Purpose

Giving back to our community is important to us, and we have chosen UN Sustainable Development Goal no. 4: Quality Education as the main focus of our voluntary work. This has resulted in cooperation with several schools and voluntary work for Young Entrepreneurs and Design without Borders, as well as numerous educational kits for Red Cross. We love to contribute to the student and start-up communities. If you want to organize a lecture, give a talk or have some other idea, we will help make it happen.

“We have UN Sustainable Development Goal no. 4: Quality Education as our main focus”

Start-ups

We are involved in the start-up scene in Norway and have invested in several tech start-ups. We also have a dedicated methodology and process for positioning and branding for newly founded enterprises. We also do our own investments and have a few startups in our portofolio.

Courses and seminars 

We encourage everyone to stay up to date on the latest trends and to enhance your skillset. We have no restrictions on training, according to the department. Anyone can apply to attend seminars and courses or undertake online training. Please use the application form and ensure you enter your training in both the production plan and calendar – and notify your colleagues on Slack when you are away. Everyone is entitled to purchase work-related books and magazines. Please use the expense form.

Health

We care about our employees’ health and well-being. We have a great deal with Jobbsprek, and Stem Agency pays 50% of your membership if you want one. We also arrange yoga sessions at the office. Some of us use our Monday lunch break during the winter to do winter swimming in Oslo Fjord, which is extremely refreshing.

After Work

We love initiatives that include everyone. If you want to invite your colleagues for a Friday drink or organize an Art Night, we have a budget set aside for that. Feel free to take the initiative and make it happen.

Lunch at Oslo’s best cafeteria

Our cantina serves fresh food, hot dishes, and an impressive salad bar. We try to eat lunch together every day and stock up on fruit and snacks for everyone at the office. The cost of lunch is covered 50% by Stem Agency, and 50% by you.

Many of our employees start their working day at different times. Lunch is served between 11:00 – 13:00. Overtime meals are available to order at company expense when employees have been at work for more than ten consecutive hours. We do not cover soft drinks or alcohol, but offer food from Domino’s Pizza or other similarly priced suppliers.

Discounts

Through our sister company Artisti Profil we get around a 30% discount on clothes from Craft, Rab and Amundsen, among others. Brands shifts from time to time, so let management know if you are interested.

HOLIDAYS

According to the Norwegian Holiday Act, employees are entitled to four weeks and one day of vacation time per calendar year.  We add one more week to that so that all Stem Agency employees have five weeks’ holiday a year. We also throw in Christmas Eve (24 December) and New Year’s Eve (31 December).

Because of season variations we prefer everyone to take three weeks off in July, but if you want to work, we will usually be able to accommodate that.

If you want to go on a three-month paddling expedition or work from Bangladesh for a couple of weeks, we can probably accommodate that too 🙂

ABSENCE

The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority states that there are no specific employee rights related to funerals or leave. Employers may grant time off at their own discretion in the form of paid holiday, unpaid leave, time off in lieu, or paid leave for visits to health professionals such as dentists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, and doctors. Generally, employees are not entitled to paid leave for visits to health professionals who are open outside of regular office hours, nor if time off in lieu is possible. In the case of sudden illness, standard self-certification rules apply. In the event of acute sickness, standard self-certification rules apply.”

Paid and unpaid leave

Funerals

Stem Agency offers one day of paid leave in the event of the death of a close relative, which we define as a spouse/partner/boyfriend/girlfriend, child, parent, grandparent, parent-in-law, and grandparent-in-law. If more days are needed for travel or other arrangements, we provide unpaid leave or the option to take time off in lieu.

Sickness:

If you are sick and not working, you need to;

1. Send an e-mail to your department manager
2. Update your Slack status to “sick/away” so your colleagues know that you are not working
3. Contact the Project manager and department manager in case anyone needs to step in on your projects
4. First day back after sickness a self-certification form (egenmelding) or doctor’s note needs to be sent to your department manager

A summary of the most important points in The Norwegian employment law can be found below:
Max. four self-certifications in any 12-month period (not during a calendar year). The employee may forfeit the right to use self-certification if the employee over 12 months has had four self-certifications without producing a doctor’s certificate or if the employer suspects that the employee’s absence is not due to sickness.

Each self-certification may be a max—of three days (this also includes Saturday and Sunday even though these are non-working days). The Norwegian National Insurance Act uses the concept of calendar days which includes non-working days. For example, if an employee has been absent from work on a Friday and is still sick on Monday, both Saturday and Sunday will count as self-certification days even though the employee did not have to attend work on those days. Sickness absence on Monday must then be documented by a doctor’s certificate. If the employee does not produce a doctor’s certificate on the fourth day, the employee’s right to sickness benefits for the self-certification period will lapse.

Self-certification cannot be used at intervals of less than 16 days. This means that employees must work for a minimum of 16 days before applying for another self-certification. If an employee becomes ill again within 16 days, they must contact a doctor on the first day of their illness.