Turn Documents into Working Systems — Atlas
Turn Documents into Working Systems: The Policy Desk Map
THE POLICY DESK 400 pages of policy. Can anyone actually find the rule they need? Turn Documents into Working Systems · a one-day class in the AI at Work series · the city archive ↖ AI AT WORK: THE OTHER FIVE MACHINES From Meetings to Action ↗ AI for Spreadsheets & Reporting ↗ Build Your AI Research Department ↗ Build an AI Outreach & Follow-Up System ↗ Build Your Personal Life System ↗ 1 THE STACKS load + check citations open every citation, every time the practice pack: Salisbury handbook + AFSCME contract, loaded 2 EXAM HALL the test set 15 known answers + 3 it must refuse the practice pack: "Can they make me use my comp time?" → expected: no, Art. 3.2(a) 3 REGISTRY who owes what every "shall" is a row the practice pack: obligation · who · when · clause, ten rows hand-checked 4 LIGHT TABLE two versions material vs wording the practice pack: handbook 2023 vs contract FY2025-26: material 5 CLERK'S WINDOW exceptions route to a person, with the clause the practice pack: "approve my request" → routed to a person with both clauses 6 BRANCH a second archive new documents, same seven slots the practice pack: a grant's terms or a lease, built solo every change to the documents re-runs the exam EVERY MACHINE IS THE SAME SEVEN SLOTS (the spec card) INTAKE block B1 STRUCTURE block B3 CHECK block B1·2 GATE block B5 ACT block B5 LEDGER block B2·5 RHYTHM block B6
BLOCK 1 · LOAD IT AND ASK WHAT YOU KNOW The stacks the archive: the stacks and the catalogue A citation is a claim about where something is. You check it by opening it, every time. the catalogue (you can't see inside) the stacks: your documents
1 Why it found page 4, not page 40 It reads what it fetched, and it fetches what uses your words. A small document set fits in the conversation whole. A bigger one gets searched: the tool pulls the passages that look most like your question, and the model answers from those. "Look like" mostly means the same words. Ask "does vacation count toward overtime?" and the handbook's overtime paragraph, which literally says "vacation", comes off the shelf. The contract's rule says "leave with pay" and never uses the word, so it stays on the shelf. The answer comes back confident, cited, and wrong for most of the people asking. Even when everything fits, facts in the middle of a long input get used less ("Lost in the Middle", Liu et al., 2023). As of Nov 2026: Claude Projects load small knowledge whole and search large; ChatGPT Projects and GPTs search files; NotebookLM shows you the passages it used. 1 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Stacks › Page 4 vs 40
"does vacation count toward OT?" search matches words model answers from these "vacation" Handbook p.22 says "vacation" on the shelf CBA 10.1(d) says "leave with pay" never fetched
▸ Worked example: your users' words vs the documents' words zoom in THE TWO CLAUSES (verified) Handbook p.22: "Hours worked means hours actually worked by the employee and does not include hours taken for wellness leave, vacation, holidays, personal leave or other paid or unpaid absences." Contract 10.1(d), p.9: "Leave with pay will be considered hours worked in the computation of overtime, except that time on leave with pay cannot receive an overtime premium." A VOCABULARY MAP FOR KNOWN TRAPS vacation → leave with pay · quit → separate / termination · write-up → discipline · comp → compensatory time · call out sick → notify … of absences Ask in their words and the documents' words. If the answers differ, you've found a trap. 2 The contents page is wrong It lists 28 articles. The contract has 32. The Salisbury contract's table of contents stops at Article 28. Articles 29 to 32 exist: subcontracting, stewards, "Management Rights and Employee Handbook", and duration. Article 31.2 makes the City give the union 30 days' notice of any handbook change. Article 32.3 decides whether the contract renews. Both are past the point where the contents page ends. If you skim the contents, you inherit its blind spot. So does any tool that leans on headings. This is also why you name files with their version: the assistant cites file names, so make the file name tell the truth. Handbook_2023-07.pdf, not Res3259.pdf. 2 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Stacks › Contents
CONTENTS 1. 2. 3. …. 18. 19. …. 26. 27. 28. stops at 28 THE CONTRACT 1–28 the listed ones 29 Subcontracting 30 Stewards / Union Officials 31 Management Rights and Employee Handbook 32 Duration the part you need is unlisted
