Employee Handbook — Northlight Labs (Excerpt)

Organisation: Northlight Labs Ltd (a small software company, 18 people) Version: 3.0 Effective date: 1 March 2026 Last reviewed: 12 February 2026

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1. Welcome and our values

Welcome to Northlight Labs. We build scheduling software for small clinics, and we are a small team that trusts people to do good work without being micromanaged. This handbook explains how we operate so you can spend your energy on the work, not on guessing the rules.

• Who we are: A team of 18 building one product we care deeply about.
• Our mission: Give small clinics the kind of software big hospitals take for granted.
• Our values: Do honest work, default to transparency, and leave things better than you found them.
• How to use this handbook: Use the contents list to jump to what you need. If anything is unclear, ask your manager or anyone on the People team — no question is too small.

2. Employment basics

• Working hours: Our core hours are 10:00 to 16:00; outside those, arrange your day with your team. We trust you to work the hours your role needs, not to clock-watch.
• Pay: Salaries are paid on the last working day of each month. Reimburse work expenses through the expenses tool within 30 days, with a receipt.
• Probation: New hires have a three-month probation period, with a check-in at one month and at three.
• Notice: After probation, either side gives one month's written notice.

3. Conduct and standards

We expect everyone to treat colleagues, customers, and partners with respect. Harassment and discrimination of any kind have no place here and are treated as serious misconduct. Because we handle clinic data, keeping customer information confidential is not optional — it is the core of the trust our customers place in us. If you ever find yourself in a situation that could be a conflict of interest, tell your manager early; a declared conflict is manageable, a hidden one is not.

4. Leave and benefits

Type of leave	Entitlement	How to request it
Annual leave	28 days per year plus public holidays	Request in the leave tool, two weeks' notice for longer breaks
Sick leave	Notify your manager as early as you can; paid per our sick-pay policy	Message your manager by 09:30 on the day
Parental leave	Per statutory entitlement, which we top up where we can	Talk to the People team as early as possible

• Other benefits: A yearly learning budget, a contribution to your pension, and a home-office setup allowance for remote days.

5. Remote and hybrid work

We are remote-friendly. Most people come into the office two days a week and work from home the rest, but teams agree their own pattern. Wherever you work, keep your calendar current, be reachable during core hours, and use a secure network when handling customer data. If a role genuinely needs more on-site time, your manager will say so when you join.

6. IT and acceptable use

Company laptops and accounts are for work. Light personal use of email and the internet is fine in your own time, but never install unapproved software on a work device or move customer data onto personal accounts or drives. Use the company password manager, lock your screen when you step away, and report a lost device the moment you notice. We log access to customer systems for security and audit reasons; we do not read your personal messages.

7. Raising a concern

If something is wrong, we want to hear it. Start by raising it informally with your manager, or with the People team if that is not appropriate. If it is not resolved, you can raise a formal grievance in writing and we will respond within ten working days. Raising a concern in good faith will never count against you.