Supplier policy FAQ. A: Effective May 1, 2017, Microsoft will also reclassify External Staff in HeadTrax as follows:

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1 Access length limit Q: What are External Staff? A: External Staff refers to persons assigned by the supplier to provide services for Microsoft projects in accordance with contractual arrangement between Microsoft and supplier. Examples include Consultants, Temporary Agency Workers, Vendors, Freelancers, Independent Professionals and Contractors, Staff Augmentation, Outsourced Staff, and Business Guests. Q: What happened to Agency Temporary Workers and Vendors? A: Effective May 1, 2017, Microsoft will also reclassify External Staff in HeadTrax as follows: Contractors: Agency Temporaries (a-) and Vendors (v-) will be reclassified as Contractors. All Contractors with network and/or building access on May 1, 2017, will be subject to the new access policy. Outsourced: No change in classification; Outsourced staff formally approved by Microsoft Procurement are exempt from the new policy. Business Guests: No change in classification; Business Guests formally approved by Microsoft CELA are exempt from the new policy. Q: Will we continue to use the same alias prefixes (a-, b-, v-) for External Staff as we do today? A: In the United States, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom, we will continue to use the b- and v- prefixes. We have discontinued the use of the a- prefix; however, you will continue to see the a- prefix outside the United States, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom. NOTE: You may continue to see the a- prefix in Germany, India, and the United Kingdom for the next 18 months as these assignments naturally roll off. We will not convert current a- aliases to v- aliases due to the implementation of the policy. Q: What are Contractors, Outsourced Staff, and Business Guests? A: Contractors, Outsourced Staff, and Business Guests are defined as follows: Contractors: Contractors, formerly known as Agency Temps and Vendors, are individuals who are employed by a third party that is approved as a Microsoft supplier to provide services to Microsoft as set forth in contract. Outsourced Staff: Outsourced Staff are individuals who are employed by a third-party Microsoft supplier that is approved to perform Outsourced Services for a specific outsourced arrangement. April 2017

2 In an outsourced arrangement, Microsoft has transferred an ongoing end-to-end business function or process to the supplier. Business Guests: The Business Guest designation is reserved for special circumstances, such as work exchanges and collaborations with customers, partners, or academic universities, and does not involve the procurement of goods or services. A Business Guest differs from other types of External Staff in that Microsoft is not invoiced for the work (directly or indirectly). Q: What is the new policy? A: Microsoft will only grant access to its corporate network and/or buildings to Contractors for an 18- month period. At the end of the 18 months, Microsoft will remove the Contractor s corporate network and building access for a minimum of six months before granting access again. The 18-month period begins on the first day of the first assignment that requires network access and/or building access, or the first day of a new assignment following a six-month break from access, and runs consecutively. Contractors may take more than one assignment from Microsoft during the 18-month period, but Microsoft will remove their access after the 18-month date is reached. Employees of suppliers without access to the Microsoft corporate network and/or buildings are not subject to the new policy. Change of status business rules Use the following table to identify if/when a six-month break would be required, when moving between Microsoft staffing types. Grace Period: Vendors who are reclassified as Contractors at policy implementation have an 18- month grace period to transition to Outsource if the services they are providing become certified as Outsource during that timeframe. Grace period is 18 months after the policy implementation date. April 2017 Page 2

3 Q: Is Microsoft implementing more than the 18-month access limit policy? A: In addition to the 18-month access limit and updated taxonomy, Microsoft is implementing a new certification process for Outsourced Arrangements and Business Guests. Q: What happens after 18 months? A: The 18-month clock starts on May 1, 2017, for Contractors who have access to the Microsoft corporate network and/or buildings at that time. For Contractors who have access as of May 1, 2017, the required six-month break will begin on November 1, Microsoft will remove corporate network and/or building access for six months for all Contractors who were engaged as of May 1, 2017, but who have not yet taken a six-month break. Any Contractor who starts after May 1, 2017, will be aligned to the 18-month policy. Q: What is the Business Guest certification processes? A: Business Guest designation is reserved for special circumstances and does not involve the procurement of goods or services. What makes a Business Guest different from other types of External Staff is that Microsoft is not invoiced for the work (directly or indirectly). As such, Microsoft Legal will review and validate all Business Guests before access may be granted. Q: What happens to Business Guest access when the policy launches? A: Current Business Guests must be reviewed and validated by CELA. Business Guests that do not meet the requirements will be converted to Contractors and subject to the 18-month access length limit policy. The 18 months for these Contractors begins on May 1, April 2017 Page 3

