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Basecamp Employee Handbook

github.com

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Re: Basecamp Employee Handbook

#11

Post by maccard »

SomeHacker44 wrote: post #10
philip1209 wrote: post #2

Wow - they advise employees to remove all company data from devices, leave the company 1password account, disable touch ID, and put their attorney on speed dial every time they go through customs.

I don't go that far, but I do have all my hardware encrypted (MBP, iPhone, iPad) and I power these things off so that they will be unable to trivially decrypt them when I go through customs. I wish iDevices had a thing that would let me "double click" the power button to passcode-lock the device and disable TouchID until unlocked again. I don't use the TouchID on my MBP at all.

I've only got one thumb set up for touch ID. If you use the wrong finger 3 times, it'll disable touch ID until you put your passcode in, so you could use your other hand 3 times before you enter the airport.

Re: Basecamp Employee Handbook

#12

Post by fernandotakai »

skolos wrote: post #6
bluetidepro wrote: post #3

> Sabbatical - Every three years, employees are eligible to take a one-month-long sabbatical. Just give a heads-up preferably three months in advance, so we can coordinate the work-load accordingly. I wish this was more common in the tech industry. I know for other industries this is basically a standard thing, but it seems like many tech companies don't do this.

One-month-long? Isn't it too short for sabbatical? How is it different from vacation? I think I might not understand what they mean by sabbatical.

that's also what i thought -- vacations for me means a month away from work where i don't have to check anything work related (email, slack, pagerduty).

according to google, sabbatical is:

> a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked.

Re: Basecamp Employee Handbook

#14

Post by matart »

bluetidepro wrote: post #3

> Sabbatical - Every three years, employees are eligible to take a one-month-long sabbatical. Just give a heads-up preferably three months in advance, so we can coordinate the work-load accordingly. I wish this was more common in the tech industry. I know for other industries this is basically a standard thing, but it seems like many tech companies don't do this.

What does a sabbatical mean in the tech industry? Do I get to work on a side project? or work for another company? or within the company at a different post?

I feel like in academia it is easier for a sabbatical as you can go to another university and study something different.

Re: Basecamp Employee Handbook

#15

Post by tptacek »

There's a lot of good stuff here. I'm surprised about their take on speaking engagements (they're OK as long as they don't involve multi-day travel obligations). I get that you don't want team members touring talks or becoming conference tourists. But a lot of companies want their employees doing speaking engagements; Matasano/NCC, my old employer, pays a pretty substantial cash bonus for every time you do that.

Re: Basecamp Employee Handbook

#16

Post by tptacek »

SomeHacker44 wrote: post #10
philip1209 wrote: post #2

Wow - they advise employees to remove all company data from devices, leave the company 1password account, disable touch ID, and put their attorney on speed dial every time they go through customs.

I don't go that far, but I do have all my hardware encrypted (MBP, iPhone, iPad) and I power these things off so that they will be unable to trivially decrypt them when I go through customs. I wish iDevices had a thing that would let me "double click" the power button to passcode-lock the device and disable TouchID until unlocked again. I don't use the TouchID on my MBP at all.

That's not enough: they can demand that you unlock the device at the border, including powering it on. If your battery is depleted, they'll give you a charger and wait. If you refuse, they can and will confiscate the devices. You can't outsmart them: for pretty much every major country, they're better at this than you are.

They can do all of this even if you're a citizen. In the US, citizens (and, to a lesser but still meaningful extent, LPRs) cannot be denied entry to the country. But you can still lose all your devices. You can be detained, potentially overnight, no matter who you are. If you're not a citizen, you can be detained and then sent back without your devices.

The only realistic answer is not to have sensitive data on your devices at the border at all, nor any indication of where your sensitive data is or any means of getting access to it.

Re: Basecamp Employee Handbook

#17

Post by stevenwu »

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Allowance

Fresh, organic, local fruits and vegetables are great to have on-hand, so we'd also like to offer a CSA membership to you. Finding a local provider will be up to you, but you can expense the cost of a seasonal or annual CSA share as an employee benefit, up to $1,000/year.

Count that as a perk I've never heard of before.

Cool peek into how a company that works remotely can function successfully. This handbook could be a blueprint for that model - are there any other examples of remote companies publishing their internal handbooks?

Re: Basecamp Employee Handbook

#18

Post by kossae »

Mister_Snuggles wrote: post #5
tangue wrote: post #4

It's a well thought and nicely written document though I'm not sure I'd like something like the 5x12s ( https://github.com/basecamp/handbook/blob/master/our-rituals... )

I think the "5x12s" actually sound pretty neat. Sure, it's not work related, but it's nice to have some kind of socialization with your co-workers that isn't just focused on work.

The fact that the founders are involved as well is awesome. I'd say it really humanizes them in an environment where upper-level management could seem unreachable or distant.

Re: Basecamp Employee Handbook

#20

Post by giaour »

fernandotakai wrote: post #12
skolos wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One-month-long? Isn't it too short for sabbatical? How is it different from vacation? I think I might not understand what they mean by sabbatical.

that's also what i thought -- vacations for me means a month away from work where i don't have to check anything work related (email, slack, pagerduty). according to google, sabbatical is: > a period of paid leave granted to a university teacher or other worker for study or travel, traditionally one year for every seven years worked.

It's paid leave because you're almost always expected to write or finish a substantial piece of scholarship. One month isn't long enough to write a book, so I don't think this is the model Basecamp is following
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