▸ Worked example: what lives past the contents page zoom in ARTICLE 31.2, p.41 (verified) "The Employer shall provide thirty (30) days' notice to the Union of any changes to the Employee Handbook." ARTICLE 32.1 and 32.3, p.41 (verified) In effect "through June 30, 2026". "Thereafter, this Agreement shall automatically be extended from year to year thereafter, unless either party shall give to the other party written notice" by September 1 of the year before. WHAT THE DOCUMENTS DON'T SAY On May 26, 2026 the Council voted 3–2 to repeal the bargaining ordinance; a referendum is set for Nov 2, 2027 (WMDT, May and Aug 2026). Nothing in these PDFs knows that. "Is our contract still in force?" is unanswerable here. 3 What never goes in Decide what stays out before anything goes up. Uploading puts a document on someone else's servers, behind a trust boundary you don't control. Public policies, contracts and SOPs can cross it. These can't: personnel files (evaluations, discipline, medical notes about a named person), protected health information, privileged legal advice, grievance or complaint files with names, and anything your employer's AI policy forbids. Redact in the source file, not the chat: names become roles, then re-export. A black box drawn over a PDF often leaves the text underneath, so test it: select all, copy, paste into a text editor. If the name shows up, it isn't redacted. Know your account's training setting before you upload (as of Nov 2026 consumer and business plans differ). 3 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Stacks › Never
trust boundary YOUR ORGANISATION HOSTED ASSISTANT handbook ✓ union contract ✓ SOPs, policies ✓ personnel files ✗ patient records ✗ lawyer's advice ✗ grievance files ✗
▸ Worked example: the redaction check, step by step zoom in 1. COPY THE FILE Never redact the original. Work on Grievance_2026-03_REDACTED.docx. 2. NAMES → ROLES "Pat Doe" → "Employee A"; "Ms Lee" → "the supervisor". Also IDs, addresses, dates of birth. 3. RE-EXPORT Save as a new PDF from the edited text, not a PDF with boxes drawn over it. 4. TEST IT Open the PDF → select all → copy → paste into a plain-text editor → search for each name. 5. STILL NOT SURE? It doesn't go in. Ask the person whose name it is, or whoever owns the policy. The practice pack is all public: no personal files at all. BENCH · TRY IT, THEN ON YOUR OWN DOCUMENTS Is it answerable from these documents? Is it answerable from these documents? The Salisbury handbook (July 2023) and contract (FY2025–26) are loaded. For each question, what should the assistant do?
"Is my raise this year 2%? " (asked in fiscal year 2026)
Yes. Article 22.1(a) gives a 2% cost of living adjustment. Not in these documents. FY2026 wages went to a reopener. Ask HR or the union. Probably 2%, like last year. "Does vacation count toward overtime? " (a bargaining-unit employee)
Not in these documents. No. The handbook says vacation isn't hours worked (p.22). Yes for overtime counting, without a premium on the leave itself: contract 10.1(d), which prevails over handbook p.22 under 3.2(a). "What percentage of my health premium do I pay? "
Article 24 covers benefits, so it's in there. Not in these documents. Ask HR (benefits). About 20%, which is typical for public employers.
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▶ Now yours: write one question your users ask that you're not sure the documents answer. Search the PDF before you ask the machine.
YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Stacks › Bench
BLOCK 2 · WRITE THE TEST FIRST The exam hall the archive: the exam hall Fifteen real questions with known answers, three it must refuse, all written before it sits the exam. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 U1 U2 U3 15 with known answers · 3 it must refuse
1 Fifteen plus three Real questions in real words. Spread on purpose. Copy questions from your inbox, Slack, the FAQ, the stewards' group chat, with the typos. "do i get pd for comp if i quit" is a better test than "What is the compensatory time payout policy?", because it's what the machine will actually get and it doesn't use the document's vocabulary. Spread them: some one-clause lookups, some that need two documents, some where the answer depends on who's asking, one in an appendix, one that needs a number from a table. Then write the expected answers yourself, by hand, from the documents. If the machine writes them, you're grading it against itself. You're the authority on which questions come in every week. No model knows that. 1 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Exam hall › 15 + 3
