PROTEAMS COMPANY POLICIES

Our company policies apply to all employees, contractors, customers, and stakeholders.

• Accessibility Policy
• Accident Reporting Policy
• Anti-discrimination Policy
• Bereavement Leave company Policy
• Child Labor Policy
• Code of Ethics Policy
• Company Data Protection Policy
• Company Overtime Policy
• Company Travel Policy
• Coronavirus (COVID-19) policies
• Corporate Social responsibility Company Policy
• Disciplinary Action Company Policy
• Employee Attendance Policy
• Employee Background Check Policy
• Employee Benefits and Perks
• Employee Bonus Policy
• Employee Classification Policy
• Employee Code of Conduct
• Employee Compensation and Development
• Employee Confidentiality Policy
• Employee Conflict of interest Policy
• Employee Equality, Harassment and Discrimination Policy
• Employee Privacy Policy
• Employee Probationary Period Policy
• Employee Progressive discipline Policy
• Employee Recruitment and Selection Policy
• Employee Relationships in the Workplace Policy
• Employee Remote Work Policy
• Employee Resignation and Termination
• Employee Sick Leave Policy
• Employee Training and Development Policy
• Employer Paternity Leave Policy
• Employment Basics
• Equal Opportunity Employer Policy (EEO Policy statement)
• Flexible Working Hours Policy
• Forced and Bonded Labour
• Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining
• General Leave Policy
• HR Policy Revision
• Human Rights Commitment
• Internal Hiring Process Policy
• Internal job posting Policy
• International recruitment Policy
• Maternity / Parental leave company Policy
• Modern Slavery Statement
• Moonlighting Policy
• New hire company Policy
• Non-Retaliation Policy
• Occupational / Workplace health and safety Policy
• Open door Policy in the workplace
• Record Retention Policy
• Responsible Sourcing program
• Separation/Termination of Employment Policy
• Short-term disability Policy
• Solicitation company Policy
• Substance abuse company Policy
• Third party harassment Policy
• Unlimited vacation company Policy
• Violence in the Workplace Policy
• Working Hours, PTO and Vacation

Accessibility Policy

Our company’s accessibility policy outlines our provisions for people with disabilities. We want to make our premises, services, products and equipment available to all people respecting their individual needs, dignity, independence and equal opportunity.

We have taken actions to ensure that people with disabilities will be able to move about safely and easily and make full use of our facilities.

Disabilities that this Policy refers to include but are not limited to:

• Conditions that require the use of a wheelchair or other movement support device or mechanism.

• Physical impairments that obstruct everyday activities (e.g. opening doors, walking up the stairs, reading signs etc.)

• Visual, hearing, speech, or mental impediment

• Conditions that require assistance or constant medical care.

• Other conditions are subject to Proteams’ judgement and will be considered individually.

We have several provisions for people with disabilities. We have:

• Accessible communication tools

• Accessible website

We allow assistive devices, service animals and support persons to be in our company’s premises for as long as their services are needed. In areas where animals are prohibited either by law or because of company policy (e.g. in laboratories), we will have a sign and receptionists or other employees are obliged to inform people with disabilities.

We encourage anyone who encounters any problems, malfunctions, or deficiencies to report them to their immediate supervisor or HR.

Accident Reporting Policy

Our accident reporting company policy is designed to outline the purpose and procedure for reporting any on-the-job accidents. Proteams is committed to enforce all health and safety guidelines to avoid such occurrences and expects employees to comply. However, accidents are sometimes inevitable. Our provision in this case is to ensure all accidents are reported timely so they can be investigated properly and preventative measures can be reviewed and reinforced

This accident report policy affects all employees and independent contractors.

On-the-job accidents that must be reported include any incidents that may cause minor or severe injuries or incidents that are results of negligence or inadequate safety precautions. The victims may be employees who were injured while performing their duties or other people that were on company premises or vehicles

Accidents must be reported as soon as possible to expedite investigation and increase likelihood of important findings. The sooner the cause or details of the accident are identified, the sooner Proteams can establish preventative measures for the future

What should be reported under the Accident Reporting Policy?

Proteams encourages employees to report all accidents no matter how minor. Accidents that involve very minor injuries like small cuts, non-extensive bruises etc. and would not normally require any action on behalf of Proteams (e.g. the breaking of a drinking glass) do not have to be reported (although employees could report them if they want). On the other hand, accidents that involve (or could have involved) more severe injuries and require investigation and action from Proteams must be dutifully reported. Employees are obliged to report any of the following:

• Fatalities

• Damage to the head, skull and face

• Damage to any of the senses (e.g. partial or complete loss of hearing, sight etc.)

• Incapacitation or dislocation of limbs that hinder functionality and movement (including paralysis and amputation)

• Damage to the skin (e.g. extensive burns, bruises or cuts)

• Blows or injuries to the spine, back and ribs

• Harm to the nervous system or loss of consciousness through electrocution, hypothermia etc.

• Poisoning

• Contamination from hazardous substances or transmission of diseases

• Any other injury that requires hospitalization or medical care

Especially when an employee needs medical coverage, the accident must be reported immediately since insurance benefits may have to be approved after the investigation.

Employees are also required to report occurrences that may not have involved injuries or victims but could be potentially dangerous in that respect if repeated. These include but are not limited to:

• Explosions

• Slippery surfaces

• Water or gas leaks

• Inadequate insulation of circuits

• Collapses of walls, ceilings etc.

• Breaking of window glasses or frames

When an employee witnesses or is involved in an incident they must report it to their immediate supervisor, HR department (personally, in writing or by phone if the accident occurred remotely) or through an online system if applicable, within one week. If the employee anticipates an accident due to perceived negligence or inadequate safety, they must notify their supervisors or HR department as soon as possible so the accident can be prevented.

Depending on the incident, official forms may have to be completed and submitted.

The accident and any sustained injuries must be recorded to an accident database or file.

The officials responsible must initiate an investigation or request an investigation from authorities if appropriate

The employee who reported the accident has to cooperate if called in for questioning to provide details needed. As a general rule, the employee must provide information in the incident report as accurately as possible on the following:

• The place of the accident

• The date and time of the accident

• The people involved or injured

• Their position or involvement in the accident

• Their actions immediately after the accident

Disciplinary Consequences

Proteams places great importance in this policy. All employees are obliged to comply. Any employee that is discovered to have been aware of a serious accident and failed to report it will face appropriate disciplinary consequences. When employees are the cause of an accident they must report it immediately to minimize legal repercussions.

Anti-discrimination Policy

Our anti-discrimination policy explains how we prevent discrimination and protect our employees, customers and stakeholders from offensive and harmful behaviors. This Policy supports our overall commitment to create a safe and happy workplace for everyone.

Our company complies with all anti-discrimination laws. We explicitly prohibit offensive behavior (e.g. derogatory comments towards colleagues of a specific gender or ethnicity.)

Discrimination is any negative action or attitude directed toward someone because of protected characteristics, like race and gender. Other protected characteristics are:

• Age

• Religion

• Ethnicity / nationality

• Disability / medical history

• Marriage / civil partnership

• Pregnancy / maternity/ paternity

• Gender identity / sexual orientation

• Discrimination and harassment

• Our anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies go hand-in-hand. We will not tolerate any kind of discrimination that creates a hostile and unpleasant environment for employees, interns or volunteers.

This is not an exhaustive list, but here are some instances that we consider discrimination:

• Hiring managers disproportionately disqualifying job candidates on purpose based on discriminative factors mentioned above.

• Managers bypassing team members with specific protected characteristics (e.g. race) for promotion without being able to formally prove (e.g. with documentation) the reasons other employees were selected instead.

• Employees making sexist or racist comments.

• Employees sending emails disparaging someone’s ethnic origin.

• Employees who harass their colleagues will go through our disciplinary process and we may reprimand, demote or terminate them depending on the severity of their offense.

We recognize that sometimes discrimination is unintentional, as we may all have unconscious biases that could be difficult to identify and overcome. In case we conclude that an employee unconsciously discriminates, we will support them through training and counseling and implement processes that mitigate biases as we indicate in the next section. But, if this person shows an unwillingness to change their behavior, we may demote or terminate them.

We will not be lenient in cases of assault, sexual harassment or workplace violence, whether physical or psychological. We will terminate employees who behave like this immediately.

Actions to prevent discrimination

To ensure that our conduct and processes are fair and lawful, we

• Use inclusive language in job ads and include EEO statements.

• Set formal job-related criteria to hire, promote and reward team members.

• Offer compensation and benefits according to position, seniority, qualifications and performance, not protected characteristics.

• Do not discriminate against people with disabilities.

• Require acquisition managers to keep detailed records of their decisions concerning job candidates.

We will also consider additional measures to prevent discrimination, like:

• Using hiring processes that reduce bias like structured interviews and blind hiring programs.

• Encouraging diversity, communication, and conflict management to improve collaboration among employees of different backgrounds.

What to do in cases of discrimination:

If you are the victim of discriminatory behavior (or if you suspect that others are being discriminated against,) please talk to HR or top management as soon as possible. HR is responsible for hearing your claim, investigating the issue and determining punishment.

Punishment for discriminatory behavior depends on the severity of the offense. For example, inadvertently offending someone might warrant a reprimand. Conversely, willfully bypassing employees for promotion because of a protected characteristic will result in termination.

If you decide to make a claim to a regulatory body (e.g. the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission,) we are committed and bound by law not to retaliate against you.

How we address discrimination complaints

HR is proactive and responsive about determining whether discrimination occurs. For example, we:

• Look into similar claims about the same person or process to determine if discrimination is systemic.

• Track metrics and look into data that give us some insight on people’s behaviors (e.g. percentage of job applicants of a certain race a hiring manager disqualifies.)

• Evaluate testimonies on social media that visitors, job candidates or former employees have made.

• Conduct discreet interviews and gather information.

• We will investigate all claims discreetly. We will never disclose who made a complaint to anyone or give out information that may help others identify that person (e.g. which department or role they work in.)

We should all strive to prevent and address discrimination. Be aware of your implicit biases and speak up whenever you or your colleagues are discriminated against. If you have any ideas on how we can ensure fairness and equality in our workplace, we are happy to hear them.

Bereavement leave policy

Our work bereavement Policy outlines our provisions for employees who lose a loved one. If this happens, we want to support our employees and allow them time to mourn and cope.

Bereavement leave (or compassionate leave) is a type of time off given to employees when a member of their immediate family or a close friend dies. This time off might be paid or unpaid based on each company’s policy or bereavement leave laws (where applicable).

In this Policy, we define immediate family as spouses or domestic partners, all first degree relatives (parents, siblings and children), grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews. In-laws of the same types are included, as well as adopted parents, adopted children, legal guardians, half- and step-relatives.

Friends are also an important part of our lives and their loss may hurt as much as losing a relative. Should you lose a close friend, you’re still entitled to the same amount of bereavement leave to attend the funeral and mourn.

For the standard bereavement leave — up to 1 week— you’ll receive your standard wage or salary as bereavement pay, according to our company’s Policy. Any additional leave will be unpaid unless you choose to supplement your bereavement days off with your standard PTO.

If you need to take bereavement leave, please inform your manager and HR as soon as possible. You can do this via email.

Normally, wedon’trequire proof of death. You may need to bring us proof of travel or other documents if you request additional time off.

Managers must adhere to Policy regulations and be supportive of employee bereavement during difficult times. You may face disciplinary action if you handle the situation inappropriately (e.g. refuse to approve bereavement leave for any reason).

BUSINESS ETHICS POLICY

Proteams Business Ethics Policy states that we in our company, will act with integrity in our efforts to deliver competitive results. This means that we will:

• Apply consistently high business ethics standards across the value chain

• Address day-to-day dilemmas guided by Proteams Culture Policy

• Be transparent about our business decisions and practices

• Hold ourselves accountable for acting with integrity and in compliance with the UN Global Compact

This Code spells out in further detail what integrity means to Proteams and it sets a global standard. The global standard is the minimum that must be followed across Proteams. In some countries, local laws, regulations, or industry codes may be more stringent than this Code. Where this is so, we follow the more stringent rules. All the principles you need to know can be found in this Policy.

We do not accept violations of this Policy. Employees who violate this Policy will be held accountable and disciplinary actions will be issued in line with local law. All the principles you need to know can be found in this Policy. An open and honest dialogue is a precondition for Proteams to maintain and continuously strengthen our integrity. When you have a question or a concern about a potential or actual breach of this Policy, the right thing is to raise your question or concern to relevant people.

2. Ask Questions and Raise Concerns

Employees and externals can also report concerns via email or by phone. All reports are treated confidentially, and you have the option to report anonymously. It is important that you know that Proteams will not accept any retaliation against anyone who raises a concern in good faith. A good-faith report is one that you believe to be true and that you do not make with the aim of harming others. You do not have to know all the facts, if you report in good faith.

3. Business Ethics in General

Bribes and Improper Advantages

Proteams does not accept bribery or any other form of corrupt business behaviour. We comply with all laws on bribery and corruption such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and local anti-corruption laws and industry codes in the EU countries where we operate. We do not offer, give, or accept bribes or any form of improper advantage, and we do not allow others to give bribes on our behalf. This applies in all interactions with our stakeholders.

Bribes and improper advantages can be monetary such as cash payments or illegal rebates. But they also include non-monetary items such as improper gifts, meals, products, travel expenses, or other items that ultimately mean the transfer of something of value in return for some special consideration. It does not matter whether you use your own private money or Proteams funds to pay a bribe or improper advantage. Both are against this Policy. Keep in mind that perception matters and that your behaviour can be considered a bribe or an improper advantage regardless of your intention.

Facilitation Payments

Proteams prohibits facilitation payments worldwide. Facilitation payments are gifts or payments made to a public official to speed up an administrative or otherwise routine task that should be performed anyway. Examples include processing papers for customs clearance, issuing visas and other actions by an official. If you are asked to make a facilitation payment, refuse to pay. Only if there is a threat to your life or health, should a payment be necessary. Contact management to discuss the appropriate way to deal with the situation. Always report any facilitation payment made to management and ensure that it is booked as a ‘facilitation payment’ in Proteams books.

Fraud

Preventing and detecting fraud is a priority for Proteams. You must not engage in any kind of fraud against Proteams, any of our business partners or government entities. The meaning of fraud varies from country to country, but generally, it means deliberately deceiving a person or company to unjustly obtain an unauthorised benefit, such as money, property or services. Examples are:

• theft of funds, inventory, or any other asset from Proteams, including false expense reports

• manipulation of accounting information or financial statements

• misuse or forgery of any document (for example records, data, accounts, expense claims or contracts)

Conflict of Interest

Personal interests must not have or even appear to have an undue influence on our professional judgment. A conflict of interest occurs when you have a professional or personal interest that may affect your ability to perform your job without bias. It may relate to your own personal interests, or those of a family member, a friend or another entity you are involved with. Often, a conflict of interest can be resolved acceptably for both you and Proteams. So, if you believe you are involved in an actual or potential conflict of interest, let management know immediately, so that an appropriate solution can be found. Management must ensure that employees who have a conflict of interest are not involved in relevant decision-making.

Gifts, Hospitality and Entertainment

Proteams does not give or accept gifts, hospitality or entertainment that could raise concerns about our integrity. Keep in mind that when you give or accept gifts, hospitality and entertainment in interactions with business partners, this could lead to a conflict of interest and be seen as a bribe or improper advantage. To avoid this, you must:

• not ask for gifts, hospitality or entertainment from our current or potential business partners

• ensure that any offer or receipt of gifts, hospitality or entertainment is of reasonable value, infrequent, related to a business purpose, customary for that business relation and cultural practice, and in line with any local requirements. Lavish or inappropriate gifts, hospitality or entertainment are prohibited never invite or pay for expenses unrelated to business meetings, or related to spouses, family members or other companions. Likewise, you must not accept offers from business partners to pay for expenses unrelated to business meetings, or relating to your spouse, family members or other companions.

Stricter rules apply for interactions with Public Officials.

Grants, Donations and Sponsorships

Proteams never offer or give contributions to unduly influence the recipients or to undermine their independence. To ensure this, remember that we never offer or give grants, donations and sponsorships:

• to individuals

• to improperly encourage or reward prescription, recommendation, or purchase of Proteams services or to influence regulatory, pricing, or reimbursement decisions

Books and Records

Proteams maintains accurate books and records of our business dealings. In this way, we can always trace how we make or receive payments and for what reason. When you provide anything of value to a company, entity or individual outside Proteams, make sure that the recorded entry is booked correctly and states the purpose, nature and participants related to such transaction. Do not create records that are false, incomplete, or altered or that do not reflect the true nature of transactions. This is considered fraud and is not accepted. Proteams ensure that we can report and disclose transfers in line with our procedures, applicable local laws, regulations, and industry codes.

4. Business Ethics in our Interactions with Stakeholders

Public Officials:

Proteams interacts with Public Officials ethically, responsibly, and transparently. We never give or offer anything of value to unduly influence a Public Official. The term Public Official is broad. For example, it covers politicians, officers, and others employed in government departments, in companies owned or partially owned by a government and in international organisations. It is important that you recognise that our interactions with Public Officials are subject to strict international laws and local rules in the countries where we operate.

Third Party Representatives:

Proteams hire companies or individuals who are not part of Proteams to provide services for us and represent us in various interactions. Because Third Party Representatives represent Proteams, they may expose us to liability and reputational damage if they do not follow our Business Ethics standards. Therefore, we require them to agree to follow this Policy. If a Third Party Representative violates this Code, we will request immediate action. If necessary, we will terminate the business relationship.

Definitions

This list contains definitions of abbreviations and terms used in this document.

Bribery: To offer, promise or give any undue advantage or anything of value, directly or indirectly, to a public official, business partner or any person, to obtain or retain business or other improper business advantages.

UN Global Compact: A voluntary UN initiative based on commitments from companies to implement universal sustainability principles and to take steps to support the United Nations’ goals. Proteams follows Principle 10 on anti-corruption states that “businesses should work against corruption in all its form, including extortion and bribery.”

Third-party representative: Any company or individual that is not part of Proteams but is engaged by Proteams to provide certain services and, as part of the performance of such services, acts on behalf of or in the interests of Proteams.

Child labor policy

Our child labor Policy is our position on employing minors and aims to ensure that our company, its subsidiaries and everyone we’re connected with follows the law and cares for children’s interests.

International, local and federal child labor laws are stricter today than they were years ago. But millions of children are still forced to work in bad conditions all around the world, even in developed countries.

As an organization, we want to do business in a legal, ethical manner adding value to society and the environment instead of doing harm. Helping stop child labor is fundamental to us. We want to make sure that our organization doesn’t take part in children’s exploitation and also helps end it to the best of our ability.

This Policy applies to our entire organization and those we do business or partner with including suppliers, vendors and contractors.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) and the U.N Convention on the Rights of the Child guide our Policy on child labor. When it comes to legal aspects, we always:

• Follow the stricter law if more than one laws apply (e.g. state and federal, local and international).

• Require suppliers, partners and vendors to follow the stricter applicable laws and recognize children’s rights. They must also require their own suppliers, subcontractors and stakeholders to do the same.

In this Policy, we refer to “children” as people who are younger than18years of age. “Young children” are people younger than14.

“Child labor” refers to work that deprives children of their childhood and affects their schooling, their potential and their dignity. It’s work that’s harmful to them mentally, physically and socially.

We don’t want to stand in the way of their health, schooling or free time. That’s why we don’t and won’t employ anyone younger than18 yearsof age and require our subsidiaries to do the same, regardless of the country they’re in.

We’re also committed not to do business with any organization that employs children younger than18. We’ll include this condition in every contract we sign and reserve the right to break the contract without penalty if our stakeholder violates this condition and refuses to agree on or follow through with an elimination plan.

These are mandatory conditions when forming partnerships or other business relationships. We’ll refuse to do business with anyone who employs children of any age in hazardous or exhausting jobs or doesn’t follow applicable laws on working hours or pay. We also expect them to communicate and enforce the no child labor Policy to their own contractors.

To make sure we enforce this Policy and help eliminate child labor, we’re committed to:

• Working with governments and other organizations to end child labor. We may sponsor or organize actions to educate communities, build schools or find ways to ensure children won’t be forced to work to support their families.

• Educating our staff on youth work laws and show them how to report child labor if they see or suspect it.

• Requiring hiring managers and HR to avoid hiring minors under the legal age for working. We also expect them to know and follow this Policy and laws on wages and hours for older children.

• Keeping and validating documentation verifying our employees’ age after they’re hired. If we discover that we’ve hired a minor under the age of 18, we’ll review applicable laws and adjust working hours accordingly. If we need to let the child go, we’ll assess their situation and make sure to provide for them to the best of our ability (e.g. pay him or her their would-be salary for a couple of months) when necessary.

• Communicating our no child labor Policy to organizations we’re connected with and ensure our contracts have the right stipulations.

• Auditing suppliers and partners (especially those in industries with high child labour risk) periodically to ensure they aren’t involved in child labour, possibly with unannounced onsite visits too. We’ll require them to provide us with an updated list of all their business locations at all times. If we discover hidden business sites that employ children, we’ll dissolve our contract immediately.

• Demanding and monitoring an elimination plan in cases where suppliers discover child labour in their business. We’ll also work together with the stakeholder to create plans to support children, keeping their best interests in mind, and make efforts to involve them and their families in the process.

• Employing or consulting with experts on topics like child labour, health and safety standards or corporate social responsibility.

Code of Ethics Policy

Our professional code of ethics policy aims to give our employees guidelines on our business ethics and stance on various controversial matters. We trust you to use your better judgment, but we want to provide you with a concrete guide you can fall back on if you’re unsure about how you should act (e.g. in cases of conflict of interest). We will also use this policy to outline the consequences of violating our business code of ethics.

This policy applies to everyone we employ or have business relations with. This includes individual people such as employees, interns, volunteers, but also business entities, such as vendors, enterprise customers or venture capital companies.

What is meant by code of professional ethics?

First, let’s define professional ethics: they are a set of principles that guide the behavior of people in a business context. They are essential to maintaining the legality of business and a healthy workplace.

So what is a code of ethics? Our code of ethics definition refers to the standards that apply to a specific setting – in this case, our own organization.

What is the purpose of a professional code of ethics?

Having our business ethics in writing doesn’t mean that we don’t trust our employees. We strive to hire ethical people who have their own personal standards, so we expect that a written code won’t be necessary most of the time.

But, it can still be helpful. You may find yourself in a situation where you’re not sure how you should act. Life is full of grey areas where right and wrong aren’t so apparent. Some professional ethics also correspond to laws that you absolutely must know to do your job properly, so we will mention them in our code of ethics.

Additionally, every organization makes bad hires every once in a while. We also can’t predict how people are going to behave. When an employee behaves, or intents to behave, in a way that’s against our professional ethics, or applicable laws, we will have clear guidelines on what disciplinary actions we will consider.

For these reasons, we advise you to read this document carefully and consult with your manager or HR, if you have doubts or questions.

The components of our code of professional ethics:

We base our business code of ethics on common principles of ethicsNote: Modify this list based on your own organization’s values:

• Respect for others.Treat people as you want to be treated.

• Integrity and honesty. Tell the truth and avoid any wrongdoing to the best of your ability.

• Justice. Make sure you’re objective and fair and don’t disadvantage others.

• Lawfulness. Know and follow the law – always.

• Competence and accountability. Work hard and be responsible for your work.

• Teamwork. Collaborate and ask for help.

Here’s a more detailed overview of our code:

Respect for others

It’s mandatory to respect everyone you interact with. Be kind, polite and understanding. You must respect others’ personal space, opinions and privacy. Any kind of violence is strictly prohibited and will result in immediate termination. You’re also not allowed to harass or victimize others.

What constitutes harassment or victimization? To answer this, we have a policy on harassment and a more specific policy on sexual harassment you can take a look at. As a general rule, try to put yourself in someone else’s place. How would you feel if someone behaved a specific way to you? If the answer is “I wouldn’t like it much” or “I would never let them behave like that to me”, then we don’t tolerate this behavior no matter the person it comes from.

