The Best Human Resources Software of 2023

The features available in each HR software package vary, but here are some standard ones that most providers offer.

Tools used to recruit, onboard and offboard employees are commonly found in most HR software. These features include job posting and syndication, configurable job applications, interview and exam functionality, background check integration, offer letter templates, new-hire packets, onboarding checklists, e-signature capabilities, workflow automation, document storage, employee profiles, and training tracking.

While some systems include these features internally, most offer a combination of internal features and integrations with third-party platforms, such as applicant tracking systems and top background check services.

Most HR software either comes with a built-in payroll option or integrates with top-rated payroll software from a third-party service. Built-in payroll modules typically include the ability to accurately calculate employee paychecks, handle multiple pay rates and schedules, administer garnishments, pay employees via direct deposit and pay cards, and provide online pay stubs. A newer feature offered by some software solutions is on-demand pay, which allows employees to access a portion of their wages on the day they earn them.

HR software can handle all payroll tax responsibilities, like calculating and withholding federal, state and local payroll taxes, as well as providing things like electronic 1099 and W-2 preparation and delivery. Most HR software can integrate with top accounting software.

Many HR software options include time and attendance features so that employers can accurately track when employees are on and off the clock. Most systems are cloud-based, which allows for browser-based clocking in and out, while many also offer iOS and Android mobile apps for punching on the go. Another useful feature for off-site workers is geolocation tracking, which tracks where an employee is located while clocked in. Most HR software allows for automatic and manual time tracking, as well as shift scheduling, swapping and dropping.

HR software can help manage paid time off requests and accruals, and it can offer certain automation and alert features to help you maintain legal compliance with things like break policies and overtime laws. Employee time tracking data is automatically synced into payroll solutions to streamline payroll processing and increase pay accuracy. [Read related article: Why Your Small Business Needs an Attendance Policy]

HR software can help you administer employee benefits like medical, dental and vision insurance; employee retirement accounts; life insurance; accident and illness policies; short- and long-term disability insurance; HSAs and FSAs; auto and home policies; commuter benefits; workers’ compensation; pet insurance; and miscellaneous coverages. Most will integrate with popular benefit carriers to get you competitive benefits and rates.

In addition to providing you access to employee benefits, most HR software providers will help you educate and enroll your employees on how to get the most out of their benefits. Features like easy plan configuration and ongoing participant education can help simplify the benefits process.

Standard HR software allows you to track and manage employee performance. This can include tools for goal setting and monitoring, succession planning, and performance evaluations. They can also include personalized dashboards and learning management systems with training courses so you can easily provide mandatory training (e.g., sexual harassment) or professional development training.

Ongoing employee learning and professional development can help with employee recruitment, skill level, expertise and retention.

HR software helps you maintain audit-ready records and compliance with labor and employment laws such as the ACA and COBRA. Custom workflows and automation features can also help to maintain legal compliance, as they reduce the likelihood of human error by ensuring that certain required measures are being followed every time. HR software companies typically offer customer support via phone, email and chat; however, the best companies also offer a dedicated support representative who can provide HR guidance along the way.

Most HR software provides helpful reporting and analytics. You may, depending on the type of reports you want, need to sign up for a more advanced software plan, but basic plans typically provide data on your team, payroll, taxes and more. HR reporting can be a valuable tool for tracking workforce trends and increasing efficiency across your entire workforce.

Employees can use the software to access a self-service dashboard to manage their benefits, request time off and complete performance evaluations. Since most systems are cloud-based and offer mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, employees can access the software wherever they have an internet connection.

One in five HR professionals considering changing jobs

One in five (22%) HR professionals in the UK are considering changing jobs in 2023, many of whom are actively job hunting now.

Research from HR software firm Ciphr found that 10% of UK HR professionals, mainly working in administrative or middle-management positions, were actively looking for a new job, while 12% intended to seek a position at another organisation.

A further 44% were open to changing HR jobs, but said it would be unlikely within the year and had currently no plans to do so.

For those likely or very likely to change employer soon, the most common reason for looking elsewhere was a lack of job growth. Forty-two per cent said they wanted more career progression, management responsibilities or opportunities for promotion.

Thirty-nine per cent wanted a new job that offered an improved work-life balance, while 31% felt they were currently underpaid and wanted a job with a higher salary.

Other reasons why HR professionals were seeking new opportunities included a lack of good or effective leadership in their current role, desire for a more rewarding or fulfilling job, wanting more job security, wanting the ability to gain new knowledge and skills, lack of recognition, and feeling like the HR team had no real power in their organisation.

Claire Williams, chief people officer at Ciphr, said: “It’s not uncommon for some HR professionals to feel overlooked when it comes to their own training and career development. They often spend so much time focusing on the rest of the business that their needs aren’t always prioritised and can go unmet. There may also be an assumption that, because they work in HR, they would naturally action their own development needs and apply best practice to themselves.

“This research is a good reminder to employers of the importance of supporting their HR team’s career aspirations, if they want to increase their chances of retaining them.”

Williams said employers should consider structuring teams in a way that enables cross-specialist learning or involvement in wider business projects to aid career progression.

“This will both enrich the job as well as improving their HR capability in the longer term,” she said.

The research involving 163 HR professionals in April also found that 17% wanted to leave HR completely.