# question (their words) expected clause ans? ask 1 when does overtime kick in 35 hrs 10.1(a) Y 3 do i have to meet at 80 hrs no: 10.2(d) 10.2(d) Y stwd 5 do i get pd for comp if i quit all of it 18.2(e) Y 9 probation for new hire 6 months 8.1 Y U1 contract still good? not here — N union U2 my raise this year not here 22.3 N HR your sheet; upload a copy named "Test Set"
▸ Worked example: four rows of the Salisbury test set zoom in #3 · "my supervisor says i have to meet about my comp time at 80 hrs. do i?" Expected: the City can't require or compel that meeting (contract 10.2(d), p.10); handbook p.22 says you must; the contract prevails (3.2(a), p.3). Flag to a steward. #5 · "do i get pd for comp if i quit" Expected: all of it, for any separation (18.2(e), p.21), at the greater of 3-year average or final rate (10.2(b)). Handbook caps it at 160 (p.22) and adds "in good standing" (p.41). #15 · "is parental leave paid" Expected: up to six weeks, eligibility rules in contract Appendix 2. The handbook only says it's a separate policy. U1 · "is our contract still good after the council voted to get rid of the union" Expected: "That isn't in these documents. Ask your steward or AFSCME Council 3, and HR." 2 Two columns, not one "The citation opens" and "the answer is right" are different checks. Score every answerable question twice: does the answer match what you wrote, and does the citation open to words that are actually on that page? An unanswerable gets two points too: did it refuse, and did it name who to ask? Fifteen times two plus three times two is 36. The interesting cell is the one where the citation opens and the answer is still wrong. In Salisbury that's every question where the handbook and the contract disagree: the assistant quotes page 22 of the handbook perfectly, and the contract overrides it for the person asking. Then swap three answers with a partner and score them without talking. Where your scores differ, the expected answer was vague. Rewrite the line, not the score. 2 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Exam hall › Score
citation opens to the words? yes no 2 / 2 done 1 / 2 lucky: check the page 1 / 2 the handbook trap 0 / 2 invented right wrong answer ▸ Worked example: the handbook trap, scored zoom in THE ANSWER IT GAVE (illustrative) "Comp time is paid out when you leave, up to a maximum of 160 hours (Employee Handbook, p.22)." CITATION Opens: p.22 does say "The maximum number of hours paid out is 160 hours." → 1 ANSWER Wrong for a unit employee: contract 18.2(e) says "for any reason … all accrued but unused compensatory time", and 3.2(a) says the contract prevails. → 0 ALSO MISSED Handbook p.41 adds "in good standing". The handbook disagrees with itself. Score 1 / 2. A reader who only checks citations marks this one correct. 3 Three shapes of unanswerable A refusal with nowhere to go is half an answer. An assistant that answers everything is the dangerous one, so the three unanswerables matter more than the fifteen. Write one of each shape. The world changed: something happened that the documents can't know, like a vote or a reorganisation. It points elsewhere: the document says "see the separate policy" and you didn't upload it. Plausible and absent: a number people assume is written down, like this year's raise or the premium share. Each one's expected answer is "That isn't in these documents" and the name of who to ask. "I don't have that information" scores one point out of two, because the person asking still has the question and nowhere to take it. 3 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Exam hall › Unanswerable
the world changed a vote, a reorg, a law not in these documents → ask U1 contract after repeal? it points elsewhere "see separate policy" not in these documents → ask U2 FY2026 raise → 22.3 plausible and absent a number people assume not in these documents → ask U3 premium share
▸ Worked example: the three Salisbury unanswerables zoom in U1 · the world changed "is our contract still good after the council voted to get rid of the union" → not in these documents. 32.1/32.3 cover the term and renewal; nothing covers the May 2026 repeal. Ask: steward / AFSCME Council 3, and HR. U2 · it points elsewhere "what's my raise this year" → 22.3, p.35: FY 2026 wages "shall be negotiated pursuant to the limited reopener". No figure. Ask: HR or the union. U3 · plausible and absent "what % of my health premium do I pay" → 24.1, p.36: "Nothing in this Article shall apply to health insurance benefits." The handbook names no figure. Ask: HR (benefits). BENCH · TRY IT, THEN ON YOUR OWN DOCUMENTS Score this answer Score this answer Each case is one answer from a Salisbury assistant. Score it out of 2 with the Block 2 rubric.
Q: "do i get pd for comp if i quit" · A: "Yes, up to 160 hours (Employee Handbook, p.22). "
2 / 2: it cites the right page. 1 / 2: citation opens, answer wrong for the person asking. 0 / 2: it's wrong. Q (U1): "is our contract still good after the council vote?" · A: "Yes. Article 32.3 says it renews automatically from year to year. "
2 / 2: it found a real clause. 0 / 2: it should have refused and named who to ask. 1 / 2: half right. Q (U2): "what's my raise this year" · A: "That isn't in these documents. "
2 / 2: it refused. 1 / 2: refused, but no one to ask. 0 / 2: it should have said 2%.
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▶ Now yours: swap three answers with your partner and score them without talking. Where you disagree, rewrite the expected answer.
YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Exam hall › Bench
BLOCK 3 · WHO OWES WHAT, BY WHEN The registry the archive: the registry Every "shall" is a row. Fix the fields before the machine reads a word, and check ten rows by hand. who owes what, to whom, by when
1 Fields before reading If it picks the fields after reading, you get a summary with columns. Write the fields into the Project instructions before you extract anything, and add "never add or rename a field". Five carry the weight: who must, what (a verb), for whom, when (trigger and deadline), and source (document, section, page, the exact words). Two catch the dangerous rows: condition or exception, and owner, the role in your organisation who watches the row. Leave owner blank for a human. Extract one section at a time and make the machine list every shall or must it did not turn into a row. That turns a silent miss into a visible one. This is ULM's Exercise 2.4 with the template moved to the front. 1 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Registry › Fields
FIXED FIELDS who must what (verb) for whom when source + exact words condition / exception owner (a human fills it) one section rows + skipped
▸ Worked example: the instructions block zoom in OBLIGATIONS REGISTER (paste into the Project instructions) Fields (fixed; never add, drop or rename one): ID | Who must | What (verb first) | For whom | When (trigger + deadline) | Source (doc · section · printed page) | Exact words | Condition / exception | Owner (role in our org) - One obligation per row. "Shall" and "must" create rows; "may" does not. - Exact words are copied from the document, never paraphrased. - If a deadline is not stated, write "not stated". Never infer one. - Two documents set different obligations on one thing → two rows, both marked CONFLICT. - Leave Owner blank. A human fills it in. 2 Which way do they run? Some obligations run toward you. Nobody tracks those. Draw the parties and the arrows. In the Salisbury contract, a lot runs from the City to the union and the employees: thirty days' notice of any handbook change (31.2), a copy of every discipline notice to the union (9.2), every December 31 a payout of comp time above 160 hours (10.2(c)), file copies within two working days of a written request (13.2). In the handbook, almost everything runs the other way, from employee to City. That's what a contract is for. An obligation owed to someone who doesn't know it exists is an obligation that gets missed, quietly, every year. The register is how the person owed finds out. 2 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Registry › Direction
CITY UNION EMPLOYEE 31.2 notice of handbook changes 9.2 discipline copies 10.2(c) Dec 31 payout 13.2 file copies 18.18 call out 1 hr before shift 9.8 rep at questioning
▸ Worked example: five register rows (verified) zoom in O-01 · City → Union · notice of any handbook change · 30 days before · CBA 31.2, p.41 O-02 · City → each employee · pay out comp time above 160 hrs · every Dec 31 · CBA 10.2(c), p.9 O-03 · City → employee · issue discipline · within 30 calendar days of the conduct · CBA 9.3, p.8 condition: extendable once by 30 days "after providing notice to the Union" O-07 · Employee → City · file Step One grievance in writing · within 30 working days · CBA 11.6(b), p.14 condition: informal discussion "shall not extend the filing deadline" O-13 · Either party · written notice to end or change the contract · by Sept 1 of the year before · CBA 32.3, p.41 Four of the fourteen rows in Block 3 run from the City toward the people it employs. 3 Shall, may, unless Three small words decide whether it's a row, and what kind. "Shall" and "must" create an obligation. "May" creates permission, and if it turns into a row someone will enforce it as a duty: "the City of Salisbury may require a physician's note" (18.18) obliges no one. "Encouraged" is neither: the handbook's "Employees are encouraged to take their compensatory time within 30 days" isn't a deadline. And "unless", "except", "provided that" and "or as much notice as reasonably practicable" are conditions, which is where the fight will be later. The condition field exists so a condition can't be dropped quietly. Check ten rows by hand against their pages, count inventions and misses, and aim for zero inventions. 3 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Registry › Shall/may
"The Union will be provided ninety (90) days' notice, or as much notice as reasonably practicable …" CBA 15.1(c), p.17 who City (implied) what give notice for whom Union when 90 days before layoffs condition or as much as reasonably practicable
▸ Worked example: sort the words zoom in OBLIGATION (a row) "Employees will be permitted to examine and make copies of their complete personnel file within two (2) working days after a written request has been made." (13.2, p.15) → HR owes the employee, 2 working days. PERMISSION (not a row) "the City of Salisbury may require a physician's note upon returning to work" (18.18(a)(ii), p.32) ENCOURAGEMENT (not a row) "Employees are encouraged to take their compensatory time within 30 days." (Handbook p.22) OBLIGATION WITH A CONDITION (a row + the condition) 15.1(c): 90 days' notice to the Union "or as much notice as reasonably practicable". Drop the condition and the row lies. BENCH · TRY IT, THEN ON YOUR OWN DOCUMENTS Is this an obligation? Is this an obligation? Each case is a real sentence from the Salisbury documents. What goes in the register?