If someone, be it customer, colleague or stakeholder, is offensive, demeaning or threatening toward you or someone you know, report them immediately to HR or your manager. You can also report rudeness and dismissiveness if they become excessive or frequent.

Integrity and honesty

First, always keep in mind our organization’s mission. We all work together to achieve specific outcomes. Your behavior should contribute to our goals, whether financial or organizational.

Be honest and transparent when you act in ways that impact other people (e.g. taking strategic decisions or deciding on layoffs). We don’t tolerate malicious, deceitful or petty conduct. Lies and cheating are huge red flags and, if you’re discovered, you may face progressive discipline or immediate termination depending on the damage you did.

Stealing from Proteams or other people is illegal. If you’re caught, you will face repercussions depending on the severity of your actions. For example, if you steal office supplies, you may receive a reprimand or demotion (at a minimum), while if you steal money or data (e.g. engaging in fraud or embezzlement), you will get fired and face legal consequences. The decision is at HR’s discretion on a case-by-case basis.

Conflict of interest

Conflict of interest may occur whenever your interest in a particular subject leads you to actions, activities or relationships that undermine our company. This includes situations like using your position’s authority for your own personal gain or exploiting company resources to support a personal money-making business. Even when you seemingly act to Proteams’ advantage, you may actually disadvantage it. For example, if an employee uses dubious methods to get competitor intel and raise their sales record, their action will have a positive impact on Proteams’ revenue, but it will put us at a legal risk and promote unhealthy business practices.

If it turns out you have created a conflict of interest for yourself, you will be terminated. If the conflict of interest was involuntary (e.g. buying stocks from a company without knowing they’re a competitor), we will take actions to rectify the situation. If you repeat the offence, you may be terminated.

Justice

Don’t act in a way that exploits others, their hard work or their mistakes. Give everyone equal opportunity and speak up when someone else doesn’t.

Be objective when making decisions that can impact other people, including when you’re deciding to hire, promote or fire someone. Be sure that you can justify any decision with written records or examples. Seek and use the most objective methods in any case; for example, when interviewing candidates, ask the same interview questions to all of them and avoid judging non-job-related criteria, like dress, appearance, etc.

Also, don’t discriminate against people with protected characteristics. If you suspect you may have an unconscious bias that influences your decisions, ask for help from HR.

When exercising authority, be fair. Don’t show favoritism toward specific employees and be transparent when you decide to praise or reward an employee. You’re also obliged to follow our employment of relatives policy, which forbids you from having a reporting relationship with a relative.

If you need to discipline an employee, be sure to have prepared a case that you can present to HR. You must not retaliate against employees or applicants (such as in cases when they’ve filed complaints) as this is forbidden by law.

Be just toward customers or vendors, too. If you think our company was in the wrong in a specific instance, don’t try to cover it up or accuse the other side. Discuss with your manager to find solutions that can benefit both sides.

Lawfulness

You are obliged to follow all laws which apply to our organization. Depending on your role and profession, there might be various laws you need to observe. For example, accountants and medical professionals have their own legal restrictions and they must be fully aware of them.

When you’re preparing contracts, clauses, disclaimers or online copy that may be governed by law (such as consent forms), please ask for verification from our legal counsel before finalizing anything.

You’re also covered by our confidentiality and data protection policy. You must not expose, disclose or endanger information of customers, employees, stakeholders or our business. Always follow our cybersecurity policy, too.

Following laws regarding fraud, bribery, corruption and any kind of assault is a given. You are also obliged to follow laws on child labor and avoid doing business with unlawful organizations.

If you’re not sure what the law is in a specific instance, don’t hesitate to ask HR or our legal counsel.

Competence and accountability

We all need to put a healthy amount of effort in our work. Not just because we’re all responsible for the organization’s success, but also because slacking off affects our colleagues. Incomplete or slow working might hinder other people’s work or cause them to shoulder the burden themselves. This comes in direct conflict with our respect and integrity principles.

We also expect you to take up opportunities for learning and development, either on-the-job or via educational material or training. If you are unsure how you can achieve this, have an open discussion with your manager.

Also, take responsibility for your actions. We all make mistakes or need to make tough decisions and it’s important we own up to them. Failing to be accountable on a regular basis or in important situations (e.g. a crucial mistake in our financial records) will result in termination. If you take responsibility and come up with ways to fix your mistakes where possible, you will be in a far better position.

Teamwork

Working well with others is a virtue, rather than an obligation. You will certainly get to work autonomously and be focused on your own projects and responsibilities. But, you should also be ready to collaborate with and help others.

Be generous with your expertise and knowledge. Be open to learning and evolving. If days go by without you consulting or brainstorming with anyone, you are missing out on opportunities for excellence. Instead, work with others and don’t hesitate to ask for help when you need it.

Company Data Protection Policy

Our Company Data Protection Policy refers to our commitment to treat the information of employees, customers, stakeholders and other interested parties with the utmost care and confidentiality.

With this policy, we ensure that we gather, store and handle data fairly, transparently and with respect towards individual rights.

This policy refers to all parties (employees, job candidates, customers, suppliers etc.) who provide any amount of information to us.

Employees of our company and its subsidiaries must follow this policy. Contractors, consultants, partners and any other external entity are also covered. Generally, our policy refers to anyone we collaborate with or acts on our behalf and may need occasional access to data.

As part of our operations, we need to obtain and process information. This information includes any offline or online data that makes a person identifiable such as names, addresses, usernames and passwords, digital footprints, photographs, social security numbers, financial data etc

Our company collects this information in a transparent way and only with the full cooperation and knowledge of interested parties. Once this information is available to us, the following rules apply.

Our data will be:

• Accurate and kept up-to-date

• Collected fairly and for lawful purposes only

• Processed by Proteams within its legal and moral boundaries

• Protected against any unauthorized or illegal access by internal or external parties

Our data will not be:

• Communicated informally

• Stored for more than a specified amount of time

• Transferred to organizations, states or countries that do not have adequate data protection policies

• Distributed to any party other than the ones agreed upon by the data’s owner (exempting legitimate requests from law enforcement authorities)

In addition to ways of handling the data Proteams has direct obligations towards people to whom the data belongs. Specifically we must:

• Let people know which of their data is collected

• Inform people about how we’ll process their data

• Inform people about who has access to their information

• Have provisions in cases of lost, corrupted or compromised data

• Allow people to request that we modify, erase, reduce or correct data contained in our databases

Actions

To exercise data protection we’re committed to:

• Restrict and monitor access to sensitive data

• Develop transparent data collection procedures

• Train employees in online privacy and security measures

• Build secure networks to protect online data from cyberattacks

• Establish clear procedures for reporting privacy breaches or data misuse

• Include contract clauses or communicate statements on how we handle data

• Establish data protection practices (document shredding, secure locks, data encryption, frequent backups, access authorization etc.)

Our data protection provisions will appear on our website.

Disciplinary Consequences

All principles described in this policy must be strictly followed. A breach of data protection guidelines will invoke disciplinary and possibly legal action.

Company Overtime Policy

Our company overtime policy explains how we’ll compensate employees for hours worked beyond their standard schedule. We want to:

• Ensure employees will be consistently and correctly compensated for the time they put into their job duties.

• Minimize incidents of overtime abuse, loss of productivity, health and safety risks and other issues.

This company overtime policy won’t contradict any legal guidelines. We’ll follow relevant legislation when assigning or compensating overtime hours.

In our company overtime policy, “standard working hours”are an employee’s regularly scheduled working time. They’re usually specified in employment contracts and follow legal guidelines regarding minimum or maximum limits. “Overtime” that qualifies for compensation refers to any amount of time worked in addition to those hours.

Our policy’s general rules are

• We’ll classify our employees as exempt or non-exempt according to overtime pay laws.

• Non-exempt employees who work more than the standard working hours will be entitled to overtime pay.

• Employees are entitled to overtime pay regardless of where they work, as long as they perform work that our company accepts for its business purposes.

Excessive Overtime

Overtime may be necessary to handle emergencies, heavy workloads or other issues. But, frequent and excessive overtime isn’t good for employees’ health and performance. The law may or may not permit excessive overtime, but we want to avoid productivity and morale loss or work-related accidents due to fatigue.

For this reason, we will:

• Record overtime hours accurately and consistently.

• Advise employees to work overtime only when they have to finish urgent work

• Have all necessary provisions to allow employees to complete their work during standard working hours.

• Take measures to gradually reduce overtime when we observe a decline in work quality or other issues due to excessive working hours.

• Set a daily/weekly cap for overtime at 2 hours per day/ 8 hours per week. Employees who work more than that will be compensated according to legal requirements. But, we advise employees to respect this limit.

We will not:

• Ask employees to work more than the maximum amount of hours per day or week permitted by law

• Discriminate when choosing who has to work overtime and how they’ll be compensated for it.

Abuse of overtime

We want to avoid any incidents of abuse of the overtime system, either by our company or employees, that may result in legal confrontation. We expect:

• Managers to avoid asking or encouraging their team members to work excessive overtime

• Employees to avoid working unnecessary overtime aiming for the highest pay, as this may result in a trade off with the quality of their work

• We are bound to compensate overtime pay at correct pay rates in a timely manner. Employees and managers should follow our timekeeping systems so we can maintain accurate records

Employees should read this policy and direct any questions to our Human resources (HR) department

Procedure

To comply with record keeping and overtime compensation requirements, we need a smooth procedure. We should record overtime timely. This is our suggested procedure:

• Team members and their managers agree on the hours of overtime needed. Overtime should not exceed any legal limits and employees shouldn’t end up working excessive hours.

• Managers should know whether their team members are non-exempt or exempt and ensure their team members are aware.

• Team members and managers accurately record overtime.

• HR calculates overtime pay according to legal pay rates

• Team members receive their overtime compensation in the next scheduled pay period

Company Travel Policy

Our company travel policy outlines our provisions for company-related travel. We’ll explain which expenses we’ll reimburse and how. We’ll also give instructions to our employees to track their expenses correctly when traveling.

This policy applies to all our employees. In this policy, we refer to ‘travel’ meaning a business trip to a different city than the one you’re in. We’re also counting any car, train or bus trip that lasts longer than an hour.

This policy doesn’t refer to traveling to and from the office on a daily basis for work. We reimburse commute expenses based on each employee’s contract or agreement with our company.

As our employee, you may need to travel for company purposes. This includes trips to:

• Meet with clients or partners.

• Attend events, like conferences, where you’ll represent our company.

• Visit our company’s offices in other locations.

• Conduct research or give talks/ lectures/ presentations on behalf of our company.

For this kind of travel, we’ll reimburse transportation and accommodation expenses, as well as per diem expenses.

Legal/ medical expenses

If you need to travel to countries that need a visa or other documentation to enter, we’ll cover all relevant expenses (excluding expenses for issuing passports). The same applies to medical expenses, like medical insurance for travelers, vaccinations or examinations. We’ll pay all these costs directly, you won’t need to do anything.

Medical care fees due to travel-related accidents may be covered by workers’ compensation insurance. If not, we may partially or fully reimburse you for your medical expenses.

Transportation expenses

When traveling for company purposes, you’re entitled to company-paid plane tickets in premium economy class. Should you need to travel by another means of transportation (train, boat or coach), you’re entitled to a premium seat. We’ll reimburse two-way tickets, meals (as included in the ticket price) and one luggage, plus a carry-on in case of a plane trip. You should cover additional expenses, like extra luggage or purchase of duty-free items, on your own.

Your travel must be booked at leasttwo weeks in advance unless it’s an unforeseen trip. Talk to our HR and they’ll book your tickets directly. They must ask your manager for written approval first. Then, they’ll collaborate with you on booking the appropriate transportation at convenient times depending on the purpose of your trip.

If you have a reason to book the transportation on your own (for example, in order to collect bonus miles on your personal card), discuss this with your manager. You’ll need their approval for the fares you’ve chosen, ensuring they’re not unnecessarily expensive. To receive a reimbursement for these expenses, submit them to our expenses software.

If you plan to travel by car, we’ll reimburse all gas and toll fees. We’ll also pay a maximum of EUR 100 for expenses during your trip for food, non-alcoholic drinks or other necessities. Keep all receipts and submit them to our expenses software.

Local transportation

When arrived at your destination, you can take taxis to move around the area for business purposes. Always ask for receipts and we’ll reimburse fares for traveling:

From airport/ stations to your hotel and back.

To and from every place you go for company purposes (like conference halls, lunches with clients or client offices).

We won’t reimburse transportation expenses for trips to museums or other places for personal purposes.

If you prefer to use public transport, buy a ticket (either one-way or multiple-days if applicable) and submit the receipt

You can also rent a car if you plan to do many trips within the city (for example, if you’re planning to see a large number of customers). In these cases, you can either talk to your manager or HR so they can rent a car for you or you can rent your own from the city you’ll travel to (you must buy insurance too). Keep in mind, we’ll only reimburse fees for a rental car.

Accommodation

When traveling for company purposes, you’re entitled to stay at a3-star hotel or the best hotel available in the area. Ouroffice manager/ HR generalist/ finance manager/ etc. will book the room for you and pay for your stay. We might have negotiated a contract with a hotel to achieve a discount. If you plan to stay longer for personal reasons, you’ll need to pay for the additional stay yourself, but you may be able to take advantage of the discount. Ask ouroffice manager/ HR generalist/ finance manager/ etc. to let you know.

We won’t reimburse any extra room-related charges incurred. We may make an exception if you need to upgrade your room for reasons outside of your control (for example, a malfunction that makes your room unsuitable and there’s no room of equal cost available). In this case, you should contact ouroffice manager/ HR generalist/ finance manager/ etc. immediately so that they find the best solution and arrange the payment.

If you want to stay at a more expensive lodging for a particular reason (like to be closer to family who lives close by), you’ll need to pay the difference yourself.

Traveling with a non-employee

Our policy allows you to share a company-booked room with a partner, friend or family member who wants to travel with you, as long as this doesn’t incur extra charges for our company. For example, if we’ve already booked a room for you that has enough space, you can host your partner, friend or family member. Keep in mind that you’ll be financially responsible for any expenses or damages this person incurs.

We won’t reimburse any expenses for your co-traveler for the entirety of the trip. The only exception is taxi fares which don’t depend on the number of people on the ride.

Expenses while on a trip

During a business trip, you’re entitled to reimbursement for lunch and dinner at a maximum of EUR 20 per meal. We’ll reimburse only your own portion of the bill if you’re traveling with a non-employee, so make sure to separate your bills or ask for separate receipts.

When it comes to meetings with clients (like dinners), we’ll reimburse the whole of the bill including tips. The most senior employee participating in the meeting should pay the bill and submit the expenses for reimbursement. We count on you to place reasonable orders. If you exceed EUR 150 per person for one meal, you must get approval from our manager to expense the cost.

What you need to do

We ask you to use your best judgment when traveling for company purposes. Don’t go overboard with spending on food and drinks. Always ask for receipts and keep them organized.

When you’re back from your trip, submit all expenses to our expenses software withintwo months. If you had a reason not to submit expenses within that period, talk to your manager. They’ll be the ones to approve your expenses for reimbursement. You’ll receive the money with your next paycheck after your manager approves.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) policies

• If you are feeling ill, but you are able to work, you can request to work from home.

• If you have recently returned from areas with a high number of COVID-19 cases (based on CDC announcements), we’ll ask you to work from home for 14 calendar days, and return to the office only if you are fully asymptomatic. You will also be asked not to come into physical contact with any colleagues during this time.

• If you’ve been in close contact with someone infected by COVID-19, with high chances of being infected yourself, request work from home. You will also be asked not to come into physical contact with any colleagues during this time.

• If you’re a parent and you have to stay at home with your children, request work from home. Follow up with your manager or departmental leader to make arrangements and set expectations.

• If you need to provide care to a family member infected by COVID-19, request work from home. You’ll only be permitted to return to the office 14 calendar days after your family member has fully recovered, provided that you’re asymptomatic or you have a doctor’s note confirming you don’t have the virus. You will also be asked not to come into physical contact with any colleagues during this time.

Traveling/commuting measures:

• All work trips and events – both domestic and international – will be cancelled/postponed until further notice.

• In-person meetings should be done virtually where possible, especially with non-company parties (e.g. candidate interviews and partners).

• If you normally commute to the office by public transportation and do not have other alternatives, you can request to work from home as a precaution.

• If you are planning to travel voluntarily to a high-risk country with increased COVID-19 cases, we’ll ask you to work from home for 14 calendar days. You will also be asked not to come into physical contact with any colleagues during this time.

General hygiene rules:

• Wash your hands after using the toilet, before eating, and if you cough/sneeze into your hands (follow the 20-second hand-washing rule). You can also use the sanitizers you’ll find around the office.

• Cough/sneeze into your sleeve, preferably into your elbow. If you use a tissue, discard it properly and clean/sanitize your hands immediately.

• Open the windows regularly to ensure open ventilation.

• Avoid touching your face, particularly eyes, nose, and mouth with your hands to prevent from getting infected.

• If you find yourself coughing/sneezing on a regular basis, avoid close physical contact with your coworkers and take extra precautionary measures (such as requesting sick leave).

Corporate Social Responsibility Policy

Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) company policy refers to our responsibility toward our environment. Our company’s existence is not lonely. It’s part of a bigger system of people, values, other organizations and nature. The social responsibility of a business is to give back to the world just as it gives to us.

What is corporate social responsibility?

Our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) company policy outlines our efforts to give back to the world as it gives to us.

This policy applies to our company and its subsidiaries. It may also refer to suppliers and partners.

Policy elements

We want to be a responsible business that meets the highest standards of ethics and professionalism

Our company’s social responsibility falls under two categories: compliance and proactiveness. Compliance refers to our company’s commitment to legality and willingness to observe community values. Proactiveness is every initiative to promote human rights, help communities and protect our natural environment.

Compliance

Legality

Our company will:

• Respect the law

• Honor its internal policies

• Ensure that all its business operations are legitimate

• Keep every partnership and collaboration open and transparent

Business ethics

We’ll always conduct business with integrity and respect to human rights. We’ll promote:

• Safety and fair dealing

• Respect toward the consumer

• Anti-bribery and anti-corruption practices

Examples of Corporate Social Responsibility

Protecting the environment

Our company recognizes the need to protect the natural environment. Keeping our environment clean and unpolluted is a benefit to all. We’ll always follow best practices when disposing garbage and using chemical substances. Stewardship will also play an important role.

Protecting people

We’ll ensure that we:

Don’t risk the health and safety of our employees and community.

Avoid harming the lives of local and indigenous people.

Support diversity and inclusion.

Human rights

Our company is dedicated to protecting human rights. We are a committed equal opportunity employer and will abide by all fair labor practices. We’ll ensure that our activities do not directly or indirectly violate human rights in any country (e.g. forced labor).

Proactiveness

Donations and aid

Our company may preserve a budget to make monetary donations. These donations will aim to:

Advance the arts, education and community events.

Alleviate those in need.

Volunteering

Our company will encourage its employees to volunteer. They can volunteer through programs organized internally or externally. Our company may sponsor volunteering events from other organizations.

Preserving the environment

Apart from legal obligations, our company will proactively protect the environment. Examples of relevant activities include:

• Recycling

• Conserving energy

• Organizing reforestation excursions

• Using environmentally-friendly technologies

Supporting the community

Our company may initiate and support community investment and educational programs. For example, it may begin partnerships with vendors for constructing public buildings. It can provide support to nonprofit organizations or movements to promote cultural and economic development of global and local communities.

Learning

We will actively invest in R&D. We will be open to suggestions and listen carefully to ideas. Our company will try to continuously improve the way it operates.

Our company is committed to the United Nations Global Compact. We’ll readily act to promote our identity as a socially aware and responsible business. Management must communicate this policy on all levels. Managers are also responsible for resolving any CSR issues.

Disciplinary Action Policy

Our Disciplinary Action company policy explains how we address our employees’ misconduct or inadequate performance. Employees must be aware of the consequences of their actions. We use this policy to outline our disciplinary procedure.

This policy applies to all our employees.

The stages that may be followed when discipline is deemed necessary include the following:

Verbal warning

• Corrective Actions/Counseling

• Official written reprimand

• Disciplinary meeting with appropriate supervisor or manager

• Final written warning

• Detraction of benefits

• Indefinite suspension or demotion

• Termination

The nature of the offense must be explained to the employee from the beginning of the procedure. The verbal warning may take the form of a simple oral reprimand but also a full discussion if that is necessary.

The employee must read and sign the written reprimand and final written warning. These documents include the time limit in which an employee must correct their conduct before we take further disciplinary action.

The following scenarios indicate where the disciplinary procedure starts depending on the violation:

Performance issues. Disciplinary procedure starts at stage 1. It includes but is not limited to:

• Failure to meet performance objectives.

• Attendance issues.

• Failure to meet deadlines.

Misdemeanors/One-time minor offense. Disciplinary procedure starts at stage 1. It includes but is not limited to:

• Rude behavior to customers or partners.

• On-the-job minor mistakes.

• Breach of dress code/open door policy etc.

• Involuntary Discrimination.

Misconduct/Frequent offender. Disciplinary procedure starts at stage 5. It includes but is not limited to:

Lack of response to counseling and corrective actions.

Lost temper in front of customers or partners.

On-the-job major mistakes.

Unwillingness to follow health and safety standards.

Severe offensive behavior/Felony. Disciplinary procedure starts at stage 6. It includes but is not limited to:

• Corruption/ Bribery.

• Breach of employment agreement.

• Harassment/ Voluntary discrimination.

• Workplace Violence.

• Embezzlement/Fraud.

• Substance Abuse.

Managers or HR may choose to repeat stages of our disciplinary procedure as appropriate. This decision depends on employees’ reaction to our disciplinary procedure, whether they repent their behavior and the nature of their offense.

Our disciplinary procedure begins when there is sufficient evidence to justify it. When there is suspicion or hints of misconduct, managers or HR must investigate the matter first

Appeals are allowed and must be filed to the next line of management as soon as possible.

HR and managers should document every stage of our disciplinary procedure (except the verbal warning.) If appropriate, include necessary information like evidence, testimonies and employee’s progress or improvement

We are obliged to refrain from disciplinary actions that may constitute retaliatory behavior. A no retaliation company policy will be effective at all times to ensure there is no misuse of our disciplinary procedure.

We have the right to modify this policy or act in any other legal or reasonable way as each case demands. But, we will always enforce discipline in a fair and lawful manner.

Employee Attendance Policy

Our employee attendance policy outlines our expectations about our employees’ coming to work. Being punctual when coming to work helps maintain efficiency in our workplace.

This company attendance policy applies to all nonexempt employees regardless of position or type of employment.

Most employees need to collaborate with their colleagues to do their job. To make this collaboration easier, we expect you to be punctual and follow the schedule you and your manager have agreed on. If you are absent or late on occasion, you should have a good reason.

Being consistently tardy or absent can cause problems to your colleagues who may have to shoulder your work. This behavior may bring about a “bad attendance” record and you may need to go through progressive discipline.

What is absenteeism and tardiness?

Absenteeism refers to frequent absence from an employee’s job responsibilities. This includes not coming to work frequently or taking excessive sick leave without being able to submit doctor’s notes.

Presenteeism refers to being present at work beyond your schedule even when we don’t require overtime. This can cause you to overwork and have an impact on your productivity and job satisfaction. We want to ensure that you keep your schedule both when coming to work and leaving.

Tardiness refers to coming in late, taking longer breaks than you’re entitled to and constantly leaving earlier from work without reason. We probably won’t mind if you’re a bit late one morning or leave a little earlier on a Friday. But, we want to make sure you generally follow your schedule and you don’t cause disruption in our workplace.

You are responsible for monitoring your working hours through ourtimekeeping system/ software. Please be diligent in recording your hours, so you can receive your due payment.

Unforeseen absences

If you can’t come in to work one day, notify your manager as soon as possible. If your manager is in a different time zone, contact HR instead. Afterwards, you should draw from your remaining PTO or sick leave to cover this absence. Please record this in ourHR software as quickly as possible. Unexcused or unreported absence for more than three days will be considered job abandonment. If you need to leave work early one day, inform your manager.

