How we work
together.

You are reading the Northlight handbook. It is the short version of the thousand small decisions we have made about how to work together well — the ones we do not want to make again from scratch every time somebody joins, and the ones we want to be able to point to when something feels off.

The handbook is not a contract. Your employment agreement is the contract; anything here that appears to conflict with it defers to the agreement or to Swedish and EU law. What you read here is the operating manual — how we run the company on a normal Tuesday.

Skim the table of contents when you join. Read chapter two before your first pay day, chapter four before your first vacation, chapter six before your first difficult conversation. The rest is a reference — dip in when a question comes up.

If something is missing, unclear, or written in a way that seems out of step with how we actually behave, tell your people partner. The handbook is a living document; every quarter we take an hour to update it.

Most Northlight roles are permanent (tillsvidareanställning) under Swedish labor law (LAS). Fixed-term (visstidsanställning) contracts are used only where the work is genuinely time-bounded — a specific project, a parental-leave cover, a discrete piece of consulting. We do not use fixed-term contracts to defer a permanent hiring decision.

Consultants and freelancers work under a services agreement (uppdragsavtal), not an employment contract. The distinction matters legally and administratively; if you are ever unclear which basis you are on, ask.

New permanent employees serve a six-month probationary period (provanställning). During this time either side can end the employment with two weeks written notice for any reason, and without stating one. After six months, the position converts automatically to permanent employment governed by LAS.

Probation is not a soft-fire mechanism. If a role is not working, we say so before month three, adjust the scope, and give a real chance to succeed. If it still is not working at month five, we end the employment cleanly, with a written brief.

Full-time is 40 hours per week, five days. Core hours — when we expect everyone to be reachable — are 10:00 to 15:00 CET. Around that, arrange your day however works.

Overtime is exceptional. If you are consistently working more than 45 hours in a week, that is a signal to your manager to adjust scope, not a badge to wear. Overtime beyond legal limits is not compensated; it is not supposed to happen.

We observe Swedish public holidays. The office closes on midsummer eve and remains closed until the Monday after. The four working days between Christmas and New Year are optional — you can take them as vacation days or work them, your call.

Salaries are paid on the 25th of each month, or the last banking day before it if the 25th falls on a weekend. Pay slips are available in the payroll portal by the 22nd for review; flag any errors immediately so we can correct them before the run.

Overtime, holiday pay, and vacation compensation appear as line items when applicable. Sick leave for the first fourteen days is paid by Northlight (sjuklön) at 80% of your salary; from day fifteen the Försäkringskassan takes over.

Salaries are reviewed once a year, in January. Reviews consider three inputs: your manager's assessment of impact over the year, external market data for your role and location, and any promotion or scope change. We do not tie reviews to performance-review ratings mechanically; the two are related but not identical.

You will hear the outcome by the last week of January. If you disagree with the outcome, you can escalate to the department head; if you still disagree, the CEO reviews the case.

Northlight pays into ITP 1 for all employees over the age of 25 with monthly salaries above the qualifying threshold. Contributions are 4.5% of salary up to 7.5 income base amounts and 30% above that. You choose the fund manager and the portfolio.

You have a 5,000 SEK annual wellness allowance (friskvårdsbidrag). Submit receipts through the expense system; Skatteverket sets the categories of activity that qualify. We do not micromanage inside those categories.

You choose your laptop from a short list on joining. A monitor, keyboard, mouse, and desk chair are provided if you work from home more than two days a week. Replacement cycle is roughly three years; ask sooner if the hardware is failing.

You have 30 paid vacation days per year — five above the Swedish statutory minimum of 25 (semesterlagen). Days accrue monthly and can be carried over for up to five years, subject to a rolling cap of 40 accrued days.

The vacation year runs April 1 through March 31. Book at least four consecutive weeks between June and August — the Swedish norm of a long summer break is one we honor. Book vacation more than two weeks in advance where you can; last-minute requests are approved unless they create a real problem.

When you are sick, notify your manager as early in the day as possible. No note is required for the first seven days. Sjuklön covers days two through fourteen at 80% of salary (the first day is a qualifying day, karensavdrag). From day fifteen, Försäkringskassan takes over.

If sickness extends beyond a week, we ask for a doctor's certificate. We do not ask what the illness is.

You are entitled to Swedish statutory parental leave — 480 days per child, split between parents. Northlight tops up Försäkringskassan's parental benefit to 90% of your salary for the first 180 days.

We hold your role open. On return, you have the right to the same or a comparable position, at the salary you would have had absent the leave. Career-progression conversations do not skip parental leave.

Up to three months of unpaid leave (tjänstledigt) per two-year period is available for studies, caring responsibilities, or extended travel, with your manager's agreement. Longer leaves are considered case by case.