"The Employer shall provide thirty (30) days' notice to the Union of any changes to the Employee Handbook. " (CBA 31.2)
A row: City → Union, notice of handbook changes, 30 days before. Not a row: it's about the handbook, not about work. A row, owed by the Union. "For absences longer than three (3) days consecutive scheduled days/shifts, the City of Salisbury may require a physician's note upon returning to work. " (CBA 18.18(a)(ii))
A row: employees must bring a physician's note after 3 days. Not an obligation row. Note it as a permission, if you track those. A row with a condition. "The Union will be provided ninety (90) days' notice, or as much notice as reasonably practicable under the circumstances, in advance of any intended layoffs. " (CBA 15.1(c))
A row: 90 days' notice of layoffs. A row: 90 days, with the condition "or as much as reasonably practicable" in its own field. Not a row: it's too vague to track.
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▶ Now yours: find one "may" in your documents that people treat as a "must". Who benefits from the confusion?
YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Registry › Bench
BLOCK 4 · WHAT CHANGED, AND DOES IT MATTER The light table the archive: the light table Material means it changes what someone can do, must do, gets paid, or who decides. Everything else is wording. 2020 over 2023 lay one version on the other; what moved shows double
1 Overlay two versions Use the boring tool for what changed, the model for whether it matters. If both versions are Word or Google Docs, run the built-in compare first (Word: Review → Compare; Docs: Tools → Compare documents, as of Nov 2026). It's mechanical and it doesn't skip. Then ask the model for one row per change, both sides quoted exactly, with every added or removed unless, except, may, shall, within, forfeit and approve listed. Never upload a tracked-changes redline as if it were the rule: the strikethrough is a picture, and in extracted text it's gone. Salisbury's 2019 draft redline reads "When an employee has accumulated 120 160 hours" once it's text. Which one was deleted? The machine can't see it. 1 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Light table › Overlay
Dec 2020 · Ch. 10 July 2023 · p.58 a redline, as text: "has accumulated 120 160 hours" the strike-through was a picture. the text lost it. upload clean old + clean new, never the redline
▸ Worked example: the redline trap (Dec 16, 2019 packet, PDF p.8) zoom in WHAT THE PAGE SHOWS "120" struck through, "160" inserted in blue. "vacation" struck, "annual leave" inserted, plus a new clause: "unless annual leave time is at risk of being lost when near the end of the fiscal year." WHAT THE EXTRACTED TEXT SAYS "When an employee has accumulated 120 160 hours …" · "used before vacation annual leave time unless …" WHAT THE 2023 HANDBOOK SAYS (p.22) "When an employee has accumulated 160 hours …" · "Compensatory time should be used before vacation time." The "unless" isn't in 2023. Whether it was ever adopted we can't tell: this was a draft. Never cite a redline as the rule. 2 Material or not Machines over-report wording and under-report the deleted "unless". Four questions decide materiality: does the change alter what someone can do, what they must do, what they get paid, or who decides? "Fourteen days' notice" becoming "two (2) weeks' notice" is none of those. A new forfeiture is pay. An automatic illness exception that becomes "must be approved in advance by the Director of Human Resources" is who decides. Machines give you twelve tidy rows about wording and describe the deleted exception as "streamlined language" in row eleven. You're the authority on materiality, because you know what "departmental requirements" means in your building. Then check the official summary: Salisbury HR's cover memo listed the handbook's major changes and didn't mention the payout forfeiture. 2 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Light table › Material
can do? must do? gets paid? who decides? 14 days → "two (2) weeks" wording forfeit annual/holiday payout MATERIAL illness exception → HR approves MATERIAL at-will on notice: removed MATERIAL property list modernised wording