We will understand if you have good reasons for being absent, even if you don’t report it. Those reasons usually involve serious accidents and family or acute medical emergencies. We may ask you to bring us doctor’s notes or other verification. In these cases, we will record your absence as “excused.

The following list, although not exhaustive, includes reasons that we don’t consider excused absence:

• Waking up late.

• Stopping on the way to work for personal reasons.

• Traffic or public transportation delays excluding situations that result in closing of roads.

• Bad weather, excluding extreme weather conditions like blizzards, hurricanes and floods.

• Holidays that haven’t been approved.

Good attendance

Employees who have less thanthree incidents of absenteeism or tardiness in a year will receive an additional paid day off for next year. You have a good attendance record when you:

• Report consistently to work.

• Come to work at the scheduled shift start time.

• Leave work at the scheduled shift end time (except when paid overtime is required.)

• Remaining at work during working hours (excluding breaks.)

• Take breaks that don’t exceed an expected length.

• Notify your manager when you need to be absent or late.

• Be absent or late for good reasons only.

Manager’s responsibility

If you manage employees you are responsible to monitor their attendance. If you notice that a team member is consistently late or absent, arrange a private meeting to discuss. Ask your team member whether they experience issues with their schedule or whether they need help balancing their personal lives with work. Flexible hours, work from home or time management training options may provide a solution. If you perceive a possible mental health issue that results in absenteeism or tardiness, ask your team member to contact ourmental health professional and discuss what you can do to help them.

If you suspect that your team member abuses their sick leave or is wilfully tardy, you should inform HR and start a progressive discipline process.

Disciplinary action

If your manager suspects you abuse your sick leave, you may need to submit doctor’s notes to avoid our progressive discipline process. If you’re being tardy unintentionally, corrective counseling will be our first attempt at a solution. We may take disciplinary action that goes up to and including termination if:

• Corrective counseling doesn’t work.

• We find that you are wilfully tardy.

• Your tardiness or absenteeism impacts your work.

Unexcused and unreported absences don’t count as hours worked, so we won’t compensate them.

Employee Background Check Policy

Our employee background check policy refers to our guidelines for investigating our job candidates’ backgrounds as part of our hiring process. Background checks help us:

• Get insight into candidates’ background.

• Ensure we hire reliable employees.

• Verify candidates’ information for truthfulness and accuracy.

• Screen candidates convicted of serious criminal behavior.

This employee background check policy applies to candidates who go through our company’s hiring process. It may also apply to internal candidates who are being considered for a promotion or transfer.

Background checks may include:

• Criminal records.

• Verification reports (e.g. identity, previous employment, education, technical certificates)

• Reference checks.

All candidates aren’t required to pass every type of background check we offer before our company hires them. Each position has its own requirements. The basic background screening includes verification reports and reference checks.

Local laws may prohibit or restrict certain types of background checks. We’ll comply with legal guidelines at all times.

Criminal record checks are essential if candidates are interviewing for positions where they will:

• Represent our company and deal with our clients or stakeholders.

• Have access to sensitive and confidential information

• Handle money and finances

• Have any contact with children or the elderly

Our company’s responsibilities

Hiring managers and HR staff must:

• Inform candidates that a background check is required in the position’s job advertisement.

• Ask candidates to provide written permission before conducting a background check and let them know how long the process will take.

• Hire a reputable and reliable background check provider. Criteria to consider when choosing a provider are: cost, legality, commitment to confidentiality and turnaround time. If our current provider doesn’t meet our requirements for these criteria, HR should search for a new provider.

• Inform candidates of the results of their background checks and what we plan to do (reject or move candidates to the next hiring phase.) Background check providers should give candidates copies of their results.

• Conduct a background check on all candidates who pass through theinterview phase for a specific position without discriminating against certain individuals.

• Give candidates information they need to dispute a report or address any issues a background check turns up.

Hiring managers/HR must tell candidates a clean background check doesn’t guarantee employment, unless they’ve already received a verbal job offer.

What to make of negative findings

Criminal records don’t automatically disqualify candidates from the hiring process, unless they are convicted of serious criminal acts (e.g. sexual assault.) We will judge the substance of criminal records according to these criteria:

• Number of criminal convictions for the same offense.

• Time elapsed from the most recent criminal conviction.

• How the criminal conviction relates to the position.

• Note that HR/hiring managers will consider convictions, not arrests, when reviewing a candidate’s background check.

HR and hiring managers should keep Proteams’ interests in mind when rating the seriousness of any issues background checks uncover. For example, candidates who are considered for a position that involves driving a company vehicle should have at least a two-year clean driving record. HR and hiring managers should reject candidates convicted of driving while intoxicated within the last two years.

Generally, if hiring managers and HR decide a particular candidate would bring high or unreasonable risk to our company, they should reject the candidate.

HR and hiring managers can call candidates to discuss the results of their background checks in cases of minor discrepancies (e.g. a suspended license.) If candidates answer satisfactorily, they may still be hired to work with our company.

Procedure

We aim for a transparent hiring process that respects candidates’ rights. We advise hiring managers and HR staff to follow this procedure for background screening:

• Hiring managers and HR discuss whether a background check is needed for a position and what the check will include.

• Hiring managers note in the job ad that a background check is required before employment.

• When the final candidates (one or more finalists) are selected, hiring managers or HR contact the candidates to get written permission for background checks and explain the process. This can be done through an Applicant Tracking System (ATS.)

• If candidates refuse to go through background screening, HR informs them that they won’t be considered for the position. If candidates provide written permission, background-check providers can initiate the review.

• Once HR receives background check results, staff discusses them with hiring managers to decide next steps for the candidates and the position.

• Hiring managers inform candidates of their decisions and ensure they get copies of their individual background check reports. If there are negative findings, HR/hiring managers must let candidates know how to dispute the report.

Our confidentiality and data protection policies always apply to information background checks uncover.

Employee Benefits and Perks

In this section, we describe what we offer to our employees. We provide information on our health insurance plans and benefits like work from home options and company-issued equipment.

Employee health

Employee health is important to us. We don’t discriminate against people with disabilities or health conditions, but we want to do everything possible to help employees stay healthy.

Workers’ compensation

We strive to keep our workplace safe, but accidents may happen occasionally. Employees who are injured at work (by accident or disease) can receive wage replacement, medical care and rehabilitation benefits according to workers’ compensation laws, when appropriate. Please inform us of your situation as soon as possible. Ask HR for forms that you need to file a claim or contact your state agency for workers’ compensation.

Our company has a workers’ compensation policy according to guidelines of the states (or countries) we operate in.

Living Wage

We ensure that all employees earn sufficient income in a standard working week to, at a minimum, meet their basic needs (and those of their families) and to provide some discretionary income.

We safeguard this by:

• Employee salaries and benefits paid for a standard working week shall meet at least the statutory minimum wage given by national law, prevailing industry benchmark standards or the wage negotiated in a collective agreement, whichever is higher.

• Employee salaries and benefits shall be periodically assessed and adjusted to consider changes in the cost of living and other economic conditions.

• Employees shall be provided with written and understandable information about their employment conditions in respect to salaries before they enter employment, and about the particulars of their salaries for each salary payment made.

• Salaries are paid to employees regularly and on time to avoid any accumulation of salary arrears.

• Where salary advances are given, they should comply with national law and employees should be fully informed of labour conditions.

• Deductions from salaries as a disciplinary measure shall not be permitted, nor shall any deductions from salaries not provided for by national law be permitted without the expressed permission of the employee concerned.

• Ensure all employees receive equal remuneration for work of equal value, by prohibiting any discrimination in the remuneration of employees for reasons unrelated to their qualifications or job performance.

• We recognize the right of everyone to social security, including social insurance

Work from home

If your job doesn’t require you to be present at our premises, you can occasionally work from home (WFH). If you need to telecommute for more days per week, talk to your manager.

Please inform your manager that you want to work from home in advance. If there’s a rare emergency, you may work from home without having received prior approval, but call or email your manager as soon as possible. If they are in a different time-zone, contact HR instead.

When you are working from home, please use an internet connection and devices that are fast and secure. Choose a place without loud noises or distractions. And, check in with your team frequently to make collaboration easier.

If there is inclement weather (e.g. a blizzard) please check youremail to see if the office is officially closed. If you judge that your commute during inclement weather is dangerous, let us know. We will not force you to come to work if your safety is at stake or if there is an official travel warning.

Remote working

Remote working refers to working from a non-office location on a temporary or permanent basis.

If you’re an office-based employee, you may work remotely as long as your work is not affected and your manager is fine with it. Submit your remote working requests at least one week in advance.

If you work remotely permanently, we ask that you adhere to our security, confidentiality and equal opportunity policies just like your office-based colleagues.

Employee expenses

There are some expenses that we will pay directly on your behalf (e.g. hotel rooms for work-related travel.) But, we ask you to keep track and report on those reimbursable expenses that you pay yourself. We reimburse employee expenses that are related to:

• Business travel

• Relocation

• Education and training

• Upon approval, outings with business partners or colleagues

Not all travel expenses are reimbursable. For example, we will pay for your transportation to an airport for work-related travel, but not to a museum for a personal visit. Before traveling for business, contact HR to clarify which expenses are reimbursable within your particular trip.

Please keep receipts for all reimbursable expenses. You can submit them to your managerthrough our expense software withinthree months after the date of each expense. If your manager approves your expenses, you will receive your reimbursement withintwo pay periodsby check.

Company-issued equipment

As an employee, you may receivecompany cell phone, laptop or other device, furniture. Unless otherwise mentioned in your contract, any equipment we offer belongs to our company and you may not sell it or give it away. You are also responsible for keeping our equipment safe and in as good condition as possible. If your equipment breaks or malfunctions, let us know so we can arrange to get it repaired.

If you are part of our corporate cell phone plan, please use your phone within our plan’s restraints. You may have to pay any extra charges yourself.

Theft and damage of company equipment

Our equipment is insured for theft and damage. We ask you to inform us within24 hours if your equipment is stolen or damaged. We might be able to trace stolen laptops and cell phones. Please also file a theft statement (affidavit) with the police and submit a copy to us.

Security of company issued devices

We advise you to keep your company-issued computer, tablet and cell phone secure. You can do this if you:

Keep all devices password-protected.

Ensure you do not leave your devices unattended.

Install security updates for browsers and other systems as soon as updates are available.

Log into company accounts and systems through secure and private networks only.

Follow all instructions for disk encryption, anti-malware protection and password management that you received along with your equipment.

Employee Bonus Policy

Our employee bonus policy explains how our company distributes bonuses to employees. We want to reward employees whenever possible, since we all contribute to our company’s success with our hard work. This policy clarifies how we choose which employees to reward and how we calculate bonus amounts.

This policy applies to all regular full-time and part-time employees and employees with contracts ofone year and more. Seasonal employees, interns and temporary employees with a contract of less thanone year are not eligible for bonuses.

We may modify this policy and our bonus plans at any time without notice.

Only written promises of bonuses will be considered valid. If your manager or another executive (including the C-suite) verbally promises you a bonus, they can not follow through unless they put it in writing and HR approves it.

Bonuses can be either discretionary or nondiscretionary:

Discretionary bonuses are determined at our company’s sole discretion. They aren’t promised to employees and we can’t guarantee anyone will receive them. For example, we may pay a bonus to reward an employee who showed exemplary performance at a particular time.

Nondiscretionary bonuses are promised or announced to employees and guaranteed to those who meet our established criteria for the bonus. For example, we may promise to pay nondiscretionary bonuses to reward teams for meeting specific targets.

One important difference between discretionary and nondiscretionary bonuses in the U.S. is that nondiscretionary bonuses must be included in overtime pay calculations. Our company will follow its legal obligations.

Our company rewards employees for outstanding individual performance, as well as their contributions that help us achieve company goals. For this reason, we award bonuses in three forms:

• Lump sum bonus.

• Year-end bonus.

• Incentive plans.

Lump-sum bonuses

Our company may award lump-sum bonuses (one-time bonus payments) to employees who show exemplary performance. We define “exemplary performance” as:

Exceeding goals, either financial or nonfinancial.

Performing additional duties from what is expected.

Serving as a good example of professional behavior to other employees (e.g. teamwork, ethics, leadership.)

When managers know their team member deserves a bonus, they should send a formal written recommendation to their Department Head and HR, explaining how their team member showed exemplary performance.

HR will:

• Review and approve recommendations with the input of Department Heads based on available budget. Lump-sum bonuses can not exceed 10% of base salary/ $2,000/ etc. Bonuses for executives/ that exceed $1,000 need to be approved and signed by the board.

• Send a formal letter to the team member who showed exemplary performance congratulating them and informing them that they will receive a bonus.

• Coordinate with the Finance Department to arrange for paying bonuses on time. Employees should receive their bonus within the next two pay periods/ one month after approval/ etc.

• Lump-sum bonuses are discretionary.

Year-end bonus

Our company’s policy gives the executive team the ability to decide on year-end bonuses for employees. There are two conditions for this bonus:

• Our company should have exceeded its annual financial goals.

• The board of directors must approve the bonuses

If these two conditions are satisfied, then our company will give bonuses to employees who:

• Are employed by our company on the day when the bonus must be paid.

• Have not announced they intend to resign either verbally or in writing.

• Have received satisfactory performance reviews.

We will pay out bonuses according to this tiered system:

• Employees who showed a satisfactory performance during the year will receive a year-end bonus payment of 10-20% of their annual salary depending on their performance.

• Employees who are employed for at least six months will receive a prorated amount.

• Employees who are employed for fewer than six months may receive a 2.5% bonus depending on their performance.

Bonus incentive plans

Our company may set up incentive plans at the beginning of each year. These plans may involve:

• Incentive bonuses to encourage employees to achieve annual company financial goals. These are company-wide bonuses that may be announced at the beginning of the year by senior leaders.These bonuses may be calculated with a tiered system (e.g. 5% for hitting 80% of the goal, 10% for hitting the goal and 20% for exceeding the goal.) HR should give a formal payout plan to each employee.

• Incentive bonuses for achieving or exceeding individual and team targets. Department Heads are responsible for formulating these plans and setting specific goals. For example, they may decide to pay a quarterly bonus (a percentage of individual sales) to sales teams that exceed their sales or revenue targets. Department Heads should submit their plan to HR and the CEO for approvalwithin the first quarter of the year

Keep in mind that bonuses are subject to taxation (local, state and federal taxes.)

Employee Classification Policy

Our employee classification policy outlines the different categories of employment in our company. It states the different types and statuses that an employee may acquire once they are hired by Proteams. This is rendered important for the administration of benefits and the application of policies as well as disciplinary procedures.

Proteams will observe any legal guidelines that apply to the classification of employees. Its own categories will be formulated in a manner that does not contradict any rule mandated by law and the benefits will be administered accordingly.

This policy applies to all employees of Proteams as well as any parties that represent Proteams or undertake tasks on its behalf.

Employees are being divided into categories — typically “exempt employee” or “non-exempt employee” — with different criteria.

What is job classification?

• Job duties

• Amount of working hours

• Duration of the job/position

Job duties.This criterion defines whether employees are categorized as exempt employees or non-exempt employees. Non-exempt employees have benefit eligibility that exempt employees do not. Benefits are not only those referred to by legislation (e.g. overtime policy) but they may also stem from Proteams’ own policies (e.g. employees who can not work from home as a result of their job responsibilities)

It is important that all employees know whether they are classified as exempt or non-exempt so they can be aware of their rights and avoid misunderstandings.

Amount of working hours. The amount of hours an employee is expected to work per day or week determines whether they are part-time or full-time employees. Full-time employees are typically employed on a 40-hour/week schedule. The practice of flexible hours does not typically alter an employee’s status and if so, it must be clearly stated on a formal written agreement signed by both employee and employer. Part-time employees are those who work less than forty hours per week. Part-time employees are entitled to limited benefits in comparison to those who are employed full-time. Those benefits should be stated in their employment contract

Duration of the job/position. The duration of the job or position defines whether one is employed under a permanent or temporary contract. There are also two additional subcategories referring to those who are working during a probationary period (who have not fully attained either of the previous statuses) and those who are indefinitely “on-call”

Permanent employees are those whose contract does not have an expiration date and have completed their probationary period. They are considered Proteams’ “regular” employees and are categorized as regular full-time and regular part-time

Temporary employees are those whose contract is valid for a definite amount of time and must be renewed in order for them to retain employee status. Those employees can be full-time or part-time. Interns, for example, are considered temporary part-time while interims are classified as temporary full-time.

Employees within a probationary period are usually excluded from certain terms of their employment agreement. Those terms as well as the duration of the probationary period will be explicitly stated in the employment contract.

An on-call employee may belong in two categories:

Employees who have been hired with full-time or part-time contracts and must remain accessible for certain hours exceeding their regular schedule. Those employees may be entitled to overtime pay or other benefits.

Employees who only work when called

Employee Code of Conduct

As an employee, you are responsible to behave appropriately at work. We outline our expectations here. We can’t cover every single case of conduct, but we trust you to always use your best judgement. Reach out to your manager or HR if you face any issues or have any questions.

Dress code

Our company’s official dress code is Business/ Business Casual/ Smart Casual/ Casual. This includes slacks/ loafers/ blouses/ boots. However, an employee’s position may also inform how they should dress. If you frequently meet with clients or prospects, please conform to a more formal dress code. We expect you to be clean when coming to work and avoid wearing clothes that are unprofessional (e.g. workout clothes.)

As long as you conform with our guidelines above, we don’t have specific expectations about what types of clothes or accessories you should wear.

We also respect and permit grooming styles, clothing and accessories that are dictated by religious beliefs, ethnicity or disability.

Cyber security and digital devices

This section deals with all things digital at work. We want to set some guidelines for using computers, phones, our internet connection and social media to ensure security and protect our assets.

Internet usage

Our corporate internet connection is primarily for business. But, you can occasionally use our connection for personal purposes as long as they don’t interfere with your job responsibilities. Also, we expect you to temporarily halt personal activities that slow down our internet connection (e.g. uploading photos) if you’re asked to

You must not use our internet connection to:

• Download or upload obscene, offensive or illegal material.

• Send confidential information to unauthorized recipients.

• Invade another person’s privacy and gain access to sensitive information.

• Download or upload pirated movies, music, material or software.

• Visit potentially dangerous websites that can compromise our network and computers’ safety.

• Perform unauthorized or illegal actions, like hacking, fraud or buying/selling illegal goods.

Cell phone

We allow use of cell phones at work. But, we also want to ensure that your devices won’t distract you from your work or disrupt our workplace. We ask you to follow a few simple rules

• Use your cell phone in a manner that benefits your work (business calls, productivity apps, calendars.)

• Keep personal calls brief and use an empty meeting room or common area so as not to disturb your colleagues.

• Avoid playing games on your phone or texting excessively.

• Don’t use your phone for any reason while driving a company vehicle.

• Don’t use your phone to record confidential information.

• Don’t download or upload inappropriate, illegal or obscene material using our corporate internet connection.

• Also, you must not use your phone in areas where cell phone use is explicitly prohibited (e.g. laboratories.)

Corporate email

Email is essential to our work. You should use your company email primarily for work, but we allow some uses of your company email for personal reasons.

Work-related use. You can use your corporate email for work-related purposes without limitations. For example, you can sign up for newsletters and online services that will help you in your job or professional growth.

Personal use. You can use your email for personal reasons as long as you keep it safe, and avoid spamming and disclosing confidential information. For example, you can send emails to friends and family and download ebooks, guides and other safe content for your personal use.

Our general expectations

No matter how you use your corporate email, we expect you to avoid

• Signing up for illegal, unreliable, disreputable or suspect websites and services.

• Sending unauthorized marketing content or emails.

• Registering for a competitor’s services, unless authorized.

• Sending insulting or discriminatory messages and content.

• Spamming other people’s emails, including your coworkers.

In general, use strong passwords and be vigilant in catching emails that carry malware or phishing attempts. If you are not sure that an email you received is safe, ask ourSecurity Specialists.

Social media

We want to provide practical advice to prevent careless use of social media in our workplace. We address two types of social media uses: using personal social media at work and representing our company through social media.

Using personal social media at work

You are permitted to access your personal accounts at work. But, we expect you to act responsibly, according to our policies and ensure that you stay productive. Specifically, we ask you to:

Discipline yourself. Avoid getting sidetracked by your social platforms.

Ensure others know that your personal account or statements don’t represent our company. For example, use a disclaimer such as “opinions are my own.”

Avoid sharing intellectual property (e.g trademarks) or confidential information. Ask your manager or PR first before you share company news that’s not officially announced.

Avoid any defamatory, offensive or derogatory content. You may violate our company’s anti-harassment policy if you direct such content towards colleagues, clients or partners.

Representing our company through social media

If you handle our social media accounts or speak on our company’s behalf, we expect you to protect our company’s image and reputation. Specifically, you should:

• Be respectful, polite and patient.

• Avoid speaking on matters outside your field of expertise when possible.

• Follow our confidentiality and data protection policies and observe laws governing copyrights, trademarks, plagiarism and fair use.

• Coordinate with our Marketing team when you’re about to share any major-impact content.

• Avoid deleting or ignoring comments for no reason.

• Correct or remove any misleading or false content as quickly as possible.

Conflict of interest

When you are experiencing a conflict of interest, your personal goals are no longer aligned with your responsibilities towards us. For example, owning stocks of one of our competitors is a conflict of interest.

In other cases, you may be faced with an ethical issue. For example, accepting a bribe may benefit you financially, but it is illegal and against our business code of ethics. If we become aware of such behaviour, you will lose your job and may face legal trouble.

For this reason, conflicts of interest are a serious issue for all of us. We expect you to be vigilant to spot circumstances that create conflicts of interest, either to yourself or for your direct reports. Follow our policies and always act in our company’s best interests. Whenever possible, do not let personal or financial interests get in the way of your job. If you are experiencing an ethical dilemma, talk to your manager or HR and we will try to help you resolve it.

Employee relationships

We want to ensure that relationships between employees are appropriate and harmonious. We outline our guidelines and we ask you to always behave professionally

Fraternization

Fraternization refers to dating or being friends with your colleagues. In this policy, “dating” equals consensual romantic relationships and sexual relations. Non-consensual relationships constitute sexual violence and we prohibit them explicitly.

Dating colleagues

If you start dating a colleague, we expect you to maintain professionalism and keep personal discussions outside of our workplace.

You are also obliged to respect your colleagues who date each other. We won’t tolerate sexual jokes, malicious gossip and improper comments. If you witness this kind of behavior, please report it to HR.

Dating managers

To avoid accusations of favoritism, abuse of authority and sexual harassment, supervisors must not date their direct reports. This restriction extends to every manager above an employee.

Also, if you act as a hiring manager, you aren’t allowed to hire your partner to your team. You can refer them for employment to other teams or departments where you don’t have any managerial or hiring authority.

Friendships at work

Employees who work together may naturally form friendships either in or outside of the workplace. We encourage this relationship between peers, as it can help you communicate and collaborate. But, we expect you to focus on your work and keep personal disputes outside of our workplace.

Employment of relatives

Everyone in our company should be hired, recognized or promoted because of their skills, character and work ethic. We would not like to see phenomena of nepotism, favoritism or conflicts of interest, so we will place some restrictions on hiring employees’ relatives.

To our company, a “relative” is someone who is related by blood or marriage within the third degree to an employee. This includes: parents, grandparents, in-laws, spouses or domestic partners, children, grandchildren, siblings, uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, step-parents, step-children and adopted children.

As an employee, you can refer your relatives to work with our company. Here are our only restrictions:

• You must not be involved in a supervisory/reporting relationship with a relative.

• You cannot be transferred, promoted or hired inside a reporting relationship with a relative.

• You cannot be part of a hiring committee, when your relative is interviewed for that position.

• If you become related to a manager or direct report after you both become employed by our company, we may have to transfer one of you.

Workplace visitors

If you want to invite a visitor to our or client offices, please ask for permission from your manager first. Also, inform the reception/ gate/ front-office of your visitor’s arrival. Visitors should sign in and show identification. They will receive passes and will be asked to return them toreception/ gate/ front-office once their visit is complete.

