Northwind Logistics (fictional company)
Day 1 FAQ portal
Built from the approved Day 1 messages and HR policies. Every answer names the document it came from, and a question without an approved answer goes to a person in HR. The portal has its own language switch, separate from the language of this site.
Day 1 questions and answers
Welcome. As of this morning, Northwind is part of our company. Today nothing changes in your role, your manager, your pay or your benefits.
1,400 people, 6 countries, 9 languages.
Language
48 of 48 answers
Day 1 is the first working day after signing, not the closing date. As of this morning, Northwind is part of our company: 1,400 people in 6 countries. Over the next 100 days we will share each change before it happens, in your language.
Numbers in this answer: 1 · 1,400 · 6 · 100. Identical in the 9 approved language versions.
At a town hall in your country. One session is held in each of the 6 countries during the first 5 working days. Each session is recorded, and questions asked there are added to this portal once the answer is approved.
Numbers in this answer: 6 · 5. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
From the approved Day 1 messages and HR policies. Every answer names the document it came from. A question without an approved answer goes to a person in HR. The portal does not guess. The Day 1 messages exist in 9 languages with one shared glossary.
Numbers in this answer: 1 · 9. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
No. Today nothing changes in your role, your manager, your pay or your benefits. Your pay date and the way you are paid stay the same.
Not before Day 31, and never during a pay cycle. Payroll moves between Day 31 and Day 60, after the first full pay cycle. Today payroll runs in one system for 4 countries and through local providers in 2. You will be told before your first pay from the new system.
Numbers in this answer: 31 · 60 · 4 · 2. Identical in the 9 approved language versions.
Every other Friday, as today. Your pay stub stays in the same place until payroll moves, and your direct deposit details carry over. You do not need to fill in a new form W-4.
Numbers in this answer: 4. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
On the 15th and on the last day of each month, as today. Your aguinaldo is paid by December 20, as before. Payroll in Mexico stays with the local provider.
Numbers in this answer: 15 · 20. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
Every other Thursday, as today. Your pay statement and your T4 come from the same employer as before.
Numbers in this answer: 4. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
Germany: the last working day of the month. Netherlands: the 25th of the month. Poland: by the 10th of the following month, through the local provider. None of these dates change.
Numbers in this answer: 25 · 10. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
Your current plan, your targets and the payout date stay as written for this plan year. Time worked before signing counts in full.
No. Overtime, shift premiums and allowances follow your contract or your collective agreement, as they did last week.
No. Your health coverage, your retirement plan and your leave balance stay as they are. Any change to a benefit plan will be announced at least 60 days before it takes effect.
Numbers in this answer: 60. Identical in the 9 approved language versions.
Yes. Your Northwind start date stays your start date. Your years of service carry over in full for leave, notice periods and service awards.
Your balance carries over in full. Time off that is already approved stays approved. Request leave the same way, from the same manager.
Not this plan year. Your plans, your ID cards and your contributions stay the same through December 31. Your 401(k) contributions and the company match continue without interruption. You will hear about next year's plans before open enrollment starts.
Numbers in this answer: 31 · 401. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
No. Your grocery vouchers, savings fund, vacation premium and major medical insurance continue unchanged. Your registration with IMSS and Infonavit stays with the same employer.
No. Your group health and dental coverage continues with the same provider and the same card. RRSP matching continues at the same rate.
Nothing changes. In Germany your company pension plan continues under the same terms. In the Netherlands you stay in the same pension fund. Any future proposal is discussed with your works council first.
No. Contributions to your PPK plan continue. Your private medical care and your sports card stay as they are.
No. Your leave continues as approved, with the same pay and the same return date. You do not need to apply again.
The same person as last week. No role changes on Day 1, and no reporting line changes on Day 1.
Numbers in this answer: 1. Identical in the 9 approved language versions.
In 3 steps across the 100 days. Step 1, by Day 30: the leadership team. Step 2, by Day 60: country and function leaders. Step 3, by Day 100: teams. If your manager changes, your current manager tells you first.
Numbers in this answer: 3 · 100 · 1 · 30 · 2 · 60. Identical in the 9 approved language versions.
