Remote-First Workplace Policy (Public)

TL;DR: You can work remotely, and use the Toronto Office as much or as little as you wish.

Goal

Exponentially improve life-saving R&D while creating a work environment that enables our team members to reach the highest level of productivity, fulfillment, engagement, and happiness.

The freedom to work from anywhere*

Moving forward, BenchSci is a remote-first workplace. While physical office space is available, all team members have the flexibility to work from any location* and to use the office as much or as little as they like. It also means that we will strive to ensure that the BenchSci experience is equitable to all.

*At BenchSci, this means working at the office, your home office, a co-working space, or even a coffee shop. Countries where BenchSci is currently incorporated to work include Canada, the United States, and the UK.

Context for remote-first work

BenchSci is committed to reinforcing a culture of trust and transparency, and to providing our team members with the resources and flexibility they need to continue doing their best work, regardless of where they live (within the countries in which we are currently incorporated - Canada, the United States and the UK).

• We consider ourselves to be a remote-first company, and we will design for a remote-first employee experience.
• As a Canadian company, founded in Toronto, our headquarters is located in Toronto for practical and historical reasons.
• Our office, located at 559 College Street, Suite 201 is a physical space and shared resource for team members to use in support of collaboration, connection and productivity.
• We view the physical office as a tool to support collaboration, connection, and productivity. No one is obligated to use the office on a regular basis with very limited exceptions for employees whose specific job duties require on-site attendance. However, the office is available to all team members to use as many days per week as they choose.
• Connection between team members and with BenchSci as an organization is important, and we want to enable BenchSciers to connect with one another wherever they are.

Expectations for remote-first work

You may choose where you work and wherever that is, you are responsible for having a suitable working environment, which includes or enables:

• A reliable internet connection with enough speed, stability and low latency to support a video call.
• Additional monitor(s) and peripherals as required for your work (e.g. keyboard, mouse, etc.).
• A quiet, private, distraction-free space to be able to participate fully in video calls, including discussions of confidential topics, and enabling you to represent BenchSci in a way that is professional, respectful and purposeful in line with client-facing etiquette.
• Effective Jan. 1, 2022, all team members will be provided with a one-time home office allowance of up to $1,000 CAD (or equivalent) to set up your working environment. You are responsible for the ergonomic safety of your workspace.
• As a company, we default to cameras-on for all virtual meetings. This supports communication by enabling us to pick up on each others’ verbal and non-verbal cues, encourages engagement and allows you to show the presenter that you are listening.

Expectations for how we come together

While not the default, we do believe that connecting in-person from time-to-time as people and team-mates is the basis for strong working relationships and effective collaboration. Teams may be expected to get together at the BenchSci office from time-to-time at the discretion of leadership.