When you have office visitors, you also have responsibilities. You should:

• Always tend to your visitors (especially when they are underage.)

• Keep your visitors away from areas where there are dangerous machines, chemicals, confidential records or sensitive equipment.

• Prevent your visitors from proselytizing your colleagues, gathering donations or requesting participation in activities while on our premises.

Anyone who delivers orders, mail or packages for employees should remain at our building’s reception or gate. If you are expecting a delivery, front office employees/ security guards will notify you so you may collect it.

Solicitation and distribution

Solicitation is any form of requesting money, support or participation for products, groups, organizations or causes which are unrelated to our company (e.g. religious proselytism, asking for petition signatures.) Distribution means disseminating literature or material for commercial or political purposes.

We don’t allow solicitation and distribution by non-employees in our workplace. As an employee, you may solicit from your colleagues only when you want to:

• Ask colleagues to help organize events for another employee (e.g. adoption/birth of a child, promotion, retiring.)

• Seek support for a cause, charity or fundraising event sponsored, funded, organized or authorized by our company.

• Invite colleagues to employee activities for an authorized non-business purpose (e.g. recreation, volunteering.)

• Ask colleagues to participate in employment-related activities or groups protected by law (e.g. trade unions.)

In all cases, we ask that you do not disturb or distract colleagues from their work

Employee Compensation and Development

In this section, we outline our guidelines for compensating employees according to their employment status. We also describe our performance management and employee development policies.

Overtime

Occasionally, we will pay for overtime work if we may need you to work more than your regular working hours.

Payroll

We pay your salary or wage at the end of month by bank transfers. If you are an hourly employee, you should be diligent in clocking in and out/using our timesheet software so we can accurately calculate your pay.

Performance management

We have built our performance management practices to:

• Ensure you understand your job responsibilities and have specific goals to meet.

• Provide you with actionable and timely feedback on your work.

• Invest in development opportunities that help you grow professionally.

• Recognize and reward your work in financial or non-financial ways (e.g. employee awards.)

To meet these objectives, we have:

• Established annual performance reviews. During these reviews, your manager will fill out your performance evaluation report and arrange a meeting with you to discuss it. Through these discussions, managers aim to recognize employees who are good at their jobs, identify areas of improvement and talk about career moves. Pay increases or bonuses are not guaranteed. But, we encourage managers to recommend rewards for their team members when they deserve them. There won’t be any forced ranking or other comparison between employees, as our goal is to help all employees improve and develop their careers.

• Instructed all managers to meet with their team members once per week to provide feedback and talk about their work and motivations. This way, you can receive feedback in a timely manner and avoid surprises during your annual/ bi-annual/ quarterly performance review.

How we expect managers to lead employees

If you manage a team, you are responsible for your team members’ performance. To conduct effective regular meetings and performance evaluations, we expect you to

Set clear objectives. Your team members should know what you expect of them. When you first hire someone to your team, ensure they understand their job duties. Set specific goals for each team member (and team-wide if applicable.) Revisit those goals during annual/ bi-annual/ quarterly performance reviews

Provide useful feedback. During scheduled meetings with your team members, give them both guidance and praise, as appropriate. Be fair and specific to help them understand and implement your feedback

Keep your team members involved.There should be two-way communication between you and your team. Make your expectations clear, but always take your team members’ motivations and aspirations into account. Discuss training and development opportunities that may interest your team members.

Keep logs with important incidents about each one of your team members. These logs help you evaluate your team, but may also prove useful when rewarding, promoting or terminating your team members.

Employee training and development

We owe our success to our employees. To show our gratitude, we will invest in our employees professional development. We want employees to feel confident about improving their efficiency and productivity. We also want to help our employees achieve personal growth and success

Subscriptions and books are included in this budget, unless they are necessary for you to complete your everyday duties. Send your expenses to HR.

Apart from online courses, we offer these training opportunities:

• Formal training sessions (individual or corporate.)

• Employee coaching and mentoring.

• Seats at industry conferences.

• On-the-job training.

• Job shadowing.

• Job rotation.

Development is a collective process. Team members and managers should regularly discuss learning needs and opportunities. And it’s HR’s responsibility to facilitate any development activities and processes.

Employee Confidentiality Policy

We designed our company confidentiality policy to explain how we expect our employees to treat confidential information. Employees will unavoidably receive and handle personal and private information about clients, partners and our company. We want to make sure that this information is well-protected.

We must protect this information for two reasons. It may

• Be legally binding (e.g. sensitive customer data.)

• Constitute the backbone of our business, giving us a competitive advantage (e.g. business processes.)

This policy affects all employees, including board members, investors, contractors and volunteers, who may have access to confidential information

Confidential and proprietary information is secret, valuable, expensive and/or easily replicated. Common examples of confidential information are

• Unpublished financial information

• Data of Customers/Partners/Vendors

• Patents, formulas or new technologies

• Customer lists (existing and prospective)

• Data entrusted to our company by external parties

• Pricing/marketing and other undisclosed strategies

• Documents and processes explicitly marked as confidential

• Unpublished goals, forecasts and initiatives marked as confidential

Employees may have various levels of authorized access to confidential information.

What employees should do:

• Lock or secure confidential information at all times

• Shred confidential documents when they’re no longer needed

• Make sure they only view confidential information on secure devices

• Only disclose information to other employees when it’s necessary and authorized

• Keep confidential documents inside our company’s premises unless it’s absolutely necessary to move the

What employees shouldn’t do:

• Use confidential information for any personal benefit or profit

• Disclose confidential information to anyone outside of our company

• Replicate confidential documents and files and store them on insecure device

When employees stop working for our company, they’re obliged to return any confidential files and delete them from their personal devices.

Confidentiality Measures

We’ll take measures to ensure that confidential information is well protected. We’ll:

• Store and lock paper documents

• Encrypt electronic information and safeguard databases

• Ask employees to sign non-compete and/or non-disclosure agreements (NDAs)

• Ask for authorization by senior management to allow employees to access certain confidential informatio

Exceptions

Confidential information may occasionally have to be disclosed for legitimate reasons. Examples are:

• If a regulatory body requests it as part of an investigation or audit

• If our company examines a venture or partnership that requires disclosing some information (within legal boundaries)

In such cases, employees involved should document their disclosure procedure and collect all needed authorizations. We’re bound to avoid disclosing more information than needed.

Disciplinary Consequences

Employees who don’t respect our confidentiality policy will face disciplinary and, possibly, legal action

We’ll investigate every breach of this policy. We’ll terminate any employee who willfully or regularly breaches our confidentiality guidelines for personal profit. We may also have to punish any unintentional breach of this policy depending on its frequency and seriousness. We’ll terminate employees who repeatedly disregard this policy, even when they do so unintentionally.

This policy is binding even after separation of employment.

Employee Conflict of Interest Policy

Our company Conflict of Interest Policy refers to any case where an employee’s personal interest might contradict the interest of Proteams they work for. This is an unwanted circumstance as it may have heavy implications on the employee’s judgement and commitment to Proteams, and by extension to the realization of its goals.

This policy will outline the rules regarding conflict of interest and the responsibilities of employees and Proteams in resolving any such discrepancies.

This company conflict of interest policy applies to all prospective or current employees of Proteams, as well as independent contractors and persons acting on behalf of Proteams

The relationship of Proteams with its employees should be based on mutual trust. As Proteams is committed to preserve the interests of people under its employment, it expects them to act only towards its own fundamental interests.

Conflict of interest may occur whenever an employee’s interest in a particular subject may lead them to actions, activities or relationships that undermine Proteams and may place it to disadvantage.

What is an employee conflict of interest?

This situation may take many different forms that include, but are not limited to, conflict of interest examples:

• Employees’ ability to use their position with Proteams to their personal advantage

• Employees engaging in activities that will bring direct or indirect profit to a competitor

• Employees owning shares of a competitor’s stock

• Employees using connections obtained through Proteams for their own private purposes

• Employees using company equipment or means to support an external business

• Employees acting in ways that may compromise Proteams’ legality (e.g. taking bribes or bribing representatives of legal authorities

The possibility that a conflict of interest may occur can be addressed and resolved before any actual damage is done. Therefore, when an employee understands or suspects that a conflict of interest exists, they should bring this matter to the attention of management so corrective actions may be taken. Supervisors must also keep an eye on potential conflict of interests of their subordinates.

The responsibility of resolving a conflict of interest starts from the immediate supervisor and may reach senior management. All conflicts of interest will be resolved as fairly as possible. Senior management has the responsibility of the final decision when a solution can not be found.

In general, employees are advised to refrain from letting personal and/or financial interests and external activities come into opposition with Proteams’ fundamental interests.

Note: The same principles apply to Proteams in regards to its clients. When applicable, we are committed to not offer services or form partnerships with companies who are in direct competition with one of our existing clients.

Disciplinary Consequences

In cases when a conflict of interest is deliberately concealed or when a solution can not be found, disciplinary action may be invoked up to and including termination.

Employee Equality, Harassment and Discrimination Policy

We are committed to treating every employee with dignity and respect and to promoting equality of opportunities within Proteams. We believe that equal treatment provides an attractive, engaging, and effective workplace for our employees. We offer equal treatment and opportunities for all employees, and a working environment free from discrimination and harassment.

We safeguard this by:

• Equality is applied to all stages of employment including; the recruitment process, working conditions, remuneration, development, promotion, termination or retirement in accordance with local conditions or requirements by national law

• Equality means free from discrimination due to gender, family status, race/ ethnic origin, including colour, national or social origin, religious beliefs, political orientation, sexual orientation/ sexual identity, marital status, age or disability and other categories protected by national law

• Under no circumstances, do we accept the use of humiliating or corporal punishment, and no employee shall be subject to physical, sexual, pressure, psychological or verbal harassment or abuse. This applies to behaviour at work, at work assignments outside the office, at office-sponsored social functions and to private behaviour that can be related to Proteams (e.g. on the social media)

• Identify tasks which could be offered to disabled people employed in Proteams and ensure disabled employees benefit from specific measures aiming to adapt their working stations to guarantee their physical comfort, when requested by a disabled person employed by Proteams

• All employees shall receive an appropriate level of training and development to enable them to perform their duties

• Prohibit disciplinary or discriminatory actions from the employer for an employees’ choice to peacefully and lawfully organize or join an association

Employee Privacy Policy

We secure the right to privacy of our employees whenever personal employee data is gathered or the workplace is monitored. Personal employee data should be processed lawfully and fairly, and only for reasons directly relevant to their employment. It should never be used in a manner incompatible with the original purpose

We safeguard this by:

• Using personal data as part of your work in Proteams; 1) you must use least amount of personal data needed, 2) where required by local law and regulation inform people on how we use their personal data, 3) only share personal data with those who need to know, 4) store personal data securely and 5) delete personal data when no longer needed

• Employees can request information about all workplace monitoring, together with the reasons for such monitoring and the data to be collected. Disclosure of certain data may be prohibited by national law, e.g. due to law suits or equivalent

• Security cameras or other surveillance devices and security personnel are used according to clearly stated policies and with due respect for employee privacy

• Prohibiting the collection of personal employee data on sex life, political, religious or other beliefs, except where required by national law

• Medical data of employees should be collected only if required by national law and only in cases directly related to the employee’s protection while working. In such cases, all medical records are kept confidential

• Upon request, employees have the right to receive information about all personal data collected and stored about them, excluding specific confidential management information

• Prohibit the collection of personal data concerning an employee’s membership in a trade union (or other form of workers’ organization), or the worker’s trade union activities, unless obliged or allowed to do so by law or a collective agreement

• Personal employee data is protected by such security safeguards as are reasonable in the circumstances to guard against loss and unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure

• We follow national legal requirements and policies on the disposal of data concerning former employees and job candidates

• We assess and respond to government demands for disclosure of personal employee data with due consideration to privacy rights

• Pregnancy testing is prohibited at the time female employees apply for employment, and throughout the duration of their employment

Employee Probationary Period Policy

Our probationary period company policy will define the employment probationary period and explain its meaning for the employee and Proteams. This practice is designed to allow an introductory period for everyone involved to decide if the hiring of the particular employee was a correct decision and whether the employee should continue working for Proteams.

Those who can be placed in an employee probationary period include the following:

• New employees who have just passed through a hiring process for a permanent position

• Current employees who are promoted to a position of higher responsibility

• Current employees who have to be disciplined for various reasons

The length of the probationary period may be different for new hires in the various levels of positions in Proteams. It will not, however, extend beyond the limit set by legislation. It will be clearly stated in the employment contract and further details may be given in the employee handbook

The probationary period may be extended for reasons that justify this action. The employee will receive formal notification in writing with the reason for the extension and clearly defined objectives

New Employees

Proteams will make an effort to ensure that its hiring procedures serve the purpose of recruiting the best employees for each open position. However, we acknowledge that they are inevitably not always accurate in predicting performance or determining appropriate cultural fit. The probation period for new employees gives both employee and employer enough time to find out if their employment relation will eventually work out to the benefit of both.

What is the meaning of probation period?

The probationary period definition for new employees is the time between signing an employment contract and being granted permanent employment status. It is a “trial period” during which the employee is being evaluated as a suitable fit to the position and Proteams. The new employee will be given consistent feedback and coaching to have the chance to learn their new job and improve during the probationary period. At the end of the probation period (or possibly before that), the supervisor will determine if the employee should be retained in the organization. This decision will be made by appraising the following criteria:

• The skills, competencies and knowledge of the employee on the job

• The employee’s progress on given assignments

• Their reliability, trustworthiness and other relevant personality characteristics of the employee

• The employee’s relations and collaboration with subordinates, supervisors and peers

The abovementioned criteria will be assessed with quantitative measures if applicable. Their progress will be documented whenever possible, and the decision to retain them will be at the supervisor’s discretion.

Permanent employees

When an employee has completed their initial probationary period, they are granted permanent employment status. After that they may be placed on probation as part of a disciplinary procedure. The reason for the disciplinary action, ranging from low performance to policy violations, will determine the length of the probationary period. During this period, the employee is obliged to change their behavior or they will be faced with more severe repercussions leading up to termination. Proteams will help them as much as possible with guidance, feedback and training and will expect them to comply.

An employee may also be placed in a probationary period if they have been promoted or transferred to a position. The purpose of this is to ensure that the employee is able to complete their new duties. If they are deemed unsuitable, they may be allowed to be demoted or return to their previous position or other solutions may be found. Employment is not guaranteed and the decision remains at the supervisor’s discretion.

Termination: Dismissal during probationary period

If the employee is deemed unsuitable while on a probationary period, they may be terminated without the minimum prior notice mandated by law. The termination of employment during this period may be for cause or without cause depending on the circumstances and the individual’s evaluation

Termination may occur before the ending of the probationary period. This may happen if the tactical evaluations of the employee are highly unsatisfying or if the employee engages in behavior that justifies a for-cause dismissal. The employee will be officially notified in writing for the decision to terminate them. The document will explicitly state the reason behind their termination and the expected date it will take effect.

Employees may still have to be dismissed for various reasons, after the end of the probationary period. In such cases, Proteams will follow probation period employment law, legal guidelines and its own separation of employment policy.

Employee Progressive Discipline Policy

Our Progressive Discipline policy outlines the steps we will take to address an employee’s misconduct.

We recognize that people make mistakes and our employees may not always follow our policies closely. We want to give our employees a chance to correct their behavior when possible and assist them in the process. We also want to ensure that serious offenses are thoroughly investigated and dealt with.

Our disciplinary process has six steps of increasing strictness. These steps are:

• Verbal warning

• Informal meeting with supervisor

• Formal reprimand

• Formal disciplinary meeting

• Penalties

• Termination

All these phases are official and managers should document them. HR must also keep records of the process from step 3 onwards.

Managers should let employees know when they launch a progressive discipline procedure. For example, pointing out a performance issue is not necessarily a verbal warning and may be part of the regular feedback an employee receives. If managers judge that a progressive disciplinary process is appropriate, they must clarify this to their team member and document the step

Each step may be repeated instead of moving forward to the next step at HR or a manager’s discretion. For example, a supervisor may choose to have more than one informal meeting with their employees (step 2) before they ask HR to issue a formal reprimand (step 3.) Managers can make the decision to repeat a step if they:

• Feel that the step was not properly executed the first time.

• See signs of improvement in their employee and want to help them further.

• Believe conditions or parameters change enough to make repeating the step necessary.

Explaining the steps

Step 1: When a manager or HR issues a verbal warning to an employee, they should do so privately. When appropriate, they should provide that employee with a copy of Proteams policy they violated, and explain our progressive discipline steps. Supervisors should provide employees with any coaching or advice they need.

Employees have two weeks to correct their behavior before step 2 takes effect.

Step 2: A manager (or HR if appropriate) discusses corrective actions with an employee. Employees should receive actionable feedback on how to deal with an unintentional violation. They can review coaching or mentoring methods

Employees have a month to correct their behavior before step 3 takes effect.

Step 3: Employees receive a formal written reprimand. HR should inform them that if they do not correct their behavior within one week, step 4 will take effect

Step 4: Employees will be called in for a formal disciplinary meeting with HR, their Department Head and/or their supervisor. They will have the chance to explain their side and HR is obliged to investigate. HR must clarify that this is the final step before an employee is penalized

Employees must correct their behavior immediately, or step 5 takes effect.

Step 5: This step encompasses any penalties that employees will receive. This usually includes detraction of certain perks and benefits (as long as they are not mandatory by law.) It may also include suspension without pay or demotion for serious offenses. We will still provide counseling in this stage if appropriate (e.g. minor cases of substance abuse.) We will apply this step uniformly and fairly. It will not result in adverse impact for protected groups.

Employees must correct their behavior within one month before step 6 takes effect.

Step 6: Employees who continue to violate our policies, either voluntarily or involuntarily, by this stage will be terminated. This step will follow an official investigation by HR (or legal authorities when appropriate) to ensure that terminating an employee is fair. A termination for cause will refer to employees who were guilty of severe violations or felonies.

How to invoke progressive discipline

The progressive discipline process may begin from a different step, according to the severity of an employee’s misconduct:

Performance issues. Procedure starts at stage 1. Examples are:

• Absenteeism.

• Disregarding deadlines.

• Lack of knowledge of Health & Safety standards.

Minor offenses (one-time). Procedure starts at stage 1. Examples are

• On-the-job minor mistakes.

• Breach of dress code or smoking policy.

Serious misconduct/ Repeating an offense for which a progressive discipline procedure already took place. Procedure starts at stage 3. Examples are:

• On-the-job major mistakes.

• Rudeness to customers or partners.

• Unwillingness to follow Health & Safety standards

Severe violations. Procedure starts at stage 5. Examples are:

• Substance abuse.

• Offensive behavior.

• Retaliation against an employee

Illegal behavior. Procedure starts at step 6. Examples are:

• Corruption/ Bribery.

• Sexual Harassment.

• Workplace Violence.

• Embezzlement/Fraud.

HR/Department Heads can skip any of the steps if they believe they are obsolete. For example, if an employee has received several formal reprimands for the same offense, HR may choose to terminate them directly. Or an employee may be directly suspended for a short period as a punishment.

This policy is meant to provide general guidelines. Our company reserves the right to treat circumstances in a different way from that described in this policy. But, we are always obliged to act fairly and lawfully and document every stage of the progressive discipline process.

Right to appeal

Employees who were not terminated for cause or were not found guilty for illegal behavior may file an appeal. For example, if an employee thinks they were demoted unfairly, they can bring this issue to the attention of HR. HR will evaluate the situation and may organize a hearing.

Preventing progressive discipline

Disciplining an employee is never a pleasant task. For the sake of everyone involved, we will take actions to prevent the need for disciplinary action. We will:

• Communicate our policies and Code of Conduct clearly to all new hires.

• Announce any revisions or changes in our policies to all our employees in a formal manner (e.g. bulletins, newsletters.)

• Use frequent employee performance meetings to address issues before they become problems.

• Train managers to communicate, enforce and abide by policies.

• Train employees in certain policies and procedures.

• Establish a culture of respect and collaboration.

Employee Recruitment and Selection Policy

Our employee recruitment and selection policy describes our process for attracting and selecting external job candidates. This recruitment policy can serve as a rubric that our recruiters and hiring managers can use to create an effective hiring process.

We are committed to our equal opportunity policy at every selection stage. Hiring teams should aim for a well-planned and discrimination-free hiring proces

What is the recruitment and selection process?

Generally, hiring teams could go through the following steps:

1. Identify need for an opening

2. Decide whether to hire externally or internally

3. Review the job description and compose a job ad

4. Select appropriates sources (external or internal) for posting the opening

5. Decide on the selection stages and possible timeframe

6. Review resumes in company database/ATS

7. Source passive candidates

8. Shortlist applications

9. Proceed through all selection stages

10. Run background checks

11. Select the most suitable candidate

12. Make an official offer

Stages may overlap. Hiring managers may remove/add steps as appropriate. The first five stages are mandatory in every hiring process.

Posting jobs internally

Hiring managers can post a job opening internally before starting recruiting external candidates. If they decide to post internally, they can:

• Set a deadline for internal applications

• Communicate their opening through newsletters, emails, word-of-mouth or an Applicant Tracking System’s automated emails

Creating job descriptions

Hiring managers can create job ads based on full job descriptions of each role. Job ads should be clear and accurately represent the open position. They should include:

• A brief description of our company and mission

• A short summary of the role’s purpose

• A list of responsibilities

• A list of requirements

• How to apply

The job ad’s style should be consistent with our company’s unique voice. It should be addressed to ‘you’ in a polite and engaging tone. Jargon, complicated phrases and gender-specific language should be avoided.

Employee selection stages

Our company has a standard hiring process that may be tweaked according to a role’s requirements. Our standard process involves:

• Resume screening

• Phone screening

• Assignment

• Interview

Hiring managers may choose to add/remove stages depending on the role they’re hiring for. For example, they can add the following selection stages/methods:

• Assessment centers

• Group interviews

• Competency/Knowledge or other selection tests

• Referrals Evaluation

In most cases, the stages of resume screening and interview are compulsory.

Interview feedback

Recruiters/ hiring managers should always inform candidates they interviewed that they decided to reject them. Leaving candidates in the dark can be damaging to our employer brand.

Also, we encourage hiring managers to send interview feedback to candidates. They should first though check with HR to make sure they won’t invite legal action. Being brief, respectful and keeping feedback job-related are the general rules for writing feedback emails to candidates.

Revoked offers

In case when a formal has to be revoked, the hiring manager and human resources department should draft and sign an official document. This document should include a legitimate reason for revoking the offer. Legitimate reasons include:

• Candidate is proved to not be legally allowed to work for our company at a specific location

• Candidate has falsified references or otherwise lied about a serious issue

• Candidate doesn’t accept the offer within the specified deadline (deadline must have been included in the offer letter)

• Hiring managers and HR must notify the candidate formally as soon as possible.

Employee Resignation and Termination

Progressive discipline

Here we outline steps we will take to address employee misconduct. We want to give employees a chance to correct their behavior when possible and assist them in doing so. We also want to ensure that we thoroughly investigate and handle serious offenses.

Our progressive discipline process has six steps of increasing severity. These steps are:

• Verbal warning

• Informal meeting with supervisor

• Formal reprimand

• Formal disciplinary meeting

• Penalties

• Termination

Different offenses correspond to different steps in our disciplinary process. For example, minor, one-time offenses (e.g. breach of our dress code policy) will trigger Step 1. More severe violations (e.g. sexual harassment) will trigger step 5.

If you manage employees, inform them when you launch a progressive discipline process. Pointing out a performance issue is not necessarily a verbal warning and may be part of your regular feedback. If you judge that progressive discipline is appropriate, let your team member know and ask HR to help you explain our full procedure.

Managers may skip or repeat steps at their discretion. Our company may treat circumstances differently from that described in this policy. But, we are always obliged to act fairly and lawfully and document every stage of our progressive discipline process.

Keep in mind that our company isn’t obliged to follow the steps of our progressive discipline process. As you are employed “at-will” in the U.S, we may terminate you directly without launching a progressive discipline process. For serious offenses (e.g. sexual harassment), we may terminate you without warning.