No role changes on Day 1. The combined organization design is a proposal that people review, and decisions about people stay with people. If a role changes, the person in it is told first, by their manager, before anything is announced. This portal will never be the way you find out.
Numbers in this answer: 1. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
In Germany and the Netherlands, consultation with employee representatives comes first. The organization design is on hold in these 2 countries until that consultation is complete. Your works council receives the same documents as leadership.
Numbers in this answer: 2. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
No. Your title, your site and your working hours stay the same on Day 1. Nobody is asked to relocate.
Numbers in this answer: 1. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
No. Your employer and your employment contract stay the same. You do not need to sign anything on Day 1. If someone asks you to sign a document, check with HR first.
Numbers in this answer: 1. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
The same HR partner as before. Your local HR team stays in place, and this portal is open at any time.
Yes. Open internal postings continue, and offers made before signing are honored.
Yes. Every collective agreement stays in force in each country that has one. Employee representatives were informed on Day 1.
Numbers in this answer: 1. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
Yes. Sign in today exactly as you did last week. You will receive a new email address by Day 30. Your Northwind address keeps working until Day 100.
Numbers in this answer: 30 · 100. Identical in the 9 approved language versions.
In 3 waves. Days 1 to 30: identity, email and collaboration. Days 31 to 60: finance, HR and payroll. Days 61 to 100: transport and warehouse management. You get instructions before each wave reaches you.
Numbers in this answer: 3 · 1 · 30 · 31 · 60 · 61 · 100. Identical in the 9 approved language versions.
Yes. Your badge works at your site exactly as before. To visit a site of the combined company, ask your manager to request access.
Yes. No device is replaced during the first 30 days. Handheld scanners and truck tablets stay as they are until Days 61 to 100.
Numbers in this answer: 30 · 61 · 100. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
IT will never ask for your password by email, text message or phone. If a message asks for it, do not answer. Report it with the report button in your mail, or call the help desk.
In the same HR self-service tool as today. It moves between Day 31 and Day 60, and your history moves with you.
Numbers in this answer: 31 · 60. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
Not yet. Routes, the dispatch app, fuel cards and in-cab devices stay the same until Days 61 to 100. Training for the new tools happens before the change, during paid time.
Numbers in this answer: 61 · 100. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
Yes, before your account moves. Registration takes about 5 minutes, and help is available at every site during the week of the move.
Numbers in this answer: 5. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
The same help desk, at the same number and in the same chat channel. The help desk knows about the integration and has the same instructions you do.
The Northwind handbook and policies stay in force. The combined handbook will be shared at least 30 days before it applies, in your language.
Numbers in this answer: 30. Identical in the 9 approved language versions.
That service continues without change. Their contacts, their contracts and their prices stay the same today. If they ask about anything else, tell them their account manager will follow up.
No. Submit expenses in the same tool, with the same limits and the same approver. Trips that are already approved stay approved.
No. Shift schedules and agreed remote or hybrid arrangements stay as they are during the 100 days. Any later change is shared before it happens.
Numbers in this answer: 100. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
No. Site safety rules, protective equipment and the way you report an incident stay the same. Your authority to stop unsafe work stays the same.
Not on Day 1. Keep wearing your Northwind uniform. Vehicles keep their current markings. Do not change your email signature until you receive instructions.
Numbers in this answer: 1. Identical in the 2 approved language versions.
Do not answer on behalf of the company. Send the request to Communications. You may share the public announcement on social media, but not internal documents.
Talk to your manager or to HR, or use the Northwind ethics line, which stays open. Reports can be anonymous where the law allows, and retaliation is not tolerated.
Your sponsorship continues. The HR immigration contact will confirm in writing whether any filing is needed for your case. Until then, you do not need to do anything.
Training, certifications and tuition support that are already approved continue, and approved funding is honored.
Ask HR
A question without an approved answer goes to a person in HR.
- 48 answers are approved in English and Spanish. A representative set of 10 is approved in all 9 languages; for the rest, the other 7 languages show the English text and say so.
- The line under an answer about identical numbers is computed from the texts on this page, not typed. The French, German, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Italian and Chinese versions are sample translations that no native reviewer has checked.
- Northwind Logistics is a fictional company. Policies, dates and figures are sample data written for this demonstration; the headline figures agree with the mission replay. The form sends nothing.