one year after leaving the company. Although it was a standard clause, it should not have been there, and that is on me.
In December of 2023, while reviewing and migrating our HR documentation to a new platform, we came across that clause and removed it.
It is also important to understand that BHIS has never prevented an employee from finding different employment. Not once. We have never told a former employee they could not work in computer security or any company after leaving BHIS. In fact, if you look across the industry, there are many former BHIS employees working successfully in security roles today. Some have even started their own companies. Several of them are still friends of mine, and several continue to teach classes and work with us professionally.
FAQ: What Is BHIS’s Maternity/Paternity Leave Policy?
For full-time employees, we offer 5 weeks paid (maternity/paternity), plus 3 additional weeks of paid medical-related leave which can be taken anytime within one year following birth.
That said, one thing that is important to understand about BHIS is that we recognize life situations do not always fit neatly into a written policy. Complications happen. Every family situation is different. There can be medical concerns, recovery concerns, issues involving the baby, and the parents. Because of this, there have been situations where BHIS has gone above and beyond the written maternity leave policy and provided additional paid time off based on the specific circumstances involved.
At the end of the day, we try to approach these situations like human beings first. The health and safety of mom, dad, baby, and partner all matter.
BHIS is always in compliance with the FMLA, which can be up to an additional 12 weeks. Also, every employee’s job and salary are safely waiting for them when they return.
Finally, no one has been punished for taking any kind of leave at BHIS, ever.
FAQ: Why Aren’t You Responding to All of the Allegations Against Black Hills Information Security on Social Media?
First, it is important to remember that social media is generally a terrible place to have complex and nuanced conversations. Platforms like X, Reddit, LinkedIn, and others are designed to amplify outrage, conflict, and inflammatory statements. They are not designed for context, nuance, or productive conversations, especially when you are dealing with something as complicated as disagreements between employers and employees.
We simply do not believe social media is the appropriate venue for those conversations.
The second reason is employee confidentiality.
There are many situations where accusations or claims may be made publicly, but responding fully would require discussing private employee information, performance data, HR discussions, or other details that are protected by confidentiality agreements and basic employee privacy expectations. Quite frankly, I cannot and will not take internal employee information and post it online to defend the company. That would be incredibly inappropriate.
Because of that, there are going to be situations where BHIS does not publicly answer allegations or accusations on social media, not because we do not have context or information to share, but because responding properly would violate the privacy and confidentiality we owe to current and former employees.
At the end of the day, we believe protecting employee confidentiality is more important than winning arguments on social media.
If you would like to learn more about BHIS benefits please review our Benefits page.