Resignation

You resign when you voluntarily inform HR or your manager that you will stop working for our company. We also consider you resigned if you don’t come to work for three consecutive days without notice.

You are not obliged to give us advance notice before resigning. But, for efficiency’s sake, and to make sure our workplace runs smoothly, we ask that you give at least two weeks notice, if possible. If you hold a highly specialized or executive position, we ask that you give us at least a month’s notice, when possible.

We accept verbal resignations, but we prefer that you submit a written and signed notice of resignation for our HR records. We will reply with an acceptance of resignation letter within two days. HR will inform your manager that you are resigning if you haven’t already done so. Whether you want to announce your resignation to your team is up to you, but we encourage you to be open.

Forced resignation

You can resign anytime at your own free will and nobody should force you into resignation. Forcing someone into resigning (directly or indirectly) is constructive dismissal and we won’t tolerate it. Specifically, we prohibit employees from:

• Creating a hostile or unpleasant environment.

• Demanding or coaxing an employee to resign.

• Victimizing, harassing or retaliating against an employee.

• Forcing an employee to resign by taking unofficial adverse actions (e.g. demotions, increased workload).

Termination

Terminating an employee is always unpleasant but sometimes necessary. If that happens, we want to ensure we act lawfully and respectfully.

We may terminate an employee either for cause or without cause.

• For cause termination is justified when an employee breaches their contract, engages in illegal activities (e.g. embezzlement), disrupts our workplace (e.g. harasses colleagues), performs below acceptable standards or causes damage or financial loss to our company.

• Without cause termination refers to redundancies or layoffs that may be necessary if we cease some of our operations or re-assign job duties within teams. We will follow applicable laws regarding notice and payouts.

We will offer severance pay to eligible employees. We may also help employees who were terminated without cause to find work elsewhere, if possible.

We may also compensate accrued vacation and sick leave upon termination, depending on local law. Whenever local law doesn’t have relevant stipulations, we will pay accrued leave only to those who weren’t terminated for cause. We will also take into account union agreements and abide by agreed terms

If you manage team members, avoid wrongful dismissal. When you terminate an employee for cause, we expect you to be certain you made the right choice and keep accurate performance and/or disciplinary records to support your decision.

References

When we terminate employees, we may provide references for those who leave in good standing. This means that employees shouldn’t have been terminated for cause. If you are laid off, you may receive references. Please ask your manager.

If you resign, you may ask for references and your manager has a right to oblige or refuse.

Employee Sick Leave Policy

Our company sick leave policy outlines our company’s provisions for employees who become sick and need to be absent from work. The following policy specifies how sick leave will be accrued and how it may be used.

This company sick leave policy applies to all our employees who have been with our company for at least six months.

Our employees may be unable to perform their duties if they get sick. Our company follows legal guidelines that may apply to sick pay. We’ll also offer 25 days of paid/ partially paid sick leave. This leave is separate from other types of leave like maternity leave and Paid Time Off (PTO)

How do sick days work?

Our employees can take sick leave when they want to

• Recover from sudden illness

• Recover from accidents/injuries

• Receive mental/psychological care or counseling when necessary

Employees who want to attend to routine healthcare (e.g. doctor’s/dentist’s appointments) should use their PTO

Procedure

When employees want to use their sick time, they should notify their supervisor as soon as possible either through email or an automated Human Resources Information System (HRIS.) They should also inform the supervisor for how long they’ll be absent (if possible) or report daily for every day of sick leave.

Under certain circumstances, employees might need to submit a physician’s note or other medical certification and/or complete a sick leave form. Those circumstances include but are not limited to:

• Being absent for more than three days on sick leave.

• Cases when a pattern arises (e.g. employees plead sick at a specific time each week.)

• We will handle all sick time requests with discretion.

Employee Training and Development Policy

Our Employee Development company policy refers to Proteams’ learning and development programs and activities.

In the modern competitive environment, employees need to replenish their knowledge and acquire new skills to do their jobs better. This will benefit both them and Proteams. We want them to feel confident about improving efficiency and productivity, as well as finding new ways towards personal development and success.

This policy applies to all permanent, full-time or part-time, employees of Proteams. Employees with temporary/short-term contracts might attend trainings at their manager’s discretion.

This policy doesn’t cover supplementary employees like contractors or consultants.

Policy elements

Employees, managers and Human Resources (HR) should all collaborate to build a continuous professional development (CPD) culture. It’s an employee’s responsibility to seek new learning opportunities. It’s a manager’s responsibility to coach their teams and identify employee development needs. And it’s HR’s responsibility to facilitate any staff development activities and processes.

What do we mean by training and development?

In general, we approve and encourage the following employee trainings:

• Formal training sessions (individual or corporate)

• Employee Coaching and Mentoring

• Participating in conferences

• On-the-job training

• Job shadowing

• Job rotation

As part of our learning and development provisions, we can also arrange for subscriptions or educational material, so employees will have access to news, articles and other material that can help them become better at their job. There are two conditions for this:

Subscription/Material should be job-related

All relevant fees should not exceed a set limit per person

This list doesn’t include software licences or other tools that are absolutely necessary for employees’ jobs.

Individual training programs

Proteams has certain provisions regarding individual training programs. All employees that have worked for Proteams more than four months are eligible to participate in external training programs individually or in teams. We will set a budget for each employee at the beginning of a year, which we’ll renew annually. Employees can be absent for training for up to 10 days per year.

Employees can choose to attend as many training programs as they want, provided they don’t exceed the budget and day limit. If they do, they’ll have to use their paid time off (PTO) and pay any extra fees themselves.

Employees may have to bring proof of attendance.

Any employee training that Proteams mandates (e.g. due to inadequacies of an employee’s performance or changes in their job description) is excluded from the training budget and time limit. Proteams may take care of the entire cost.

All trainings should consider what employees need and how they can learn best. This is why, we encourage employees and managers to consider multiple training methods like workshops, e-learning, lectures and more.

Corporate training programs

We might occasionally engage experts to train our employees. Proteams will cover the entire cost in this case. Examples of this kind of training and development are:

• Equal employment opportunity training

• Diversity training

• Leadership training for managers

• Conflict resolution training for employee

This category also includes training conducted by internal experts and managers. Examples are:

• Training new employees

• Training teams in company-related issues (e.g. new systems or policy changes)

• Training employees to prepare them for promotions, transfers or new responsibilities

Employees won’t have to pay or use their leave for these types of trainings. Attendance records may be part of the process.

Other types of training

Both employees and their managers are responsible for continuous learning. Employees should show willingness to improve by asking their managers for direction and advice. Managers should do the same with their own superiors, while encouraging and mentoring their subordinates.

Employees and managers are responsible for finding the best ways to CPD. They can experiment with job rotation, job shadowing and other types of on-the-job training (without disrupting daily operations). We also encourage employees to use their rights for self-paced learning by asking for educational material and access to other resources within allocated budget.

General guidelines:

• All eligible employees are covered by this policy without discriminating against rank or protected characteristics.

• Managers should evaluate the success of training efforts. They should keep records for reference and better improvement opportunities.

• All employee development efforts should respect cost and time limitations, as well as individual and business needs.

• Employees should try to make the most out of their trainings by studying and finding ways to apply knowledge to their work.

• Employees are encouraged to use up their allocated training budget and time.

• Procedure

This procedure should be followed when employees want to attend external training sessions or conferences:

• Employees (or their team leaders) identify the need for training.

• Employees and team leaders discuss potential training programs or methods and come up with suggestions.

• Employees or team leaders contact HR and briefly present their proposal. They might also have to complete a form.

• HR researches the proposal, with attention to budget and training content.

• HR approves or rejects the proposal. If they reject it, they should provide employees with reasons in writing.

• If HR approves, they will make arrangements for dates, accommodation, reserving places etc.

• In cases where Proteams doesn’t pay for the training directly, employees will have to pay and send invoices or receipts to HR. HR will approve employee reimbursement according to this information

If an employee decides to drop or cancel a training, they’ll have to inform HR immediately. They’ll also have to shoulder any cancellation or other fees.

In cases where training ends with examination, employees are obliged to submit the results. If they don’t pass the exam, they can retake it on their own expense.

Generally, Proteams will cover any training fees including registration and examination (one time). They may also cover transportation, accommodation and personal expenses. This is left to HR’s discretion. If HR decides to cover these costs, they should make arrangements themselves (e.g. tickets, hotel reservations). Any other covered expense that employees have will be reimbursed, after employees bring all relevant receipts and invoices

If employees want subscriptions, they should contact HR directly or ask their managers to do so. HR will preferably set up the subscription. In some rare cases, they might give formal approval to employees so they can do it themselves. Once employees make arrangements, they should inform HR of the cost and any other details in writing. Any relevant invoices should also be sent to HR

HR’s responsibilities also include:

• Assessing training needs

• Maintaining budgets and training schedules

• Assisting with learning and development activities and strategies

• Promoting corporate training programs and employee development plans

• Calculating learning and development KPIs whenever possible and decide on improvements

Employer Paternity Leave Policy

Our Paternity leave company policy outlines our provisions for employees who are going to become fathers either through the birth or the adoption of a child.

Our company endorses the rights of its employees to become parents, regardless of gender. We have established a policy to help new fathers fulfill their new parental duties. This policy aligns with and reinforces work/life balance initiatives we take to support our employees.

We will offer at least the minimum benefits mandated by law.

This policy is complementary to the existing local and national legal guidelines, and applies to all employees who are new parents and identify as male.

What is the employer paternity leave policy?

Paternity leave is a temporary absence from an employee’s position following the:

• birth,

• adoption or,

• foster care placement of a child.

Who is eligible for paternity leave?

All eligible employees (both part-time and full-time) can request paternity leave after they have been employed by our company for at least one year. We will approve all requests for paternity leave without discriminating against employees with protected characteristics.

Employees cannot use paternity leave before the birth or adoption of a child. We may make exceptions and provide time-off, in case an employee needs to attend prenatal or adoption-related appointments.

Employees qualify for paternity leave as both primary and non-primary caregivers.

Surrogacy arrangements are also included in the context of this policy.

Eligible employees may take their paternity leave within the first ten weeks of the birth or adoption of their child.

The amount of time off work that we grant to fathers depends on the jurisdiction our company operates under. The legal limit of paternity leave may span from one to twelve consecutive weeks. Whether the time off will be fully/partially paid or unpaid, depends also on legislation and our company’s discretion.

Eligible employees may request to extend their leave for up to an additional three-week period subject to approval of their supervisor and our HR department. While on paternity leave, we will maintain employees’ position, regular pay and benefits.

When employees need to take time off for the general care of a child who is under eighteen years old, they may use their accrued time off unless otherwise specified in legislation

Procedure

To get a paternity leave, please follow this procedure:

Submit a formal, written request for paternity leave to his supervisor and/or HR department, mentioning:

the date of expected birth or adoption;

the starting date of the leave and;

the ending date of the leave

Please submit your request at least three weeks in advance.

Submit any relevant formal documents that HR requests (e.g. certification of partner’s pregnancy) as soon as possible.

Once HR receives this request, they will:

Review the request and determine the employee’s eligibility for paternity leave.

Notify the employee for his eligibility status and the amount of leave he is entitled to

Unforeseen circumstances

Employees begin their paternity leave at the specified date unless their child is born early. In these cases, please notify us as soon as possible to be able to begin your leave on the day of birth.

To extend your leave, please send a formal extension request at least one week before the end of your leave.

Alternate arrangements, such as working part-time instead of taking full leave, must be in writing and agreed upon by both employee and employer.

When your leave is over, you must return to work. If you decide not to return, please submit your resignation notice as soon as possible.

Employment Basics

Employment contract types

Full-time employees work at least 40 hours per week or 160 hours per month on average.

Part-time employees are those who work fewer than 40 hours per week.

Full-time and part-time employees can have either temporary or indefinite duration contracts. Full-time employees under an indefinite duration contract are entitled to our company’s full benefits package.

Equal opportunity employment

Proteams is an equal opportunity employer. We don’t tolerate discrimination against protected characteristics (gender, age, sexual orientation, race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, disability, veteran status.) We want all employees (including executives and HR) to treat others with respect and professionalism. In practice, this means that we:

• Hire and promote people based on skills, experience or potential and try to reduce bias in every process (e.g. through structured interviews.

• Make accommodations to help people with disabilities move about safely on our premises and use our products, services and equipment.

• Use inclusive, diversity-sensitive language in all official documents, signs and job ads.

• Conduct diversity and communication training.

Apart from those actions, we commit to penalizing every discriminatory, offensive or inappropriate behavior. To do this properly, we ask you to report any discriminatory action against yourself or your colleagues to HR. Our company will not retaliate against you if you file a complaint or discrimination lawsuit. Any employee who retaliates or discriminates will face disciplinary action.

Recruitment and selection process

Our hiring steps might vary across roles, but we always aim for a recruitment and selection process that is fair and effective in hiring great people. If you are hiring for an open role, you will likely go through these steps:

• Identify the need for a new job opening.

• Decide whether to hire externally or internally.

• Review job descriptions and write a job ad.

• Get approval for your job ad.

• Select appropriate sources (external or internal) to post your job opening.

• Decide on hiring stages and possible timeframes.

• Review resumes in our company database/ATS.

• Source passive candidates.

• Shortlist applicants.

• Screen and interview candidates.

• Run background checks and check references.

• Select the most suitable candidate.

• Make an official offer.

Steps may overlap, so skip steps when appropriate. Each member of a hiring team might have different responsibilities (e.g. recruiters source and hiring managers interview candidates.

Throughout this process, we aim to keep candidates informed, communicate well with each other and give everyone an equal opportunity to work with us. Ask our recruiters for help whenever you need to enhance candidate experience or write an inclusive job description.

Background checks

If you want to run background checks on candidates, ask HR for guidance. This process is sensitive and we must always abide by laws and ensure candidates understand our intentions. As a general rule, commission a background check for finalists only. Use our contracted provider and ensure you have your candidates’ permission.

Referrals

If you know someone who you think would be a good fit for a position at our company, feel free to refer them. If we end up hiring your referred candidate, you are eligible for$3000 referral bonus ora trip to a destination of your choice/ Amazon coupons. Our employee referral rewards may be higher if we hire your referred candidate in a hard-to-fill role. For example, if we hire your referral for the position ofData Scientist, you may receive$6000.

Additional rules for rewards:

• We guarantee that rewards will be paid out withina month of the date we hired a candidate.

• There is no cap on the number of referrals an employee can make. All rewards will be paid accordingly.

• If two or more employees refer the same candidate, only the first referrer will receive the referral incentives.

• Referrers are still eligible for rewards even if a candidate is hired at a later time or gets hired for another position.

Who can be referred?

We have two conditions for candidates who can qualify you for our rewards. They should:

Have not applied to our company for at least a year.

Be hired as permanent full- or part-time employees (not as temporary employees or contractors.)

Our company may use an online form or a platform where employees may refer candidates. You can also reach out directly to ourHR/recruiters/Talent Acquisition Manager with referrals.

Generally, we encourage you to check our open positions and consider your social networks and external networks as potential resources for referred candidates

Keep in mind that rewards may be subject to taxation. Please contact HR or our referral program manager for more information.

Attendance

We expect you to be present during your scheduled working hours. If you face an emergency that prevents you from coming to work one day, contact your manager as soon as possible. We will excuse unreported absences in cases ofserious accidents, acute medical emergencies. But, whenever possible, we should know when you won’t be coming in.

Equal Opportunity Employer Policy (EEO Policy statement)

Our equal opportunity employer policy reflects our commitment to ensure equality and promote diversity in the workplace.

This equal employment opportunity policy is the pillar of a healthy and productive workplace. Everyone should feel supported and valued to work productively so we are invested in treating everyone with respect and consideration.

Our equal opportunity employer policy applies to all employees, job candidates, contractors, stakeholders, partners and visitors.

Equal opportunity is for everyone, but it mainly concerns members of underrepresented groups – they’re the ones who are traditionally disadvantaged in the workplace. We don’t guarantee employment or promotions for people in those groups, but we will treat them fairly and avoid discriminating against them either via conscious or unconscious biases.

Being an equal opportunity employer means that we provide the same opportunities for hiring, advancement and benefits to everyone without discriminating due to protected characteristics like:

• Age

• Sex / Gender

• Sexual orientation

• Ethnicity / Nationality

• Religion

• Disability

• Medical history

What is an EEO policy?

We built our equal employment opportunity policy around preventive and affirmative actions to ensure fairness in all aspects of employment. These aspects include:

• Hiring

• Training

• Evaluating performance

• Administering compensation and benefits

• Terminating employees

We also want to make sure that equal opportunity applies to other instances. For example, we don’t retaliate against employees and we are committed to prevent and resolve any kind of harassment against our employees, including sexual harassment.

Our HR department is responsible for assessing our company’s processes and ensuring they are bias-free. Whenever we find biases interfering, we will act immediately to refine our processes, train our people to combat their biases and protect possible victims of discrimination. We will give everyone the chance to work in an environment where their rights are respected

Actions

To promote equal opportunity, we first ensure we follow EEOC regulations and EEO laws that apply to each part of our company.

We will also take additional actions to promote fairness and diversity as part of our equal employment opportunity policy. We will:

• Use inclusive language in all signs, documents and webpages.

• Modify structures and facilities to accommodate people with disabilities.

• Provide parental leave and flexible work arrangement policies.

• Hire, train and evaluate employees through job-related criteria.

• Allow employees to take religious or national holidays that aren’t included in our company’s official schedule.

• Train employees on communication and diversity.

• Implement open door practices so employees can report discrimination more easily.

Grievance Procedure

All supervisors and managers are responsible to use equal opportunity practices and make decisions based on objective, non-discriminatory criteria. Everyone should comply with our policy at all times.

If you see or suspect that our EEO policies are being violated, feel free to inform HR immediately. If you suspect that someone is behaving in a wrong way but doesn’t realize it, you could also talk to them directly.

Disciplinary Consequences

When someone discriminates, they will be subject to disciplinary action depending on the severity of their actions. For example, unintentionally offending a coworker might warrant a reprimand, but harassing someone systematically might result in demotion or termination

Flexible Working Hours Policy

Our flexible hours company policy outlines our provisions for employees who want to change their working hours, days or weeks

This policy applies to all our employees, who need an alternative arrangement about their work schedules and who are eligible by nature of their job.

We recognize that some employees need to work flexible hours. Example reasons are:

• Parenting

• Doctor appointments or other medical circumstances

• Work-life balance

What does it mean to have a flexible work schedule?

Flexible hours can refer to a number of different arrangements:

• Flexible working time when employees choose to shift their everyday schedule by starting the day later or leaving earlier. The total of working hours doesn’t change. “Core hours” may be established during which an employee is obliged to be present at the workplace.

• Reduced hours when an employee works for less than the standard working hours either by fewer hours per day or by fewer days per week. In such cases salary is calculated anew depending on the new schedule.

• Compressed week when employees work longer hours on a number of days per week so they can take time off on the remaining days. Total working hours and compensation remain the same.

• “Flexible year” when an employee must work a specific amount of hours per year with little limitation as to when.

• Job sharing when two people divide their schedule to do the same job.

To determine whether an employee is eligible for flexible arrangements, we consider:

• The nature of the employee’s job. For example, if the job requires attendance at specific hours or every day per week or has a full time workload, then the employee is not eligible for flexible working hours.

• The needs of the employee’s team or department. For example, some departments (e.g. finance) may require employees to be present due to the amount of incoming paper documents.

• The impact on colleagues. For example, if the department’s operations are largely dependent on teamwork, then the employee is less likely to freely modify his/her working schedules.

• The duration of the arrangement. For example, an employee may have flexible hours on a specific time but may have to follow standard schedule at some other time.

• The impact on customers. For example, we don’t want any flexible work arrangement to have a big impact on customer satisfaction.

Procedure

If our employee initiates the request for flexible schedule then the following procedure must be followed

• The employee files an official request with their manager and HR explaining the reasons for their request.

• Their manager approves/rejects their request after carefully considering the above criteria.

• HR approves

• The employee and their manager meet to discuss details of the arrangement and set specific goals and responsibilities.

• HR puts the agreement in writing and all parties must sign it.

• The decision must be revisited and discontinued if it negatively affects productivity or efficiency of the individual or the department

In cases where the employer does not approve of the employee’s request, the employee must receive an official letter that includes the reasons why

When the request is initiated by the employer, then the employee must be formally notified and sign the agreement along with the other parties.

Forced and Bonded Labour

We ensure that all our employees work for Proteams on a voluntary basis, and not under threat of any penalty or sanctions.

We safeguard this by:

• All employees are entitled to a written employment contract or offer letters stating terms of engagement in the local language and stipulating their employment terms and conditions. We have a responsibility to ensure that all employees are aware of their legal rights and obligations

• We respect the right of employees to terminate their employment after reasonable notice and to receive all owed salary

• A worker whose employment is to be terminated shall be entitled to a reasonable period of notice or compensation in lieu thereof, unless he/ she is guilty of serious misconduct, that is, misconduct of such a nature that it would be unreasonable to require the employer to continue his/ her employment during the notice period

• We respect the right of employees to leave the workplace after their shift

• Any third-party labour provider used by Proteams should be properly certified and/or licensed to operate by the competent public authorities.

• Any commissions and other fees in connection with employment of workers must be covered by Proteams. Deposits/financial guarantees/payments to obtain work are not allowed. We will never withhold original copies of employees’ identity documents (e.g. passports, identity cards)

• If involuntary labour is confirmed in our operations, we will ensure that immediate measures are taken to remedy the situation and that any costs associated with the remedy will be borne by the business

Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining

We respect our employees’ right to associate freely, to join or refrain from joining labour unions and workers’ councils without fear of discrimination or retaliation. We believe that open and o going communication contributes and develops a lasting relationship with our employees.

We safeguard this by:

• Employees have the right to form or join associations of their own choosing, and to bargain collectively

• Employees are aware of the purpose and function of local independently elected employee committees or similar bodies

• We allow employee representatives access to collective bargaining agreements and other relevant documentation needed to fulfill their duties

• We engage in good faith with independently elected employee representatives

• If employees have chosen not to be represented by a union, management and employees may address workplace-related topics in a suitable forum

• Where the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining is restricted or prohibited under law, we will not hinder employees from developing alternative mechanisms to express their grievances and protect their rights regarding working conditions and terms of employment, nor will we seek to influence or control these mechanisms.

General Leave Policy

We provide rest-periods, breaks and leave for all our employees. Leave includes vacation and holiday leave, sickness leave and parental leave.

We safeguard this by:

• Employees should be allowed at least 24 scheduled consecutive hours of rest in every 7-day period

• Employees shall be provided with understandable information about all applicable conditions relating to leave and holidays. These conditions and any changes to these during employment should be set out in writing, either on the local website or to individual employees

• Employees are entitled to take paid annual leave in accordance with national law

• Employees are entitled to take leave for sickness, family reasons, public holidays and occupational diseases or injuries in accordance with national law. The leave should be paid cf. national rules

• Female employees are granted a minimum of 14 weeks of maternity leave, for birth. The maternity leave should be paid, or covered for with adequate social security benefits, or be a combination of the two, if possible, without causing issues due to national laws. The termination of employment of a female during absence on maternity leave, except on grounds unrelated to pregnancy, childbirth and its consequences, is prohibited. Women returning to work must at a minimum be returned to the same position or an equivalent position paid at the same rate

• A period of paid paternity leaves for the fathers (or non-birthing partner) following the birth of a child may be decided locally. The paternity leave should be paid, or covered for with adequate social security benefits, or be a combination of the two, if possible, without causing issues due to national laws. The termination of employment of a father (or non-birthing partner) during absence on paternity leave, except on grounds unrelated to, the time of the childbirth and its consequences, is prohibited. The father (or non-birthing partner) returning to work must at a minimum be returned to the same position or an equivalent position paid at the same rate

• The employed mother or the employed father (or non-birthing partner) of the child should be entitled to parental leave during a period following the expiry of the maternity or paternity leave period

• Public holidays are not counted as part of the annual leave

• The religious traditions and customs of employees should, as far as possible, be respected.