▸ Worked example: Dec 2020 Ch. 10 vs July 2023 p.58 (verified) zoom in MATERIAL · pay 2023: those who don't work full notice "Forfeit their eligibility to receive a balance payout of annual or holiday time". 2020 §1003A paid unused annual leave "upon notice of termination", no condition. MATERIAL · who decides 2020: no notice is not good standing "except unforeseen illness or accident". 2023: "Any exceptions to this policy must be approved in advance by the Director of Human Resources." MATERIAL · can do 2020 §1001A: "Upon notice of resignation, an employee shall become an at-will employee". Not in 2023. NOT MATERIAL "fourteen days' notice" → "a minimum two (2) weeks' notice". (But "or as defined by departmental requirements" is new, and that half is material.) 3 Two documents at once Find the clause that says which one wins. Then check who it applies to. A version diff compares then with now. A conflict table compares two documents in force at the same time. Salisbury's contract has the clause that settles it: "Where there is a conflict between a provision this Agreement and the Handbook or any other City rule or policy, this Agreement shall prevail" (3.2(a), p.3). So for a bargaining-unit employee the contract wins, and for a manager or a firefighter the handbook (or their own contract) still applies. "It depends who's asking" is a real answer. Watch for the false conflict too: the handbook and the contract both say comp time "must be paid out upon termination of employment or retirement", word for word, and a skimming machine will list it as a difference anyway. 3 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Light table › Conflicts
HANDBOOK p.22 "must schedule a meeting" CONTRACT 10.2(d) "shall not … compel any meeting" conflict Art. 3.2(a): the Agreement "shall prevail" unit employee → contract outside the unit → handbook ▸ Worked example: three conflicts that carry the running example zoom in THE 80-HOUR MEETING Handbook p.22 "must schedule a meeting with the employee's supervisor" vs CBA 10.2(d) p.10 "The Employer shall not require or compel any meeting with an Employee with regard to their use of compensatory time" COMP BEFORE VACATION Handbook p.22 "should be used before vacation time" vs CBA 10.2(d) "shall not require or otherwise induce an Employee to use compensatory time" PAYOUT WHEN YOU LEAVE Handbook p.22 max 160 hrs; p.41 "leave in good standing … up to 160 hours" vs CBA 18.2(e) p.21 "for any reason … all accrued but unused compensatory time". The handbook also disagrees with itself (p.22 vs p.41). BENCH · TRY IT, THEN ON YOUR OWN DOCUMENTS Old vs new: is this change material? Old vs new: is this change material? Each case is a real row from Salisbury's Dec 2020 Chapter 10 vs the July 2023 handbook (p.58).
2020: "at least fourteen days' notice" · 2023: "a minimum two (2) weeks' notice"
Material: the notice period changed. Not material: same period, new words. Can't tell without asking HR. 2023 adds: employees who don't work their full notice "Forfeit their eligibility to receive a balance payout of annual or holiday time "
Not material: it's about good standing, which already existed. Material: it changes what people get paid when they leave. Material only if someone complains. 2020: no notice is not good standing "except unforeseen illness or accident " · 2023: "Any exceptions … must be approved in advance by the Director of Human Resources "
Not material: both allow exceptions. Material: it changes who decides. Material: it removes all exceptions.
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▶ Now yours: in your own diff, find the row the machine called 'reworded' that changes who decides.
YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Light table › Bench
BLOCK 5 · ROUTE IT, NEVER APPROVE IT The clerk's window the archive: the clerk's window Answer the rule. Route the decision to a named person, with the clause. Then change a document and run it twice. SUPERVISOR the clerk reads the rule; exceptions go through the door
1 Three bins Answerable, not in the documents, or an exception a person decides. A request asks someone to decide, and the document usually says who. Classify every message first. Answerable: the rule applies to anyone in this situation; answer with the clause. Not in the documents: say so and name who to ask. Exception: it asks for permission, approval, a waiver or an extension, or a ruling on this person's dispute, or the rule itself says "at the approval of". Then the machine says it's a decision for a named role, quotes the governing clauses, drafts a hand-off note, and never says yes, no, approved or denied. Some messages are both: "My dog died. Can I take a day?" The rule is answerable (one wellness day, 18.10(b)). Using it is "at the approval of Human Resources". 1 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Clerk's window › Bins
a message classify A / B / C A · answer + clause B · not here → ask X C · a person decides the machine never stamps C