You and your manager meet weekly for thirty minutes. The agenda is yours — bring the topics that matter. Your manager will ask about progress, blockers, and how you are doing, but the conversation is not a status report; that lives in the tools.

If two consecutive weeks pass without a 1:1, that is a red flag. Escalate to the department head.

We run two written reviews a year, in June and December. Each is a short document — three prompts for you (what went well, what did not, what you want next), three prompts for your manager (what you shipped, where you grew, where you got stuck), and a shared conversation to align on the year ahead.

We do not use numerical ratings. We do not force-rank. Compensation decisions are related to reviews but not automatic from them.

You have an annual learning budget of 15,000 SEK plus up to five working days for training, conferences, or courses. Choose what you want; discuss with your manager if the cost or time exceeds the budget. Unused budget does not roll over.

Each role has a written career ladder describing the expectations at each level. Progression happens through demonstrated impact, not tenure. Your manager should tell you what would need to be true for the next step by the end of your first six months; if they have not, ask.

Treat colleagues, clients, and third parties with respect. Do not harass, discriminate against, or retaliate against anyone. Do not misuse company resources. Declare conflicts of interest. Follow the law. If a situation is not covered here, use your judgment; if you are unsure, ask.

Harassment and discrimination on the basis of any protected characteristic under Swedish diskrimineringslagen — gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, age, transgender identity — is a firing-level offense. There is no tolerance and no gradient.

If you experience or witness it, tell your manager, tell your people partner, or use the anonymous speak-up line. All three routes are safe and confidential; you can start with the one you trust most.

Serious concerns — fraud, safety issues, breaches of law, retaliation — can be reported through the anonymous speak-up line (link in the intranet). Reports go to an external ombudsperson; Northlight receives an anonymized summary and is legally bound to investigate and respond within three months.

Retaliation against a reporter is itself a firing-level offense.

Less-severe workplace disputes — a bad review, a rejected request, a working relationship that is not working — are handled through the grievance process. Step one is a written note to your manager, step two is the department head, step three is the CEO. Each step has a two-week response commitment.

Every service you use for work should be signed in via SSO with two-factor authentication. Standalone passwords are managed in the company password manager — nowhere else. Sharing accounts is not allowed; if you need shared access, use a group account created by IT.

Data is classified in three tiers: public (may be shared externally), internal (company-only), and restricted (limited access — HR files, client PII, salary data). Restricted data must not leave company-managed systems and must not be stored on personal devices.

If in doubt about a document's classification, ask before sharing. The cost of asking is small; the cost of a leak is not.

The company operates on a hybrid model: expected presence in the office two days per week for most roles, arranged with your team. Fully-remote arrangements exist for specific roles and are documented in the employment contract; they are not adopted informally.

If you work from home, you are responsible for a workspace that meets basic ergonomic and safety standards. Northlight covers reasonable equipment; ask your people partner if you need help setting up.

A lost device, a phishing email you clicked on, a data leak you spot — report immediately to security@northlight.example, no matter how small. There is no penalty for reporting an honest mistake; there is one for hiding it and letting it get worse.

Notice periods follow Swedish law (LAS). For employees who resign, the notice is one month. For Northlight-initiated termination, notice ranges from one to six months depending on years of service. Your employment contract sets any notice above the statutory minimum.

Notice is worked, not paid in lieu, unless we agree otherwise in writing. On the last day, you hand back company equipment and access is removed.

On request, your manager will provide a written reference (arbetsbetyg) as required by Swedish law. We keep them factual and fair; we do not write negative references. If a future employer asks a private question, you will hear from us first.

A structured exit interview happens in your last two weeks — normally with an external facilitator. Attendance is optional. What you say goes into aggregated quarterly reporting, never attributed to you.

Northlight does not routinely use non-compete clauses. Where a clause exists in your contract (senior client-facing roles), it is time-bounded and geographically-bounded per Swedish enforceability standards, and Northlight pays continued salary for the duration of the restriction.

You will handle personal data — colleagues', clients', candidates', suppliers'. Under GDPR you are personally responsible for handling it lawfully, proportionately, and only for the purpose it was collected.

Do not copy personal data to systems the company does not manage. Do not email spreadsheets of employees to third parties without explicit legal basis. Do not use production personal data for testing.

Anyone whose personal data Northlight holds can ask for it, ask to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Forward all such requests unopened to privacy@northlight.example within one working day of receiving them. Do not attempt to fulfill the request yourself.

A personal data breach — any unauthorized access, loss, or disclosure — must be reported to the DPO within twenty-four hours. GDPR gives us seventy-two hours to notify the regulator; the internal window is deliberately shorter so we have time to investigate and respond.

Employee records are retained for ten years after employment ends, per Swedish accounting law. Client project files follow the terms of the client contract. Candidate CVs are deleted six months after the hiring decision unless the candidate has explicitly consented to be kept on file.