HR Policy Revision

Our HR policy revision guidelines are designed to ensure all company policies remain consistent with changes in legislation and our environment.

It is important that the rules that define our business are revisited and updated so we can preserve our legality and efficiency through time.

This HR policy refers to everyone in Proteams regardless of position or status. It also refers to anyone that has the ability or authority to identify problems or suggest revisions.

Our HR policies will be reviewed and evaluated for any of the following reasons

• A scheduled periodical review

• A suggestion from a competent source

• An identified problem or issue

• A change in legislation

What is the HR policy revision process?

Revisions may involve important or minor changes. Important changes include but are not limited to, those that:

• Alter established procedures, processes or other daily operations

• Modify the scope or objectives of the policy

• Relate to changes in legislation

• Correct a serious inconsistency

• Rewrite the entire policy

Minor changes include but are not limited to, those that:

• Clarify statements or terms

• Add a small part to the initial policy

• Correct mistakes

• Introduce a new complementary procedure or rule

Whether a change is important or minor will be at the discretion of the employee responsible for revisions. This employee may be a Policy coordinator, an HR manager or other pertinent staff. All reviews will be conducted by a committee that may be composed of HR personnel, general counsels or members of the board. They will assess every policy by its effectiveness, completeness, consistency, clarity and legality. The revisions will be put in draft form and will have to be approved by the appropriate executive.

Scheduled periodical reviews. Periodical revision of policies are important in order to anticipate problems and solve them before they arise. The time between each of the reviews will be defined by the responsible employee

Suggestion from a competent source. A competent source may be defined as any party that is closely related with Proteams or has authority to suggest modifications to its policies. These parties include

• All employees of Proteams

• Major investors and stakeholders

• Customers

• Representatives of a legal authority

These people will be able to recommend changes in company policies by contacting the responsible employee. The latter will determine if suggestions are important or minor. Actual change in policies is not guaranteed with the exception of dictations from legal officials who may demand it with legitimate legal reasons.

Identified problems or issues. In cases when an issue arises as a part of normal business, a policy or a part of it may be indicated as the source of the issue. In this case, we are committed to revise and correct the policy in order to avoid any of these issues appearing in the future.

A change in legislation. It is important for a company to follow any alterations in the local or international law. In these cases, a legal counsel or a lawyer will be consulted to make sure all revisions will reflect the legal changes.

Procedures

Procedure for revising a policy periodically or making an important change is as follows:

• A date of the review will be set by the responsible employee (e.g. HR coordinator)

• The responsible employee will submit comments or suggestions to the review committee prior the date of review. The policy may be put in draft form

• The committee will meet on the review date and decide on the revisions

• A legal official or a lawyer may be contacted to review the new draft

• The final form of a revised policy will be submitted for approval to the appropriate executive

• The revision of the policy will be announced to employees and stakeholders through a newsletter or notification

• A new revision date will be set

The procedure for making a minor change is as follows:

• The responsible employee will decide if the change should be incorporated

• They will prepare a draft including the minor change

• The draft will be submitted for approval to the appropriate executive

• The date for revision of the policy will be adjusted

Human Rights Commitment

Proteams is committed to meeting the responsibility to respect human rights as defined by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. As such we will:

• Identify potential and actual adverse human rights impacts that our operations may cause, contribute to, or be directly linked to

• Use or establish processes to prevent or mitigate potential adverse impacts on human rights, where identified

• Seek to best remediate or participate in the remediation of any actual adverse human rights impacts that our business causes or contributes to

• Account for how we address our potential and actual impacts on human rights, where it will not put the people concerned at risk or damage legitimate requirements of commercial confidentiality

• Expect our business partners and other parties directly linked to our operations, products, or services to meet their responsibility to respect human rights as described by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights; including committing to respect all human rights, carrying out human rights due diligence and providing access to remedy when needed

• Use leverage to make other parties directly linked to our operations, products or services cease actions or omissions that lead to adverse impacts on human rights once we become aware of such impact

The responsibility to respect human rights refers to all internationally recognized human rights, including but not limited to the prohibition of forced, bonded, or debt labor, slavery, servitude, and human trafficking. In implementing the UN Guiding Principles, we will pay particular attention to the rights of, as well as the challenges faced by, vulnerable groups whom we have impacts, such as children and patients, by referring to relevant United Nations instruments (e.g., Convention on the Rights of the Child).

This commitment is approved by the board of directors of Proteams ApS.

Internal hiring process Policy

Our internal hiring process policy describes our process for hiring within our company to fill open roles. We are committed to investing in our employees and help them grow their skills and gain experience while working with us.

In this policy, we outline our procedure for internal recruitment and clarify our rules for internal mobility.

Our company encourages promotions and job moves that will help employees hone their skills and advance their careers. To ensure our internal hiring is fair and efficient, we suggest a procedure for managers and team members to follow:

1. Hiring teams should determine whether there are internal candidates who can fill a position. Hiring managers should think whether they have qualified employees already in mind and recruiters should consult our company’s succession plan. If they find qualified candidates, they should contact them directly.

2. Hiring teams should post a job ad if needed. If hiring teams don’t have specific internal candidates in mind, they can post a job internally to give employees the chance to apply. Decide if you want to post the job internally before advertising externally or post both ads simultaneously.

3. Recruiters should prepare a job ad and communicate it to employees. Ask for hiring managers’ input to describe job duties and requirements. Include important information like benefits or possible need for relocation. Then, communicate the job ad via [email, intranet, company newsletter or other available means.]

4. Hiring teams should evaluate internal applications. Hiring managers are obliged to evaluate all applications from internal candidates and recruiters should inform them about the outcome.

5. Hiring teams should interview short-listed internal candidates. Internal candidates don’t need to pass through phone screens and multiple interview rounds. Depending on the position, hiring managers could interview candidates once and use assessments to evaluate their skills if needed.

6. Recruiters should update all internal candidates. Hiring teams should inform employees about the status of their application. Giving internal candidates feedback on why they were rejected might also help them understand what training or practice would benefit their career plans.

7. Hiring teams should keep all applications confidential. It’s at our internal candidate’s discretion whether they want to tell their manager that they applied to an internal job. Hiring teams must ensure that applications remain confidential until a candidate is hired. When an employee is hired to another role, there will be a [two-week] notice period before they change jobs to give their manager time to begin the hiring process for filling their position.

Internal mobility

We encourage employees to move across teams, departments and locations within our company if this move fits with their career plans and they’re qualified to perform the job. Our only requirement is that our employees have to complete their [three-month] onboarding period before they can change roles.

You don’t need the consent of your manager to apply for an internal job opening, but we encourage you to be open about your career goals. Discuss your aspirations and preferredcareer pathduring 1:1s with your manager or during performance review meetings. If your manager has an idea of your plans, they’ll be able to help you advance within our company and advise you on the best internal opportunities, or even refer you when the right job comes up.

Manager’s responsibilities

As a manager, you’re responsible for helping your employees learn and grow. Our hiring practices aim to ensure that each team will always have talented people to perform each job. Therefore, helping your team members move inside our organization and promoting them to more challenging positions is good for our business.

Our company will provide you with training on how to create career paths for your team members and help them become better at their jobs. We ask you to:

• Always think what’s best for your team members in terms of their personal and professional growth.

• Actively participate in our succession planning efforts.

• Recommend qualified team members for open roles in our company.

• Regularly discuss advancement plans and learning opportunities with your team members.

Our company will recognize employees for their skills and hard work. But above all, we want to make sure that our employees learn and succeed within our company. To achieve this, all managers and team members should talk freely and frequently about what career moves make sense for their abilities and motivations.

International recruitment Policy

Our international recruitment policy refers to practices and strategies we employ to hire people all over the world. We explain approaches to international recruitment and when to use each one.

This policy applies to all employees, offices and branches of our company regardless of location.

‘Parent country’ refers to the country our company was founded or is headquartered in.

‘Host country’ is a country other than our parent country where our company has employees and operations.

We’ll take our employees’ wishes and plans into account when deciding on transfers and relocations. We will never use international transfers as a means todiscipline employeesor toretaliate against them.

There are four approaches to international recruitment: ethnocentric, polycentric geocentric, regiocentric. We’re mainly a [geocentric company/ polycentric company/ etc.] but we may occasionally shift to other approaches based on our needs.

Here’s a description of each of these approaches with recommendations on how and when to use them:

What is ethnocentric staffing?

The ethnocentric approach to recruitment means that we hire people from our parent country to fill positions all over the world. For example, if we want to fill an executive role in a foreign country, we could:

• Relocate one of our existing employees who’s a permanent resident of our parent country.

• Hire a person from our parent country who lives or wants to live in the host country.

We use the ethnocentric method when [opening a new branch at a new country, so it’d be easier for our company’s policies and procedures to be transferred from the parent country to the new branch]. As a rule, expatriates from our parent country should comprise less than [20%] of a foreign office so that we minimize the total hiring costs and avoid missing the pulse of the local community.

What is polycentric staffing?

The polycentric approach to recruitment means that we hire locals to fill our positions in a host country. For example, we could advertise on local job boards or create a contract with a local recruitment agency.

We use the polycentric approach when [we need the skills of locals to conduct our business. For example, if we want to expand our clientele to a specific country, we’d hire a local professional who knows the market and can coordinate our sales operations.] We’ll apply one of the other approaches if we haven’t found qualified candidates after [four months].

What is regiocentric staffing?

The regiocentric approach to recruitment means that we hire or transfer people within the same region (like a group of countries) to fill our open positions. For example, we might decide to transfer employees within Scandinavian countries. So if we want to hire someone in Sweden (a host country) we could transfer one of our employees from Denmark, a host country in the same region.

We use the regiocentric approach when [the costs of transferring an employee from a host country are lower than transferring them from the parent country.] When deciding to use this approach, take into account any language or cultural barriers that may exist.

What is geocentric staffing?

Geocentric approach to recruitment is hiring the best people to fill our positions without regard to where they come from or where they live. This means:

• Hiring remote employees. We use this option when we want to hire someone at a place where we don’t have offices. For example, if we want a customer support agent in another time zone to support our customers there.

• Relocating our employees. This includes both bringing foreign talent into our parent country and relocating people to a new host country. We use this approach when we need someone to be physically present at a specific location, but the best person for the job is living elsewhere.

To use the geocentric approach, we need to have a global outlook on recruitment. For example, whenever a position opens at a host country or our parent country, the hiring team could:

• Advertise on global job boards first, before using local job boards mentioning the location of the job clearly. Also, advertise on job boards focused on remote work when possible.

• Source candidates online without looking at their current location.

• Check our global employee database to find internal candidates who may wish to relocate.

• Ask recruiters to suggest candidates they met at international career fairs or events.

• Ask for referrals from our existing employees, as they may have someone in their network who could fit in this position and be willing to relocate.

International recruitment and selection process

Whenever a position opens, hiring teams should follow this process:

1. Decide which staffing approach is most suitable for this particular case. Use this policy to determine whether the regiocentric, ethnocentric or polycentric approach suits best. Discuss the budget with finance to make sure you’re able to apply the chosen approach and whether another one could work equally well with lower costs. If there’s no particular reason to use any of them, then the [geocentric approach] should prevail.

2. Determine the recruitment methods that work for this approach. For example, if you decided on the polycentric approach, then consider local job boards and locally-based recruiters in the host country.

3. Allocate your budget. To make sure you can coordinate recruitment activities, look into your budget. For example, if you’ve chosen the ethnocentric approach, you’ll need to factor in relocation costs for your new hire. Also, you may decide you need to meet candidates from the host country in-person so pay attention to travel expenses. Work with [finance/ HR] to determine the available resources.

4. Evaluate candidates. When it comes to resume and phone screening, we evaluate all candidates the same way. You could also use video interviews for remote candidates. Each role will demand a different skillset, but to make sure our employees can work well together, look for people who:

   • Are self-motivated and can work independently (especially if their manager is remote).

   • Can communicate well even through cultural and language barriers.

   • Have a global mindset.

   • Are tech-savvy.

     • Also, depending on the approach you’ll use, make sure to discuss if a candidate is legally permitted to work in the country where the open position is. If it’s agreed upon, discuss immigration procedures.

5. Close the hire and discuss paperwork. Once a candidate accepts a job offer, ask HR how to proceed with any legal procedures regarding visas, immigration policies or taxes. Be in close collaboration with the new hire until everything is resolved.

Maternity / Parental leave company Policy

Ourparental leave company policyoutlines our provisions for our employees who have children. We want everyone in our company to be able to balance their job and family duties; work shouldn’t unduly hinder a parent’s responsibilities toward their child or consistently prevent them from spending time together.

Regarding pay during family leave, we will always follow legal guidelines where they exist. In counties or states where paid family leave isn’t mandatory, we will provide paid leave according to this company policy.

This paid parental leave policy applies to all employees who are parents or will become parents in the near future.

In this policy, we define a ‘child’ as someone who is under 18 years old. For the purposes of providing parental leave, we don’t differentiate among biological children, adoptive children and step-children, as long as they’re under the custody or care of an employee.

Our parental leave company policy addresses every need associated with the expectancy or care of a child. It includes paternity leave, maternity leave, adoption leave and any other leave that parents might need:

Maternity leave

What is maternity leave? It’s a temporary absence from an employee’s position and will be granted to support expectant mothers who require time off for pregnancy, childbirth recovery and child care. We have a dedicated maternity leave policy you can look at for more information.

See ourmaternity leave policy templateto craft an effective policy for your own company.

Length and compensation will depend on the laws of the country / state you reside in or our company policy, whichever is greater. Our company offers [four months of paid maternity leave] plus [two months of unpaid leave if you need more time to recover from labor – in this case, you may need to bring doctor’s notes to HR]. If there are legal provisions specifically for maternity leave that exceed our company policy, the law will apply.

While you’re on paid maternity leave, your position, benefits and pay remain the same. If a larger scale change needs to happen for organizational purposes, and your job is affected, we’ll keep you informed and discuss solutions according to the law. In any case, you will never be victimized or disadvantaged because you’re a mother or because you’re on maternity leave.

Paternity leave

What is paternity leave? It’s a temporary absence from an employee’s position and applies to employees who identify as male who require time to care for an infant. We will grant paternity leave to allow fathers to care for and bond with their newborn child. We have a dedicatedpaid paternity leave policywhere you can find more information.

Length and compensation will depend on the laws of the country / state you reside in or our company policy, whichever is greater. Our company offers [four months of paid paternity leave]. If there are legal provisions specifically for paternity leave that exceed our company policy, the law will apply.

Just like with maternity leave, your position, benefits and pay remain the same and we will find solutions when any necessary changes need to be done.

Adoption Leave

What is adoption leave? It’s a temporary absence from any employee’s position that applies to those who have recently become legal guardians of a child. Our paid adoption leave allows bonding time with that child. You can also use part of your adoption leave to go to appointments or meetings related to the adoption procedure. Ask HR about what documents you need to bring to use leave for this reason.

Our company offers [four months of paid adoption leave]. If there are legal provisions specifically for adoption leave that exceed our company policy, the law will apply.

Other parental leave

Parents who require time off to see to various affairs regarding their children may qualify for a certain amount of paid parental leave. For example, you can get parental leave if you want to:

• Take your child to the hospital or a doctor’s appointment

• Care for a sick child

• Visit current or new schools

• Attend child counseling sessions

We will comply with legal guidelines that may exist. If there aren’t any legal provisions in the country or state you reside in, our company will offer [six days] of paid parental leave per year on top of any maternity and paternity leave or paid time off.

Note that in some countries, parents may be allowed to share their leave with their partners (e.g. mothers can pass on the remainder of their leave to their partners) or take it consecutively instead of together. Wherever these arrangements are possible or mandatory, we will follow the law and try to assist our employees in the best way possible.

We may considerflexible work arrangementsif you need them for anotheryearafter the end of your maternity or paternity leave.

If you need to request maternity or paternity leave, you must always give notice to your supervisor and HR, [at least four months before your expected start of leave]. We can make exceptions when there are unforeseen circumstances that force you to take leave earlier.

When parental leave for other reasons is needed, please inform your supervisorat least two days in advance.

You can contact HR for information if you have any questions to ask.

Modern Slavery Statement

This is the Modern Slavery statement by Proteams which has been developed in accordance with the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015 and the Australia Commonwealth Modern Slavery Act 2018 and local filings have been made accordingly in each country. This general statement sets out the steps taken by Proteams.

At Proteams, we recognise that modern slavery including human trafficking, forced labour, bonded labour, child slavery and hazardous child labour can occur in every industry and sector. We take the steps outlined here to understand what these risks are and to manage them accordingly.

Proteams human rights compliance is overseen by management and the responsibility to implement and assure human rights compliance sits with management.

Proteams Company Culture:

At Proteams, we believe that a healthy environment, society, and economy are fundamental to longterm value creation. For this reason, we manage our business in accordance with the Proteams Company Culture Policy, which provides general guidance to all employees on how we conduct responsible business.

Human Rights Policy commitment:

Proteams commitment to respecting human rights as per the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights is anchored in the Employee Policies and Business Ethics Policy. Proteams Human Rights Commitment explicitly states that our commitment includes prohibition, prevention and mitigation of forced, bonded or debt labour, slavery, servitude and human trafficking and providing access to remedy. We also refer to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to respect children’s rights. We recognise and respect the rights of every child to be protected from exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.

To put Proteams Human Rights Commitment and Business Ethics Policy into practice, we have launched company requirements on human rights, which require all Proteams employees to respect human rights in their daily decisions and actions. In short, all Proteams employees must:

1. Avoid causing or contributing to negative human rights impacts in all business activities

2. Set human rights expectations to our business partners, with a focus on high-risk activities, so that they also respect human rights according to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

3. Report human rights concerns to Proteams management. Prevent and mitigate recurrence of actual negative human rights impacts, prioritising severe impacts.

The scope of Proteams requirements includes at a minimum all human rights expressed in the International Bill of Human Rights, including the ‘right not to be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour’.

More information can be found in Proteams Employee Policies, which provides a set of minimum labour standards for all employees. The Employee Policies states that all employees work for Proteams on a voluntary basis, and not under threat of any penalty or sanctions. To safeguard this principle, we ensure among others that any commissions and other fees in connection with employment of workers will be covered by Proteams. We do not accept child labour and we protect persons below the age of 18 (children) from any hazardous work, night shift and any kind of work that might hamper their development or impose any physical harm.

Moreover, Proteams has in place Responsible Sourcing standards, which set expectations to suppliers. These are the basis for Responsible Sourcing of our suppliers and include our suppliers’ responsibility to respect human rights and to apply the same standards in their own supply chain.

Moonlighting Policy

Our outside employment (or moonlighting) policy applies to our employees who take up other jobs while also working with our company.

Although we generally discourage outside employment, we understand the need to supplement your income or the wish to take up interesting projects outside of your main job. We want to ensure that moonlighting does not interfere in any way with your job at our company. This policy outlines our rules and provisions.

This policy mainly applies to our full-time employees, including those who work flexible hours or compressed work weeks. Salaried, part-time employees who work more than25 hours per week for our company are also included.

This policy applies to lawful activities. Being involved in illegal business (e.g. fraud, drug dealing) will result in immediate termination. We may also take legal action if you use our company’s equipment, resources or information to support any illegal activities.

Policy elements

Our company does not want to preclude its employees from moonlighting. But, we want our employees to be transparent about their side jobs so we can prevent conflicts with their main jobs more easily.

Our main rule is that our employees must treat their job in our company as their primary occupation. Any other job should come second.

With this rule in mind, our employees must not:

Take up a job or project with our competitors. Doing so may violate our non-compete agreement and we may terminate you. Our confidentiality policy is always in effect.

Take up a job or project if its working hours overlap with those of their main job. Doing so will cause attendance issues and your manager may take disciplinary action. We expect you to use your working hours (not including breaks) to work for our company only, unless otherwise authorized.

Take up a job or project that’s so demanding it interferes with main job duties. For example, if you’re too tired to do your main job properly, you will face negative performance reviews (formal and informal) and we may take disciplinary action.

Take up a job or project that could create a conflict of interest. For this reason, we advise against working for or with our company’s clients, vendors or contractors outside your main job’s purview. Starting a business that competes with our own is a conflict of interest if you continue working for us while running your business.

What to do if you want to take up side jobs

What is a side job?

We define a side job as paid, regular work (temporary or permanent) with specific job responsibilities. For example, working at a coffee shop qualifies as a side job if you are expected to work there regularly, regardless of whether you have pre-determined shifts or a fixed number of hours. Managing a business, working as a consultant or advisor to companies and serving as a board member of an organization fall under our definition too.

When you want to (or have taken) a side job, please inform your manager to help us ensure you don’t inadvertently violate this policy. Also, having an honest discussion with your manager may help them understand why you need a second job and determine whether our company can help you instead (e.g. giving you more working hours or new interesting projects.

You don’t need to tell your manager that you are:

Working at a friend’s or family business occasionally at random days and hours. But, you still have to make sure that the hours you put in that job don’t overlap with your main job and that you follow our confidentiality policy.

Freelancing. This doesn’t qualify as a side job because as a freelancer you are able to choose how many hours to work and when. But, we ask you to organize your time properly so your projects and activities don’t interfere with your main job. Our non-compete agreement stands.

Do volunteer work. If you want to volunteer, ensure that you won’t need to work during your normal working hours. Also, if your volunteer work becomes too demanding, we advise you to organize it better or reduce the time you spend volunteering.

Managers’ responsibilities

When team members inform their managers about their outside jobs, managers should document this information. They should also check to see if any rules are violated. For example, their team member may unknowingly take up a job with a competitor. If this happens, let your team member know so you can prevent a conflict of interest.

Also, keep in mind that your team members may have options other than taking up outside employment if they are facing financial problems or seeking variety in their work. It is your responsibility as a manager to find ways to help them if possible.

If your team member informs you that they are thinking of taking up a side job because of financial problems, consider:

If your team member is an hourly employee, you may be able to give them more hours working with our company to supplement their income, instead of them seeking additional employment.

Our company’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) may include financial counseling for those who need help planning their budget and expenses. Provide general information about our EAP to your team member and let them choose whether they want to take part in it.

If your team member is thinking about outside employment because they want to advance their skills or career, you may be able to help them achieve this in our company. Discuss chances for new projects, job rotation or training opportunities.

Using company equipment and resources

Generally, employees must not use company equipment, resources or materials for their outside activities. Using or disclosing our confidential or proprietary information outside the scope of your job with us is prohibited

However, we may make exceptions for equipment we give to employees for unlimited use, namely their work laptop and company car. In these cases, you can use your equipment outside working hours but you must follow our cyber security and company car policies.

Keep in mind that we will not reimburse any expenses (e.g. gas) that you incur outside of your working hours with our company.

What if employees violate this policy?

Our employees may face disciplinary action depending on how they violated this policy. Breaching our non-compete and confidentiality agreements results in immediate termination. We may also take legal action if you disclose sensitive and confidential information about our employees, clients or business.

If you violate this policy by showing attendance or performance issues due to your outside employment, we may:

• Ask you to quit your side job.

• Issue a reprimand and launch a progressive discipline process.

• Terminate you if we conclude that you are unwilling to conform with our policy after we have taken disciplinary action.

New Hire Company Policy

Our New Hire policy refers to our efforts to help new employees settle in their new job. We will provide new hires with necessary information about their new job and our company, as well as facilitate a rising feeling of comfort around an unknown workplace

This policy applies to all employees who were recently received and accepted an offer of employment from us

Our onboarding efforts will aim to

• Make new hires feel welcome.

• Help new hires get to know their team.

• Provide useful information about their position.

• Inform our new hire about company principles, new employee orientation, mission and procedures.

• Actions

We have implemented steps to meet our onboarding goals. Some of those steps refer to the period before our new hire’s first day and some refer to their first months on the job.

Before a new hire starts work, HR should:

• Announce our new employee’s start date and basic personal information to other staff of the department (especially their new team.)

• Enter our new employee’s information in our company database and set up their individual e-mails, accounts and phones.

• Create an onboarding program with specific activities, timelines, participants and documentation.