4 Q: What is the Outsourcing certification process? A: Since Outsourced Staff are not subject to the 18-month access limit policy, all outsourcing arrangements must be reviewed by Microsoft Procurement for approval to be exempt from the policy. Outsourced Staff must have the arrangement ID attached to their record in Microsoft s systems. Q: Who is communicating the changes to the External Staff? A: As the External Staffs employer, the Supplier is responsible for cascading the information. Microsoft expects its supplier partners to communicate this information quickly and consistently with the messaging you received from Microsoft. NOTE: Suppliers must communicate this change no later than May 5, Q: Why did Microsoft implement the 18-month access policy? Is this due to cut-backs? A: No. The policy has been put in place to better protect Microsoft intellectual property and confidentiality. Q: Why do some supplier employees not take breaks when others do? A: There are some business functions and processes that have been fully outsourced (Outsourcing), such as cafeteria services, landscaping, and call centers. These Outsourcing engagements are limited, require a certain set of criteria be met, and must go through a rigorous approval process. Business Guests (a type of non-invoicing External Staff) are also exempt from the policy, because of the rigorous vetting and approval process. Q: Can my employees still provide services on Microsoft engagements if they no longer have access to network or buildings? A: If the services do not require access to the Microsoft corporate network and/or buildings, your employee is not precluded from providing services in support of the supplier engagement with Microsoft. Q: Are there any limitations regarding moving between company codes? A: No. The policy is based on the individual s physical location. Q: What happens if my employee is needed for an engagement in another country? A: Currently, the policy only applies to the United States, India, Germany, and the United Kingdom. If your employee is physically located outside of the United States, India, Germany, or the United Kingdom, then he or she may do so in compliance with the Microsoft policies applicable to that country. The policy only applies to External Staff physically located in the aforementioned countries. April 2017 Page 4

5 Q: What if my employee has been on an engagement outside of the United States, India, Germany, or the United Kingdom and starts a new engagement in one of these countries without a break in between? Can they continue with the new engagement? A: Currently, the policy only applies to the United States, India, Germany, and the United Kingdom. If your employee is engaged outside of the United States, India, Germany, or the United Kingdom on a Microsoft project or assignment and then comes to the United States, India, Germany, or the United Kingdom for a new or similar engagement, the clock will start once he or she moves to the United States, India, Germany, or the United Kingdom and begins the new engagement. The 18 months begins on the first day of the assignment and runs consecutively until the end of 18 months, at which point the External Staff must take a six-month break. Q: What if my employee works in increments (1 month on, 1 month off)? How is the assignment length measured? A: From the first day of the first assignment, the Contractor has an 18-month period of access to the Microsoft network and buildings. During that time, they can provide services on various assignments as often as is dictated by the Microsoft sponsor. If the breaks in access between the assignments are less than six months, all the time is included in the 18-month assignment length. If a break is six months or longer, a new 18-month period starts upon the first day of the first assignment following that break. Q: How do we validate our employees time on assignment and/or Maximum End Date? A: Please contact mspinfo@microsoft.com for this information. Q: What is the Supplier Code of Conduct? A: The Supplier Code of Conduct (SCoC) is a training designed to communicate with our suppliers and their employees how to act ethically and with integrity while on assignment with Microsoft. For now, the SCoC training will apply to External Staff setups before access is granted to Microsoft s network and/or buildings. For any additional information, please contact scoc@microsoft.com. Change of employers Q: We would like to engage a former Microsoft employee on a Microsoft project or assignment as an External Staff resource. Does the External Staff need to take a break before starting? A: Yes. A six-month break is required before a former Microsoft employee can be setup as a Contractor. The six-month break does not apply to former Microsoft Employees moving to an approved Outsource arrangement or approved Business Guest role. April 2017 Page 5

6 Q: My employee recently worked for another supplier; does he or she need to take a break between assignments? A: If the External Staff hasn t worked for the full 18-month period, you can engage him or her on a new assignment or project without him or her taking a break from Microsoft. External Staff may work through the 18-month period that started on her or his first assignment performing services for Microsoft (regardless of the supplier employer). April 2017 Page 6