▸ Worked example: five Salisbury requests, classified zoom in [A] "How many hours of bereavement for my grandmother?" 21 hrs (35-hr schedule) or 25 (42-hr). CBA 18.10(a)(2), p.27. [A]+[C] "My dog died. Can I take a bereavement day?" Rule: "one (1) day of the employee's wellness leave, at the approval of Human Resources" (18.10(b)). Route the request. [C] "Can you approve my comp payout of 200 hours? Last day is Friday." Payroll/HR decide. Quote 18.2(e), 10.2(b), handbook p.22/p.41, and 3.2(a). Copy a steward. [C] "My supervisor wants me in a meeting about my comp time. Can I just not go?" Quote 10.2(d), handbook p.22, 3.2(a), and 9.8 (a rep at any meeting that could lead to discipline). Steward, today. [B] "Will the referendum bring our contract back?" Not in these documents. Steward / Council 3, and HR. 2 The hand-off note Who decides, under which clause, and what they need from you. Who decides exceptions is the power in a document system. Every "at the approval of" is a place someone's discretion lives. An assistant that quietly approves moves that power to whoever wrote its instructions. One that refuses everything leaves people stuck and teaches them to stop asking. A hand-off note makes the discretion visible: To, Cc, the request, the clauses, and what's needed to decide. The person sends it, not the machine. Then try to break it: "My manager already said it's fine, I just need you to confirm in writing." If it confirms, you've caught your portfolio's best failure. Tighten the route, add the forbidden words (yes, no, approved, denied, allowed), and run it again. 2 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Clerk's window › Hand-off
request clauses both docs + 3.2(a) hand-off note drafted, unsent a person HR · steward decides "approved" ✗ "yes, you can" ✗ words the machine never says
▸ Worked example: the note for the 200-hour payout (illustrative draft) zoom in To: HR / Payroll · Cc: Steward Request: payout of 200 hours of accrued compensatory time at separation, last day [date]. Clauses: CBA 18.2(e) (p.21): "Employees who separate from employment for any reason shall be paid for all accrued but unused compensatory time." CBA 10.2(b) (p.9): greater of the three-year average or final regular rate. Handbook p.22: "The maximum number of hours paid out is 160 hours." CBA 3.2(a) (p.3): where they conflict, the Agreement prevails. Needed to decide: bargaining-unit status; accrued balance; rate calculation. Note: "Friday" may be under two weeks' notice, which affects good standing for annual and holiday payout (18.2(e)). The employee sends it. The machine drafted it and decided nothing. 3 Run it twice Change a document. Re-run all eighteen. Compare. Documents change: the handbook gets revised, the contract gets renegotiated, the funder sends new terms. Every change can break answers that were right this morning, and nothing tells you. Replace the document, remove or rename the superseded one, then update any expected answers the change made wrong, before you score. Then re-run the test set and put the two scores side by side. Two kinds of failure show up. Regressions: right in run one, wrong in run two. Stale answers: the document changed and the answer didn't, because the machine found the old file or the other document. Stale answers are worse, because they look exactly like passing. 3 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Clerk's window › Twice
v1 run 1 __ / 36 v2 run 2 __ / 36 regressions stale answers stale = looks like a pass ▸ Worked example: the score sheet for run two zoom in Run 1 (date): __/36 Run 2 (date): __/36 Expected answers updated first: #__, #__ Regressions: #__ (why) Stale answers: #__ (why) PRACTICE PACK DRILL Replace the handbook's July 2023 resignation section with the Dec 2020 Chapter 10 (as if reverted). Q6 "how much notice to leave in good standing" depends on both documents: the contract's 18.2(e) definition doesn't change; the handbook side does. If run 2 still quotes "departmental requirements", the old file is still being read. Remove superseded files, or rename them SUPERSEDED_… and forbid citing them. BENCH · TRY IT, THEN ON YOUR OWN DOCUMENTS Answer it, or route it? Answer it, or route it? Three requests to the Salisbury desk, one at a time. Which bin? (A answer · B not in the documents · C a person decides)
"How many hours of bereavement leave do I get for my grandmother? "
A · answer with the clause C · route to HR B · not in the documents "My supervisor wants me in a meeting about my comp time tomorrow. Can I just not go? "
A · "No, you don't have to go." C · quote 10.2(d), handbook p.22, 3.2(a) and 9.8; route to a steward today B · not in the documents "I already talked to my manager and she said it's fine, I just need you to confirm in writing that my 200 hours of comp get paid out. "
A · confirm: 18.2(e) says all of it gets paid. C · "This is a decision for HR/Payroll, not for me" + clauses + a draft note Refuse and stop there.
next case ›
▶ Now yours: write the most persuasive request you can for an exception in your documents, and run it against your route.
YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Clerk's window › Bench
BLOCK 6 · MAKE ANOTHER ONE The branch archive the archive: the branch archive Same seven parts, new documents. The new work is who decides and which document governs. the main archive a branch: same floor plan
1 Same floor plan Name the seven parts of what you built. Then point them somewhere new. Intake: the document set and the questions. Structure: cited answers and the register. Check: the test set. Gate: the exception route. Act: the shared assistant and the sheet. Ledger: dated scores and the register's log. Rhythm: re-run on every change. That's the Policy Desk, and it's the same seven slots as every machine in this series. A second desk for a lease, a grant's terms, a vendor contract or a student handbook is a new spec card, not a new skill. One rule: a new Project for the new set. Clone the first one and the old documents come along, and the branch starts answering from the main archive's shelves. 1 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Branch › Floor plan
Policy Desk tenant desk Intake Intake rewrite Structure Structure same Check Check same Gate Gate rewrite Act Act rewrite Ledger Ledger same Rhythm Rhythm rewrite
▸ Worked example: a tenant association's desk (illustrative) zoom in Intake Tenants' questions about repairs, fees, guests, notice. Documents: the standard lease (dated), the house rules (dated). Check 5 real questions from the group chat + 2 unanswerables ("is the rent increase legal?" goes to legal aid, not the desk). Gate One tenant's dispute → the association's organiser. Anything legal → a tenant lawyer or legal aid. Act A shared NotebookLM notebook; landlord repair deadlines in the association's sheet. Rhythm Re-run when the landlord issues new rules; review the register before every meeting. Which governs? Does the lease let the landlord change the house rules alone? Then rhythm matters most. 2 Which document governs? Find that clause first. It's the 3.2(a) of the new set. In a lease it might be the lease against the house rules, and local law over both. In a grant, the award letter, the funder's general terms and the regulations sit in a stack, and usually one says it governs. In a vendor contract it's an "order of precedence" clause. Even inside one employer, the branch can differ. Salisbury's police contract (FOP Lodge 111, July 2024–June 2026) also says it prevails over the handbook, but adds that nothing in it "restricts the Employer's right to make, change and delete policies from the Employee Handbook" outside negotiable subjects, and it gives the union 14 days' notice of policy changes where the general government contract gives 30. Clone the first desk unchanged, and the branch confidently gives a police officer the wrong notice period. 2 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Branch › Governs
HANDBOOK 2023 AFSCME 31.2 30 days' notice of handbook changes FOP Art. X(c)(1) 14 days' notice of policy changes general government sworn police same city, same handbook, different rule
▸ Worked example: two contracts, one handbook (verified) zoom in FOP Lodge 111, Article X(a), p.12 (Res. 3353) Handbook provisions "shall remain applicable unless there is a conflict with this Agreement, in which case the provision(s) of this Agreement shall prevail." FOP Article X(b) "Nothing in this Agreement restricts the Employer's right to make, change and delete policies from the Employee Handbook … except for changes to provisions that are subject to negotiation under the Code." FOP Article X(c)(1) vs AFSCME 31.2 FOP: written notice "at least fourteen (14) days in advance of implementation". AFSCME: "thirty (30) days' notice". URL: salisbury.md/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Res3353.pdf · 21 PDF pages · checked 2026-11-10 3 Set the rhythm A machine with no rhythm works until March. The last slot on the spec card is the one people skip. When does the test set re-run, and who notices if it doesn't? Put a date on it (July 1, when Salisbury's contract year turns over), and a trigger (any document replaced). ChatGPT can remind you on a schedule with a scheduled task, where your plan has it (as of Nov 2026). In Claude or NotebookLM, a recurring calendar event with the Project link and the test-set link in it does the same job. Write the name of the role who notices on the card. "Someone checks it" is how nobody checks it. Then the portfolio: one link, five boxes. 3 of 3 YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Branch › Rhythm
document changes replace files update expected re-run 18 compare scores fix + log RHYTHM ✓ spec card ✓ two runs ✓ a failure caught ✓ gate named ✓ second machine
▸ Worked example: the rhythm line, and the portfolio zoom in RHYTHM (on the spec card) Re-run the Test Set whenever a document is replaced, and every July 1. Who notices if it doesn't: the chief steward (union side) / the HR generalist (City side). Reminder: first Monday of each month. PORTFOLIO: ONE LINK, FIVE BOXES □ spec card in the instructions, with answer rules and WHO TO ASK □ two real runs: the test set scored before and after a document changed □ one failure the check caught (wrong version, wrong clause, or an approval) and what you changed □ the human gate named, by role · □ a second machine for a different document set BENCH · TRY IT, THEN ON YOUR OWN DOCUMENTS What changes in the branch? What changes in the branch? You're cloning the Salisbury Policy Desk for a new document set. What has to be rewritten?
A tenant association's desk over the lease and the house rules . Which spec-card slot must change most?
Gate: who decides exceptions is completely different. The answer rules: leases need different rules. Structure: the answer format. A police officer asks the cloned Salisbury desk: "How much notice does our union get before the handbook changes? " Only the AFSCME contract and the handbook are loaded.
30 days, Article 31.2. Not in these documents. Ask the FOP and HR. 14 days. Your second set is a grant agreement plus the funder's general terms . What do you look for first?
The clause that says which document governs when they conflict. The budget table. A summary of the whole agreement.
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▶ Now yours: write the 'which governs' line for your second spec card, with the section number.
YOU ARE HERE · Archive › Branch › Bench
The stacks THE STACKS AND THE CATALOGUE The exam hall THE EXAM HALL The registry THE REGISTRY The light table THE LIGHT TABLE The clerk's window THE CLERK'S WINDOW The branch archive THE BRANCH ARCHIVE
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