• Prepare our new hire’s workspace with all equipment and material necessary.

• Send an onboarding “package” to our new hire. This “package” will include documents with basic information about their new job (e.g. general duties), our company (e.g. dress code, working hours) and orientation process (e.g. Day 1, Day 2 etc.)

After our new hire starts work

The day our new hire starts working with us

On our new hire’s first day, HR and our new hire’s manager should:

• Welcome new hires in an organized manner. Everyone involved (reception, manager, co-workers) must be prepared for our new employee’s arrival.

• Show new hires to their new workstation and help them familiarize themselves with their surroundings.

• Introduce new hires to colleagues and upper management when applicable.

• Present important documents to review (Employee Handbook, previous reports etc.). This paperwork must be kept at a bare minimum so as not to overwhelm our new hire.

• Give short presentations so our employee can become familiar with our mission, procedures, values and policies.

Our new hire’s first week on the job

The first few days our new hire spends in our company are important to help them settle in. So, we advise their manager to:

• Assist our new hire in building a communication network (who to contact for what, who to report to etc.)

• Ease employees into their new position by assigning simple but meaningful work from the start. Our employee should not have to deal with urgent work or duties not involved in their job description during their first days.

• Arrange for our new hire to shadow colleagues during their work so they can get hands-on experience on how things are done.

• Schedule lunch or breaks so our new hire can socialize.

• Assign a mentor.

We want our new employee to feel respected and valued early on. Our new hires’ supervisor can implement onboarding activities that aren’t included in this policy. We encourage collective activities since they help new hires feel part of a team.

New recruits may need more than a few days to fully grasp their responsibilities and learn to be productive in their new workplace. Onboarding may go on until the employees feel sure that they can function on their own.

Non-retaliation

We have no tolerance for retaliation at Proteams. You will not suffer any adverse consequences for:

• Refusing to do something that violates this Employee Policies, our requirements, or the law, even if your refusal results in the loss of business to Proteams

• Raising a concern in good faith about potential misconduct

• Cooperating with an investigatio

Any good faith report of wrongdoing may never result in legal or financial consequences for the employee. Anyone who retaliates against an employee for engaging in any of these activities will be subject to disciplinary action.

We’ll follow all legal prohibitions for retaliation and will grant employees the right to speak about misconduct. At any case, we will make an effort to preserve legality and business ethics.

Actions that often bring about retaliation include but are not limited to:

• Complaints for workplace harassment or discrimination

• Complaints for company actions that harm the environment or society

• Requests for parental or other leave

• Participation in a pending investigation of misconduct or violations

• Lawsuits for wrongful dismissal or termination for cause

Employees may file complaints internally to a manager or Human Resources Department. Or they may speak to persons able to take legal action against the alleged guilty party. These employees are called “Whistleblowers”.

At any case, we’ll follow our harassment-free workplace principles. Employees who report misconduct or suspected violation must be protected from retaliation. We don’t want to silence complaints, but we encourage open communication in accordance with our open door policy.

Why do we need a No Retaliation Policy?

We need a no retaliation policy for two reasons. First, when reports have a solid basis, we must consider them and take action. Retaliating against an employee who brought attention to inconsistencies or violations will harm our company’s trustworthiness and reliability. Secondly, any kind of retaliatory action, whether intentional or unintentional, may expose us to a serious legal risk

It’s important to note that this policy refers to circumstances when an employee’s report is true as well as circumstances when the report is baseless. We don’t consider the report’s validity when it comes to no retaliation principles, as required by law. Our company will malevolently punish its employees in any way and for whatever reason.

Retaliation in the workplace may be expressed in a variety of ways. These include but are not limited to:

• Victimization

• Termination or illegal retraction of benefits

• Reduction of compensation

• Poor work performance evaluation

• Exclusion from corporate events or meetings

• Defamation of character (prominent in cases of former employees)

Retaliation is in general defined as any kind of negative action against a current or former employee that takes the form of punishment, and creates a hostile, threatening or uncomfortable environment as a result of their reported complaint.

Employees that are found guilty of retaliation will be subject to disciplinary action that may also result in termination

Disciplinary action may also apply to employees who have repeatedly filed false or unreasonable complaints against us and are proven to have been intentionally lying, falsifying evidence, acting maliciously or for personal benefit. That way we can ensure that employees do not take advantage of our policy and act always in good faith.

Actions

Employees have the right to communicate problems, suggestions or issues to any manager. No retaliation policy applies to all official or unofficial reports. All complaints will be kept confidential and investigation will be as little disruptive as possible

In cases of lawsuits or complaints filed in an authority or legal entity, employees won’t be victims of retaliation

If an employee files a complaint with our company for another employee, we’ll take it seriously and investigate thoroughly. If we need to act immediately during our investigation (like in cases of harassment), we’ll ensure the employee who filed the complaint will not be affected in any way. The alleged wrongdoer may see their employment or position affected until the investigation is concluded.

In some cases, an employee who has filed a report may face disciplinary action on an unrelated offence. We’ll provide official documentation stating the reason of disciplinary procedures against the employee, along with evidence for their misconduct.

Occupational / Workplace health and safety Policy

Our Occupational / Workplace Health and Safety Policy help us preserve the best possible work conditions for our employees. Every employee has a right to feel safe at work. Our company is committed to follow legal standards and create a hazard-free workplace.

Our Occupational / Workplace Health and Safety Policy help us preserve the best possible work conditions for our employees

This Occupational / Workplace Health and Safety Policy applies to all prospective and current employees of Proteams as well as volunteers, contractors and consultants

Policy elements

There are two aspects to consider when establishing an Occupational / Workplace Health and Safety Program: Preventative Action and Emergency Management.

Preventative action

Preventative action is any action we take to avoid injuries or illness related to workplace conditions

We’ll conduct periodical risk assessments and job hazard analysis to discover what is likely to harm employees. We’ll establish preventative measures accordingly

Potential threats and dangerous situations include but are not limited to:

• Performing tasks on heights, scaffolds, ladders and other unsteady structures

• Chemical substances (toxic, flammable etc.)

• Operating dangerous equipment

• Slippery or uneven surfaces

• Electrical infrastructure

• Noise/temperature

• Quality of ai

We’ll take the following preventative measures:

• When employees work in dangerous contexts or locations, we’ll make sure there are safety precautions like safety nets and ropes.

• We’ll provide protective gear like gloves, protective uniforms, goggles etc. Using safety equipment is obligatory.

• Inspectors and quality control employees will inspect equipment and infrastructure regularly

• We’ll hold employee training sessions in health & safety standards and procedures.

• All highly dangerous job tasks require at least two employees to be present

• Exposure to chemicals and radiation will not exceed a certain time limit

• Employees who do repairs or cleaning need to put up caution signs

• We’ll prohibit smoking indoor

Also, we’ll enforce a substance abuse policy to protect employees from colleagues’ misconduct.

Emergency Management

Emergency management refers to our plan to deal with sudden catastrophes like fire, flood, earthquake or explosion. These depend on human error or natural forces.

Our emergency management involves the following provisions:

• Functional smoke alarms and sprinklers that are regularly inspected bymaintenance supervisor

• Technicians (external or internal) available to repair leakages, damages and blackouts quickly

• Fire extinguishers and other fire protection equipment that are easily accessible

• An evacuation plan posted on the walls of each floor and online

• Fire escapes and safety exits that are clearly indicated and safe

• Fully-stocked first-aid kits at convenient locations

We’ll also schedule fire drills and emergency evacuations periodically. We will monitor performance of health and safety procedures and will revise them to ensure higher level of protection

Additional measures

Our company will also keep abreast of changes and try to promote health & safety actively. We will:

• Update our policy according to changes in occupational health and safety legislation.

• Use incentive actions for health & safety (e.g. presenting safe employee awards.)

• Analyze past incidents to discover what went wrong.

• Establish clear procedures for accident reporting.

• Revise work procedures to make them safer

Our company will also consult experts or insurance representatives to ensure it complies with local and international standards.

Disciplinary Consequences

Every team leader is responsible for implementing this health and safety policy. Employees should follow health and safety instructions and will be held accountable when they don’t. We’ll take disciplinary action that may extend to termination when employees consistently disregard health and safety rules

It’s everyone’s responsibility to contribute to a healthy and safe workplace.

Open Door Policy in the workplace

Our open door policy in business reflects our commitment to transparent and flexible communication between managers and team members

What is Open Door Policy at work?

Here’s our open door policy definition: it’s simply the management practice of leaving your proverbial door open to all employees. This enhances communication across levels of the organization.

And what’s the open door policy significance to our business? It translates to better communication which in turn helps build a culture of trust. We think this is the only way to achieve innovation and growth. Everyone has valuable thoughts to share and both our workplace and ways of working could always be improved

We ask our employees, as the heart of our business, to be ready to provide positive or negative feedback, or share ideas that can help us thrive.

We expect managers of all levels to keep their door open; and this refers to so much more than their office door. They should be ready to listen to their employees in person or over digital means we use at work (email or messaging apps). They should establish a culture of trust and communication in their team. This also applies to senior management who should remain approachable for everyone in the organization.

Team members are free to communicate their thoughts with upper management

Of course, this policy extends to HR. If you have serious matters on your mind, ranging from concerns over your compensation to workplace harassment, feel free to come to us

Policy elements

Managers should have their office door open so employees can approach them easily to:

• Ask for counsel or feedback.

• Ask questions about a subject.

• Express a complaint or concern.

• Raise awareness for a problem.

• Ask for resolution to an inside dispute or conflict.

• Make suggestions for change.

• Discuss other personal topics.

• Benefits of open door policy in the workplace

We already emphasized the importance of open communication when it comes to innovation and improvement of our company. More specifically, we hope that listening to employees will help us:

• Address employee concerns in time.

• Resolve disputes before tensions escalate.

• Help employees who were victimized or harassed.

• Seize opportunities to improve processes.

• Foster a culture of mutual trust and collaboration.

Manager’s responsibilities

As a manager, listening to your team members is part of your duties. You should always be ready to discuss important subjects as soon as possible, but you should also make time to listen to your team members’ concerns or ideas.

Action is also important. Our company open door policy aims to translate good feedback to better results. This means it’s your job to follow through with improvements that matter. Use your judgement to determine whether you should pass information to your own manager or create a plan to address what your team member has told you.

Always be transparent about what you’re going to do. Don’t promise anything that you’re not sure you can deliver. Discuss with your team member, let them know your own thoughts and concerns. After all, communication works both ways.

Of course, we expect you to take any negative feedback or criticism in stride. You must not retaliate against or victimize team members. If you’re not sure how to handle the information you received, remember: your manager’s and HR’s doors are also open.

Team member’s responsibilities

Communication is important and is built on mutual trust. This means that just as you trust your manager to listen to you, your manager trusts you to help them digest information better.

So we ask you to:

• Ask for an appointment in advance, whenever possible, if you want to talk about a significant or delicate matter.

• Communicate with your manager whenever possible instead of going to more senior manager first. You can bypass your manager in some cases: for example, if they’re out of office, if they’re involved in a harassment claim or they’ve consistently and willfully violated our company open door policy (which you can report to HR).

• Try to resolve minor disputes with your colleagues before reaching out to your manager. Trust and communication should work horizontally as well as vertically in our company

In general, speak up when you have an opinion about something. Also, inform us when you notice harassment, victimization or any violation of our code of conduct. We need all of you to ensure the workplace is safe and nice to work in for everyone

Record retention Policy

Our Record Retention policy describes our guidelines to create, preserve and access our company’s records. To ensure that our records are accurate and secure, we ask our employees to adhere to this policy.

In this policy, a “record” is any type of electronic or paper file (document, spreadsheet, database entries) that we store in our systems. This includes files both employees and external sources create. All legal and business documents, as well as formal internal and external communications, fall under this policy’s purview.

This policy applies to employees who may create, access and manage records. The HR and finance departments, which manage sensitive and critical information, are primarily responsible for keeping accurate and secure records. g. Every other employee who creates and stores important records should follow this policy too.

Creating records

We place high value on our company’s records. By storing information, we are able to

• Make better decisions

• Support our day-to-day operations

• Forecast and prepare for the future

• Learn from past mistakes

• Preserve and defend our company’s legality

• Evaluate our operations and employee productivity over time

• Develop plans to improve and grow Proteams

What records do employees need to create?

Creating and storing certain types of records are mandatory. Employees should keep records that:

• Are mandated by law (e.g. record keeping requirements of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC))

• Are necessary for them or other employees to perform their jobs

• Indicate internal or external changes that affect our operations, employees, partners or customers

• Include decisions, reports, data and activities that are important to our business

• Describe business ventures, deals and communication with regulatory bodies or the public

Employees, teams and departments may keep other records if they decide they’re useful to their jobs

We have a few general guidelines for creating records. Employees should:

• Ensure that information is accurate and complete

• Store records in appropriate mediums

• Name, categorize and share records properly

• Mark appropriate records as confidential

• Clarify who’s authorized to access records

Employees should also check records electronic systems automatically generate to ensure their accuracy and proper storage

Authorization

Records may have different levels of authorization that limit their accessibility. The authorization level is usually determined by those who create the records, our company’s official policy or the law (the law always take precedence.) The following records are strictly confidential and require a high-level authorization:

• Employment records

• Unpublished financial data

• Customer/ vendor/ partner/ job applicant information and contracts

• Access to those records is restricted to employees who directly manage that information. Other types of records, like company performance metrics and internal policies, may be accessible by all permanent employees. Employees must not disclose records to people outside of our company, unless authorized

Our confidentiality and data protection policies always apply to all relevant records.

Retaining records

Our employees must protect our records, whether marked as confidential or not.

Physical records

Printed records must be stored safely in filing cabinets or closed offices. Important, confidential files mustn’t be left in open office areas.

When employees need to carry physical records out of our offices, they must prevent them from being damaged, lost or stolen. We advise our employees to avoid relocating records as much as possible.

Electronic records

Electronic records will be protected by passwords, firewalls and other security settings (both locally and in the cloud.)

Employees are responsible for keeping these records intact. For example, if an employee shares a Google spreadsheet, they must decide whether to give colleagues permission to edit, view or comment. Employees should not grant editing privileges unless necessary

Also, when employees access electronic, confidential records outside of our offices, they should ensure that both their devices and networks are secure. They should not leave their screens and devices unattended while logged in to our company’s accounts.

Data retention period

As a general rule, we will keep all records for a minimum of two years. The law may oblige us to retain certain records for a longer period. In this case, we’ll abide by the law. Also, the following records must be preserved indefinitely

• Tax returns

• Internal policies

• Employment contracts

• Partnership and vendor contracts

• Financial statements and annual reports

• Results of audits and legal investigations

Discarding records

After the data retention period has passed, authorized employees may choose to discard records for a specific reason. They will usually do this either by shredding physical documents or deleting data from a database or computer. Printed copies of electronic files should be shredded, too.

Records may also be discarded upon request from a stakeholder. For example, a customer or partner may ask us to delete their information from our databases. In this case, managers should authorize employees to discard relevant records.

We expect our employees to always respect our confidentiality policy. When files need to be discarded, employees must not create copies or store information on their devices. This may constitute a security breach and warrant disciplinary action.

Separation/Termination of Employment Policy

Our Termination/Separation of Employment policy refers to the event that an employee ceases to be part of Proteams’ workforce. It is beneficial for all parties that the employment separation process is as clear as possible so misunderstandings and distrust between the employee and Proteams can be avoided. Proteams is bound to handle any cases of termination of employment as dictated by law with discretion, professionalism and official documentation.

This termination/separation of employment policy applies to all prospective or current employees of Proteams in regards to possible separation of employment.

Proteams will observe all legal dictations referring to termination/separation of employment and will avoid “implied contracts” and unnecessary terminations.

What is termination of employment?

Termination of employment happens when the contract of an employee is discontinued due to their or Proteams’ actions.

The dismissal of an employee from their job duties may be categorized as voluntary or involuntary.

Voluntary dismissal may include the following:

• Resignation

• Retirement

• Failure to show for a specified number of days without notice

• Expiration or completion of contract

Involuntary dismissal may include the following

• Discharge for cause

• Discharge without caus

Discharge for cause refers to immediate termination of employment due to an employee’s misconduct. Any kind of disciplinary action or progressive discipline that results in termination may be considered “for cause”. Other wrongful behaviors or actions that result in immediate dismissal are also considered “for cause”. Examples of such termination of employees include circumstances where an employee

• Breaches their contract of employment

• Is discovered guilty of fraud, embezzlement or other kinds of illegal actions against Proteams

• Is guilty of discriminatory behavior or harassment

• Is guilty of unlawful or immoral behavior on the job

• Is guilty of willful neglect of job responsibilities

• Is discovered to have caused intentional damage to company’s assets

• Continuously disregards company policy

The list is not exhaustive therefore, discharge for cause remains at our company’s discretion. It must however always reflect an unacceptable behavior or action that violates legal or company guidelines and may result in financial and non-financial damages for Proteams, other employees or society.

Discharge without cause can occur when Proteams decides that the services of an employee are no longer needed. In general, this does not refer to an employee’s conduct. Reasons for discharge without cause may be layoffs, rearrangement of a department or redefining of a position. In cases an employee must be terminated without cause, Proteams is obliged to give notice a specified amount of time prior to the date of termination depending on time of service, age of employee or position. If the employee has to stop working before the date of termination, Proteams will still provide compensation for the time remaining, specified as “pay in lieu of notice”.

Proteams may compensate the terminated employee for accrued vacation time when appropriate. Severance pay may apply to cases of discharge without cause but not discharge for cause.

Proteams is bound by the law to refrain from wrongful dismissals of employees. Wrongful dismissal may occur in cases when:

• An employee is terminated unfairly for cause

• An employee is terminated without cause and is not given prior notice

• An employee is forced into constructive dismissal

Proteams expects all employees with the right of terminating subordinates to strictly refrain from discharging someone without adequate reason or without giving notice. Such an occurrence may be damaging for Proteams’ respectability and may result in disciplinary action. Discharge on grounds of discrimination or filed health and safety complaints is unlawful termination prohibited by legislation

Constructive dismissal refers to an employee that has been forced to resign due to an employer’s intentional or unintentional unlawful or hostile behavior (e.g. breach of contract). It will not be practiced by any means by Proteams which is committed to maintain a relationship of honesty and fairness between itself and employees.

Procedure

In cases of resignation, the employee must submit an official written resignation letter to the immediate supervisor. A notice is expected by the employee consistent with the minimum notice requirement, so Proteams can arrange alternatives for handling the remaining workload of the position. The resignation letter must be copied and submitted to the Human Resources department

In cases of involuntary dismissal, the supervisor must submit an employee termination document to the human resources department at the date of separation or before that. Discharge for cause justifies immediate suspension until the necessary documentation for termination has been gathered. In some instances, a termination meeting with the employee, supervisor and a human resources officer may be scheduled.

In cases of discharge without cause, the employer must officially notify the employee of the termination a specified amount of time in advance. When severance pay is appropriate it will be officially stated in writing.

At all times, proper employee records will be kept containing all relevant documentation. A lawyer will be consulted prior to termination so Proteams can ensure the legality of its actions.

Short-term Disability Policy

Our short-term disability policy refers to Proteams’ provisions for paid leave to employees who are medically unable to work for a short time. Proteams believes that its employees should receive some benefits during an unfortunate time when they will not be able to work. That way we can ensure that they will not struggle to live or spend all their savings to do so.

Proteams will respect any legal guidelines that may be in effect so the present policy is complementary to the law. It is designed to clarify details and procedures related to short-term disability benefits that Proteams may offer through relevant short-term disability insurance

This policy refers to all employees of Proteams who are eligible to sign up and utilize short-term disability insurance benefits.

What is short-term disability?

Short-term disability is any physical condition, injury or illness that prevents an employee from working for a certain period of time, without being necessarily work-related. This refers to the inability of the employee to carry out their substantial job duties. It doesn’t refer to those who have, for example, sustained minor injuries (e.g. a sprained ankle) and may still be able to fulfill their responsibilities by working from home

This policy covers employees that are temporarily disabled, meaning that they:

Are being treated for or recover from a health condition (physical or mental)

Are in need of continuous medical care for a period of time

Recovering from childbirth and pregnancy may qualify as short-term disability under certain legislation. Proteams may choose to separate this condition and include it in an official maternity leave policy.

Disability that results from job-related accidents is not included in this policy since it may be covered from different legal guidelines.

What will Proteams cover for short-term disability?

Proteams is obliged to offer at least the minimum amount of leave mandated by short-term disability laws. This will usually be up to three months or more before employees qualify for long-term disability leave.

Compensation mandated by law during the disability period may be non-existent or often inadequate to support living and medical expenses. For this reason, Proteams may decide to purchase a group short-term disability insurance package for its employees. In this case, we must explain the following elements:

Initial Enrollment period. It’s possible the short-term disability insurance will cover all employees automatically. When that is not the case, there will be an initial enrollment (or open enrollment) period. During this period, all eligible employees may sign up to receive coverage under the insurance policy. The dates may be announced within Proteams through various sources or be communicated to new employees when they arrive.

Eligibility. Not all employees will be eligible to receive coverage of the insurance policy. The eligibility of an employee may be assessed by two aspects:

Minimum Service period. Proteams requires an employee to be employed for a specified amount of time before they can enroll for coverage. This period will be communicated to an employee upon hiring

Working hours and days per week. Employees must work for Proteams at least a specified number of hours or days per week to qualify for coverage. The specific amount will be communicated to the employee upon hiring

Elimination Period. This terms refers to the waiting period between the start of a short term disability and the point that an employee is eligible for short term disability benefits. This period may be decided to extend until the point which all accrued paid sick or annual leave has been consumed. Usually it will be a week before short term disability benefits come in effect, but the period may extend up to 30 days. In cases of accidents, this period may be zero

Exclusionary Period. This period applies only to employees that had a pre-existing medical condition before signing up for short term disability benefit. During this period, employees will not receive any benefits for short term disability

Duration of Short-term disability leave. The benefits period, as it is often called, depends on legislation and Proteams’ judgement. Every employee will be entitled to the legal minimum. Proteams, however, may decide to provide an employee with more leave if their condition makes it necessary and they meet eligibility criteria

Short-term disability pay. The employee will receive at least the legal minimum of disability pay, if such exists. This amount is determined by the terms of the insurance Proteams has purchased. The pay may typically amount to a percentage of the pre-disability salary of the employee, usually around 60%.

Pay Cap. The pay that an employee is entitled to cannot exceed a certain amount determined by the insurance policy.

Policy exclusions. Depending on the policy, not all employees may qualify for short-term disability benefit. Usually, a policy will not give benefits for disabilities resulting from drug/alcohol abuse, suicide attempts or work-related accidents or illnesses (which are covered by other guidelines).

The employee may be informed of the details or ask questions at any time by contacting the Human Resources Department, an assigned official or a benefits administration office, if applicable.

When an employee wants to have short-term disability coverage they must contact the Human Resources Department to sign up before they need it (usually during the initial enrollment period and/or after the minimum service period). Those who have not signed up for coverage, meaning premium payments on their behalf will not have been made, are not eligible for short-term disability pay.

In cases, an employee becomes temporarily disabled, the following procedure must be followed:

• The employee must notify the appropriate office (usually HR) for their disability to apply for short-term disability coverage

• The employee must provide medical documentation that will describe the disability and provide an estimation of the expected duration of the disability. Consultation from a physician may also be needed

• The employee will be given legal forms to complete (e.g. Family and Medical Leave application form, SSP1 etc.)

• The employee will be notified if they are eligible for short-term disability benefits

• The employee will use their sick leave and 50% of their paid time off before they can receive short-term disability benefits

• After this period and after the whole of the elimination period has elapsed, the employee may start collecting short-term disability checks

• The employee may be required to report on their condition periodically

• The disability leave may be extended without additional pay, if the employee’s disability falls is covered under relevant law (e.g. ADA)

When an employee returns to work after a short-term disability leave, their condition must be evaluated. If they are fully recovered no further action is necessary and they may return to their previous jobs with the same responsibilities and conditions. If, however, they suffer from a permanent implication from the short-term disability that hinders their ability to function, Proteams may have to arrange accommodations to help them. In this case, our accessibility policy will be in effect

In cases where there is a relapse or recurrence of a disability, Proteams and insurance provider will assess the situation and decide on benefits.

Solicitation Company Policy

Our short-term disability policy refers to Proteams’ provisions for paid leave to employees who are medically unable to work for a short time. Proteams believes that its employees should receive some benefits during an unfortunate time when they will not be able to work. That way we can ensure that they will not struggle to live or spend all their savings to do so

Proteams will respect any legal guidelines that may be in effect so the present policy is complementary to the law. It is designed to clarify details and procedures related to short-term disability benefits that Proteams may offer through relevant short-term disability insurance.

This policy refers to all employees of Proteams who are eligible to sign up and utilize short-term disability insurance benefits.

What is short-term disability?

Short-term disability is any physical condition, injury or illness that prevents an employee from working for a certain period of time, without being necessarily work-related. This refers to the inability of the employee to carry out their substantial job duties. It doesn’t refer to those who have, for example, sustained minor injuries (e.g. a sprained ankle) and may still be able to fulfill their responsibilities by working from home.

This policy covers employees that are temporarily disabled, meaning that they:

• Are being treated for or recover from a health condition (physical or mental)

• Are in need of continuous medical care for a period of time

• Recovering from childbirth and pregnancy may qualify as short-term disability under certain legislation. Proteams may choose to separate this condition and include it in an official maternity leave policy.

Disability that results from job-related accidents is not included in this policy since it may be covered from different legal guidelines.

What will Proteams cover for short-term disability?

Proteams is obliged to offer at least the minimum amount of leave mandated by short-term disability laws. This will usually be up to three months or more before employees qualify for long-term disability leave.

Compensation mandated by law during the disability period may be non-existent or often inadequate to support living and medical expenses. For this reason, Proteams may decide to purchase a group short-term disability insurance package for its employees. In this case, we must explain the following elements:

Initial Enrollment period. It’s possible the short-term disability insurance will cover all employees automatically. When that is not the case, there will be an initial enrollment (or open enrollment) period. During this period, all eligible employees may sign up to receive coverage under the insurance policy. The dates may be announced within Proteams through various sources or be communicated to new employees when they arrive.

Eligibility. Not all employees will be eligible to receive coverage of the insurance policy. The eligibility of an employee may be assessed by two aspects:

Minimum Service period.Proteams requires an employee to be employed for a specified amount of time before they can enroll for coverage. This period will be communicated to an employee upon hiring

Working hours and days per week. Employees must work for Proteams at least a specified number of hours or days per week to qualify for coverage. The specific amount will be communicated to the employee upon hiring

Elimination Period. This terms refers to the waiting period between the start of a short term disability and the point that an employee is eligible for short term disability benefits. This period may be decided to extend until the point which all accrued paid sick or annual leave has been consumed. Usually it will be a week before short term disability benefits come in effect, but the period may extend up to 30 days. In cases of accidents, this period may be zero.

Exclusionary Period. This period applies only to employees that had a pre-existing medical condition before signing up for short term disability benefit. During this period, employees will not receive any benefits for short term disability.

Duration of Short-term disability leave. The benefits period, as it is often called, depends on legislation and Proteams’ judgement. Every employee will be entitled to the legal minimum. Proteams, however, may decide to provide an employee with more leave if their condition makes it necessary and they meet eligibility criteria.

Short-term disability pay.The employee will receive at least the legal minimum of disability pay, if such exists. This amount is determined by the terms of the insurance Proteams has purchased. The pay may typically amount to a percentage of the pre-disability salary of the employee, usually around 60%

Pay Cap. The pay that an employee is entitled to cannot exceed a certain amount determined by the insurance policy.

Policy exclusions. Depending on the policy, not all employees may qualify for short-term disability benefit. Usually, a policy will not give benefits for disabilities resulting from drug/alcohol abuse, suicide attempts or work-related accidents or illnesses (which are covered by other guidelines).

The employee may be informed of the details or ask questions at any time by contacting the Human Resources Department, an assigned official or a benefits administration office, if applicable.

When an employee wants to have short-term disability coverage they must contact the Human Resources Department to sign up before they need it (usually during the initial enrollment period and/or after the minimum service period). Those who have not signed up for coverage, meaning premium payments on their behalf will not have been made, are not eligible for short-term disability pay.

In cases, an employee becomes temporarily disabled, the following procedure must be followed:

• The employee must notify the appropriate office (usually HR) for their disability to apply for short-term disability coverage

• The employee must provide medical documentation that will describe the disability and provide an estimation of the expected duration of the disability. Consultation from a physician may also be needed

• The employee will be given legal forms to complete (e.g. Family and Medical Leave application form, SSP1 etc.)

• The employee will be notified if they are eligible for short-term disability benefits

• The employee will use their sick leave and 50% of their paid time off before they can receive short-term disability benefits

• After this period and after the whole of the elimination period has elapsed, the employee may start collecting short-term disability checks

• The employee may be required to report on their condition periodically

• The disability leave may be extended without additional pay, if the employee’s disability falls is covered under relevant law (e.g. ADA)

When an employee returns to work after a short-term disability leave, their condition must be evaluated. If they are fully recovered no further action is necessary and they may return to their previous jobs with the same responsibilities and conditions. If, however, they suffer from a permanent implication from the short-term disability that hinders their ability to function, Proteams may have to arrange accommodations to help them. In this case, our accessibility policy will be in effect.

In cases where there is a relapse or recurrence of a disability, Proteams and insurance provider will assess the situation and decide on benefits.

Substance Abuse company Policy

We will establish safeguards against drug and alcohol abuse to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. Substance abuse imposes a burden on those caught up in the abuse, but also on their co-workers. It may lead to poorer job performance and accident risks.

To mitigate these risks, we have developed this substance abuse policy to prohibit the use, possession or sale of drugs on company premises and strictly regulate the consumption of alcohol.

All job applicants, employees, contractors and part-time employees should abide by the provisions of this policy.

Illegal drugs, inhalants and prescription as well as over-the-counter drugs fall into the “substances” category. We will also place restrictions on alcohol consumption

While working, you must not:

• Possess, use or be under the influence of alcohol, inhalants or drugs. You can consume alcohol in moderation while in approved business meetings or social gatherings.

• Sell, buy, transfer or distribute drugs or drug paraphernalia.

• Use prescription drugs (e.g. medical marijuana) while working or being on company premises

To prevent accidents and productivity losses, we implemented drug and alcohol tests for employees/candidates when:

• We have made a formal job offer to the final candidate or when we are about to promote a current employee.

• The circumstances surrounding a workplace accident are unclear and we want to ensure there was no substance abuse involved.

• We want to test employees randomly (we will only use this practice if it’s legal under state or national law.

Especially if you are doing a safety-sensitive job (e.g. machine operator), we reserve the right to withdraw our job offer, alter your job duties or send you home for the day if you’re under the influence of drugs (e.g. muscle relaxants.) We may also terminate you if your actions create safety risks. We will determine the best disciplinary action on a case-by-case basis.

Depending on the law, you may still clear a random drug test if you test positive for prescription drugs (e.g. medical marijuana.) If your job is safety-sensitive though, you must show that you can perform your duties without problems. Your supervisor will be responsible for spotting and reporting any impairment resulting from drug use.

Disciplinary Consequences

We may invoke disciplinary action up to termination, when you:

• Test positive for hard drugs (e.g. cocaine.)

• Sell, or attempt to sell, any form of substance.

• Use any kind of drug on company premises.

• Refuse to take company mandated drug test.

Managers will decide on the appropriate disciplinary action depending on the circumstances.

Third-party Harassment Policy

Our third party harassment policy aims to address employee harassment coming from people outside of our company. We won’t tolerate this kind of behavior, even if it means having awkward conversations with partners or losing business. Ensuring our employees are safe in our workplace is our first priority.

In this policy, we indicate how to recognize harassment and how to report incidents. We also explain how we investigate claims and protect victims

This policy applies to everyone outside our company including vendors, investors, customers, contractors, shareholders and any other people we are connected to or do business with.

We aim to protect every employee, intern or volunteer regardless of level, function, seniority, status or protected characteristics like race, gender and sexual orientation

For a more detailed explanation of our stance towards harassment, please refer to our workplace harassment policy and our sexual harassment policy

Harassment is any kind of behavior that humiliates, victimizes or threatens a person, like directing racial slurs and making sexual advances. Even seemingly harmless actions, like a customer calling an employee constantly outside work for non-emergencies and without prior agreement, can constitute harassment. Innuendos, veiled threats and inappropriate or offensive jokes are all included in our definition.

Harassment can happen in-person, over the phone, via email or through a messaging app. It can come from strangers or people you know. Anyone who objectifies, threatens or ridicules our employees is a harasser. We will describe our rules for dealing with these behaviors.

Harassment from customers

Harassment coming from customers is often difficult to deal with. Employees might be reluctant to report customers, especially ones who are responsible for substantial revenue. This causes the customer’s behavior to go unpunished and continue

Please don’t hesitate to report a customer (or a customer’s employee) if they behave inappropriately and make your life difficult. Reporting them means that they won’t harass you anymore and that we will also have the chance to protect other employees who would come in contact with the harasser.

Report the customer to HR via email or in-person and inform your manager of your report. If you have emails or other evidence, please attach them or bring them to HR’s office.

HR will investigate your claim and contact the customer to ask them to change their behavior. If the customer is a business, our HR will do the following:

Contact that business’ HR department and file a complaint against the person who harassed you.

Explicitly ask for that behavior to stop.

Ask the customer-company to assign another person as your contact. We will push for this solution in three cases:

If the harassment from that person has happened before to you or your colleagues.

If the incident of harassment was severe (like a threat of violence or an explicit request for a sexual favor).

If you tell us you don’t feel comfortable working with this person anymore.

We will also discuss possible solutions on our end. For example, we may remove you from that person’s customer account and assign you to an account of equal worth. If you needed to interact with that person in specific cases, we may assign another employee to fill in for you at those times. We will not penalize you or retaliate against you in any way. Your working hours, salary/wage or other benefits won’t be affected.

If the customer-company ignores our report, or if the incident of harassment happens again and the customer seems unwilling to deal with the person responsible, we will dissolve our contract with that customer.

If the customer is an individual, we will refuse our products/services until they correct their behavior.

Harassment from prospective customers

Salespeople and marketers interact with prospects every day. If any of these prospects harasses you

Drop all interactions with them (like answering calls and sending emails) and report this to your manager. If somebody harassed you via email, forward those emails to your manager and our HR department for reference.

Leave immediately if someone harasses you at an on-site meeting. Please call your manager as soon as possible to let them know.

Your manager will make sure that your performance metrics won’t be affected due to a prospect’s inappropriate behavior. For example, you don’t have to continue speaking to a harasser so that you hit your individual targets. If a prospect’s behavior negatively affects your goals (like revenue targets), talk to your manager. They will do everything possible to resolve this issue like assigning you to other prospects or lowering your daily or weekly targets to account for the missed opportunity.

After speaking to your manager, please mark that prospect as unqualifiedin our CRM system, so other employees won’t attempt to contact them later. This will help prevent other employees from being exposed to the prospect’s behavior.

Harassment from vendors and contractors

Our harassment and anti-violence policies apply to our vendors and contractors. We will communicate them in writing whenever we sign a contract with another business.

If an employee of vendor or contractor harasses you, please report directly to HR. Our HR will:

Report the person who harassed you to the vendor’s HR department.

Demand that either this person stops this inappropriate behavior immediately or the vendor assigns a different employee to that position, depending on the severity of the harassment.

If harassment continues after our intervention or our vendor ignores our report, we will dissolve our contract with this vendor.

Involving the police

Our company will involve the police if a harasser stalks, assaults or verbally/ physically threatens an employee. This applies to all possible third-parties from customers to investors. When harassers seem dangerous (for example, if a harasser refuses to leave the premises and threatens you with physical violence), call the police before reporting to HR.

Manager’s responsibilities

We have an open door policy and we encourage our employees to share their concerns and thoughts with us. However, sometimes employees may not feel comfortable reporting on harassment, whether it has happened to them or a colleague. This is why we expect managers to always be alert and ready to spot harassment towards their team members.

If you suspect one of your team members is being harassed, talk to them to get more information. Assure them that they won’t be penalized for reporting harassment from any source and that our company is committed to protect them from harassment.

Inform HR of your conversation and act immediately to protect your team members (like assigning someone else to interact with the person who harassed them until HR’s investigation is complete).

Managers must also make sure their team members’ metrics won’t be affected. For example, if an outbound sales rep must do five calls per day to promote our company’s product and hangs up on a call because of the prospect’s inappropriate behavior, that call should be marked as successful. Similarly, if an employee has won a contract of $5,000, but is unable to follow through because of the prospect’s behavior, that amount will still count towards our employee’s individual targets.

HR responsibilities

When HR receives a report about third-party harassment, they must:

Ask for as many details and information as possible from the person making the complaint.

Keep copies of the report with dates, times and details of incidents and any possible evidence in a confidential file. HR should update this file with all future actions and conversations regarding this complaint.

Launch an investigation. HR should always maintain professionalism when communicating with third parties, while also showing that they take the matter seriously and want to protect our employees.

Inform the harassed employees of our company’s procedures and provide legal advice if appropriate.

Take into account the wishes of the harassed employee. If an employee says they don’t want to interact with a harasser again, HR should consult with that employee’s manager to find a solution that won’t penalize the employee.

HR or managers must not, under any circumstances, blame the victim, conceal a report or discourage employees from reporting harassment. If HR or a manager behaves that way, please send an email to their own manager or a senior leader explaining the situation.

We welcome any feedback or complaint about our procedures and how our employees handled each case.

Helping harassment survivors

We want to support the victims of harassment. If you experience trauma, stress or other symptoms because of harassment, consider:

• Taking a few days of sick leave to restore your mental health.

• Asking your insurance provider whether they cover mental health services.

• Talking to our EAP (Employee Assistance Program) Officer to evaluate options.

• Speaking to our designated counsellors.

Your job and benefits will not be jeopardized or altered if you choose any of those options or other means of recovery.

Help us keep our workplace safe

We all work best in environments where we feel safe and happy. We can’t control the behavior of people outside of our organization, but we can act to stop it. Please let us know whenever you are being harassed or witness others being the victims of harassment, whether the perpetrator is a customer, an employee or a partner.

Unlimited Vacation company Policy

Our unlimited vacation company policy allows employees to take as much leave as they need. Employees need time to rest and enjoy themselves outside work. Putting a cap on this important time doesn’t help our effort to achieve high levels of employee satisfaction and productivity.

This policy is based on mutual trust between employer and employee. It gives employees opportunities to work or take time off as they see fit, as long as they keep fulfilling their duties.

This policy applies to full-time and part-time employees of Proteams.

Proteams doesn’t limit the amount of PTO employees can take. It does establish a minimum time off level.

All employees will have to take at leastspecified number of days off each year. This will help them avoid exhaustion and ensure they have some time to clear their minds from their work duties. Proteams might choose to offer incentives (e.g. bonus) to encourage employees to take time off. If employees don’t meet the minimum level, they’ll lose those incentives.

Proteams will track vacation time for all employees to ensure that:

Employees take the minimum time off.

Employees don’t take time off that compromises their performance.

Employees don’t accrue time-off so Proteams will not compensate unused leave. This policy doesn’t interfere with legally established leaves like maternity and paternity leave. Employees should use at least the legal amount. Any vacation leave they choose to take is separate.

Procedure

Employees are obliged to:

Avoid abusing the policy by taking time off that negatively impacts their job and Proteams.

Communicate and collaborate with their team to ensure everyone takes leave without disrupting operations.

Plan to delegate, postpone or otherwise manage projects that will be affected by their time off.

Notify their supervisors at least two weeks in advance.

Vacation leave of maximum one business week doesn’t need approval from supervisors. Employees are still advised to coordinate with their team members to ensure fairness and efficiency.

Supervisors need to approve vacation leave that extends beyond a business week. They should do this with a first-come, first-served system.

Supervisors can consider rejecting vacation requests if:

Other team members with similar or complementary duties have already asked for leave during the same time.

The time in question is too busy or includes an important deadline for the employee asking for leave.

An employee appears to abuse the policy. Supervisors have to prove that this is the case, using data from our leave tracking system and presenting employees’ inadequate deliverables. They should also arrange a meeting with the employee and HR.

Supervisors can’t reject leave requests for any of the following reasons:

To discipline employees.

To force employees to fulfil duties that aren’t urgent.

To approve leave for another employee who made a later request.

Neither list is exhaustive. Both employees and supervisors should use common sense and adhere to company policies when requesting/approving vacation leave. Effective communication between team members is vital to make this policy work for everyone.

Proteams will review this policy annually and address any issues.

Violence in the Workplace Policy

Our workplace violence policy aims to acquaint employees with what we consider workplace violence and ask them to report early signs or threats. We want to provide our employees with a safe workplace where mutual respect is a given. We ask everyone to be professional and ethical at work.

This policy applies equally to all employees, contractors, public visitors, clients and anyone else whom employees come into contact with during work.

“Workplace violence” refers to physical acts of violence or threats to harm a person or property. Abusive behaviors, whether verbal, psychological or physical, are also considered violence. More specifically:

Verbal abuse can be using unwelcome, embarrassing, offensive, threatening or degrading language.

Psychological abuse is an act which provokes fear or diminishes a person’s dignity or self-esteem.

Sexual abuse is any unwelcome verbal or physical assault.

We can’t always predict violent acts, but we ask managers and team members to be vigilant. Report any concerns or violent acts to HR as soon as possible. Examples of violent behaviour among co workers include but are not limited to:

• Intimidating or bullying others

• Abusive language

• Physical assault

• Threatening behavior

• Concealing or using a weapon

• Sexual or racial harassment

We maintain the right to conduct periodic inspections, using reasonable methods, without employees’ consent or prior notice.

Grievance Procedure

All supervisors and managers are responsible to implement our policies and ensure that all procedures are free of discrimination.

Employees who witness or suspect violence, or are victims of violence, can report to HR or their immediate supervisor. We will investigate quickly and discreetly. We aim to protect victims from harassment and victimization.

Disciplinary Consequences

Our company doesn’t tolerate violence. Any such behavior will trigger appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination, removal from boards or committees, as well as potential criminal charges.

Working Hours, PTO and Vacation

We are committed to providing for permissible working hours. We will not make excessive use of pre-agreed overtime work, and pre-agreed overtime hours worked will be duly compensated.

We safeguard this by:

• In the absence of applicable laws or collective agreements, not to regularly exceed 48 hours of work per week, with additional pre-agreed overtime not exceeding 12 hours per week (i.e. strive to limit work hours to 60 hours of work per week). Where national law may exceed the 60 hours per week limit (for example, national law may not set maximum limits on weekly working hours), the 60-hour limit should apply.

• Pre-agreed overtime work should be infrequent, voluntary, and in accordance with prescribed legal procedures. In arranging overtime, due consideration should be given to persons under 18 years of age, pregnant women, nursing mothers and people with disabilities.

• Normal restrictions may be suspended during unforeseen emergencies, or for urgent unscheduled maintenance or repair of production equipment.

• Managers should be aware of all national legal requirements and collective agreements regarding regular hours, pre-agreed overtime work, reasonable notice and rest periods applying to our employees.

• We should ensure that employee performance targets are achievable within the standard working hours, so employees do not feel pressured to work overtime in order to meet them.

• Accurate records of regular and pre-agreed overtime working hours are maintained, in accordance with applicable collective agreements and national law or guidelines.

• Compensation for pre-agreed overtime work follows applicable collective agreements and national law or guidelines and is remunerated at no less than 125% of the regular rate of pay for those eligible for pay overtime.

• Employees should have reasonable breaks during their work day for meals, breaks or other needs. At a minimum, we should ensure employees are entitled to a break after a continuous period of five hours of work and that appropriate rest facilities are provided (such as hygienic canteens and break rooms). At least one break per day shall be 30 minutes or more.

• We should ensure that there is sufficient time for employees to combine paid work with family and domestic obligations, i.e., respect for work life balance

PTO - Paid Time Off

Employees receive 20 days of Paid Time Off (PTO) per year. You PTO accrual begins the day you join our company and you receive 1.7 days per month. You can take your PTO at any time after your firstweek with us and you can use time off you haven’t accrued yet. You will earn one additional day per year after your first year with our company, with a cap at 25 days overall.

If you want to use PTO, send a request to our HR. If your manager or HR approves, you are permitted to take your leave. You do not have to specify a reason for requesting PTO.

Youcan/cannot transfer any remaining PTO to the next year. We encourage you to use your time off throughout the year.

If you leave our company, we may compensate accrued PTO with your final paycheck according to local law. When the law doesn’t have provisions, we will compensate accrued leave to employees who were not terminated for cause.

We provide rest-periods, breaks and leave for all our employees. Leave includes vacation and holiday leave, sickness leave and parental leave.

We safeguard this by:

• Employees should be allowed at least 24 scheduled consecutive hours of rest in every 7-day period

• Employees shall be provided with understandable information about all applicable conditions relating to leave and holidays. These conditions and any changes to these during employment should be set out in writing, either on the local website or to individual employees

• Employees are entitled to take paid annual leave in accordance with national law

• Employees are entitled to take leave for sickness, family reasons, public holidays and occupational diseases or injuries in accordance with national law. The leave should be paid cf. national rules

• Female employees are granted a minimum of 14 weeks of maternity leave, for birth. The maternity leave should be paid, or covered for with adequate social security benefits, or be a combination of the two, if possible, without causing issues due to national laws. The termination of employment of a female during absence on maternity leave, except on grounds unrelated to pregnancy, childbirth and its consequences, is prohibited. Women returning to work must at a minimum be returned to the same position or an equivalent position paid at the same rate

• A period of paid paternity leaves for the fathers (or non-birthing partner) following the birth of a child may be decided locally. The paternity leave should be paid, or covered for with adequate social security benefits, or be a combination of the two, if possible, without causing issues due to national laws. The termination of employment of a father (or non-birthing partner) during absence on paternity leave, except on grounds unrelated to, the time of the childbirth and its consequences, is prohibited. The father (or non-birthing partner) returning to work must at a minimum be returned to the same position or an equivalent position paid at the same rate

• The employed mother or the employed father (or non-birthing partner) of the child should be entitled to parental leave during a period following the expiry of the maternity or paternity leave period

• Public holidays are not counted as part of the annual leave

• The religious traditions and customs of employees should, as far as possible, be respected

Responsible Sourcing program

Responsible Sourcing covers all global suppliers to Proteams and it is established and integrated into procurement processes. Proteams carry out supply chain risk assessments and make use of experience from engaging with suppliers and input from experts and peers. The following risk areas are of high attention in our supply chains:

1. Safety of workers

2. Compliance with local rules and regulations

Due Diligence in relation to Modern Slavery - Risk identification by sector, country, and material

Based on desk research and data from the UN, governments, and reputable research organisations, internal consultations, mutual learning with peer companies (Global Initiative on Business and Human Rights) and expert inputs from an NGO experienced in this field (Verité), we assess modern slavery risks in our value chains.

Our assessments are conducted concurrently with an assessment of risks to all human rights. To identify sectors and categories with high modern slavery risks, we use the following indicators that are generally known to increase risk likelihood:

• Reliance on low-skill workforce

• Reliance on migrant workforce

• Presence of labour intermediaries

• Presence of children

• Hazardous or undesirable work

• Non-transparent supply chain

Broader operational contexts in countries including factors such as conflict, corruption, weak governance, and enforcement of international human rights standards is also part of our risk assessments. Proteams integrate respect for human rights to the global business ethics risk management processes that identify, assess, mitigate, prevent, track and report them.

Stakeholder engagement and collaborations

We engage with peers and experts to seek continuous improvements in our approach.

Remediation

Proteams employees and external stakeholders including affected people have the possibility of reporting concerns of modern slavery and other negative human rights impacts securely and confidentially.

This global statement was approved by the board of directors of Proteams.