One in five respondents had recently changed employers for a better-paying job as the cost of living surged, while 34% had taken time off due to feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

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Ashleigh is editor of OHW+ and HR and wellbeing editor at Personnel Today. Ashleigh's areas of interest include employee health and wellbeing, equality and inclusion and skills development. She has hosted many webinars for Personnel Today, on topics including employee retention, financial wellbeing and menopause support. Prior to joining Personnel Today in 2018, she covered the road transport sector for Commercial Motor and Motor Transport magazines, touching on some of the employment and wellbeing issues experienced by those in road haulage.

coworker talks about religion all the time, HR director won’t stop asking me to go kayaking, and more

It’s four answers to four questions. Here we go…

1. Coworker talks about his religion all the time

I have a coworker who talks about his religion frequently and loudly in our open-concept space. Currently I’m far enough away that, while I can tell that these (one-sided) conversations are happening, I blessedly cannot hear every word and can easily tune them out. However, that will be changing in the next couple of months, as I will be moving to the workspace directly adjacent to his. Worse, the religion he is so keen to discuss is the same one I myself was raised in and left (due to the fact that I personally find this particular church to be dishonest and immoral). The thought of having to sit and listen to him casually proselytize this religion at work is giving me anxiety! Would it be okay for me to gently push back against discussing this subject when it comes up? If so, can you give me a script or a tactic to do this in a professional way? Or is religion such an untouchable subject that I will just have to deal with it?

The opposite, actually — you are protected by federal law from unwelcome religious proselytism at work. If you ask him to stop and he refuses, you can escalate to your company’s HR because that would be religious harassment, and they’re legally required to put a stop to it.

You should first tell him clearly that you don’t want to discuss religion at work. Any of these would do it:

* “I don’t want to discuss religion at work.”* “I consider religion very private and don’t want to talk about it at work.”* “I’m not comfortable discussing religion at work.”

If he continues after that, bring it to HR — and definitely use the word “proselytize” if that’s what he’s doing, as well as “religious harassment” either way.

Alternately, a different option would be to raise it now, framed as “I’m concerned about moving my desk next to Cedric because I don’t want to hear religious proselytism while I’m working. Can you ensure he stops or move me somewhere else?”

2. We get in trouble if we take all our allotted sick days

My husband has a very generous PTO package that includes sick time, personal time, and vacation time, all banked separately, and two weeks off paid during the holidays that does not come out of their PTO bank (plus regular holidays).

They technically have 12 sick days, but in practice, it’s only 10. Why? They write you up if you take sick time after already using 10 days. Someone was recently fired after using all of their sick days (I don’t know the full story though and there were other issues, but it was generally known that using those last two sick days, and possibly going beyond, was part of it). I’m not sure what the consequences are if you used up all 12 and try to take an unpaid sick day.

I imagine that if you’re otherwise a good employee, it won’t go further than a write-up, and a valued coworker did push back on the write-up after an obvious medical incident (broken limb) and was successful. What do you think about this? When asked why they don’t just have 10 sick days, the response is usually “because then they’d (the higher-ups) start writing you up after eight.” I know that the big boss gets a bonus if not all of the sick days are used (this guy allegedly has taken kickbacks in other situations that have screwed over employees as well, so he’s kind of scummy and I’m sure this is the reason for the policy).

If someone were to get fired for using their sick time (not beyond the 12 given days), would they have a case for wrongful termination, if, hypothetically, they didn’t have any other performance issues? Is there something wrong with this aside from just being an icky practice?

This is incredibly messed up! Don’t tell people they have X sick days and then fire them for taking X sick days. If you do, then they do not in fact have X sick days. This is such a weird way to make sure people are off-balance and don’t trust anything you tell them.

However, in the U.S., wrongful termination doesn’t mean “fired for something unfair.” That’s actually not illegal on its own. Wrongful termination is firing someone for a reason that is specifically forbidden by law, like firing someone because of their race or religion or as retaliation for engaging in legally protected behavior (like reporting discrimination or harassment). However, this would be illegal if they fired someone who should have been protected by FMLA or the ADA. If neither of those laws was in play, it could still be illegal if they enforce the policy in ways that have a disparate impact along race or gender lines (or any of the other protected characteristics) or if they were in a state that required offering 12 sick days (although among the small number of states that require sick leave, I don’t think any of them mandate that many days).

3. My HR director won’t stop asking me to go kayaking

I am employed by a large company with a fully operational HR department. I am a senior manager within the operations team. I frequently interact with the HR department and maintain positive relationships with all team members. A few years back, the HR director discovered that I have a penchant for kayaking during the summer, which happens to be an interest we share. Over the course of three years, as each summer approaches, the HR director insists on us going kayaking together. While I generally enjoy kayaking with others, my professional relationship with the HR director has made me somewhat apprehensive and cautious. I have made a concerted effort to maintain a professional and cordial dynamic with her and we do have a good working relationship. However, I do not completely trust her. I have seen how she treats people that upset her and get on her bad side. She wouldn’t just treat me differently but she may also treat the managers that I work with badly if I piss her off in some way.

In the past, I have managed to defer the invitation with responses like “Yes, we should do that sometime,” and then I move on without us ever making any solid plans. I was hoping that she would eventually drop the idea. However, with summer here she has brought up kayaking yet again. At this point, I feel compelled to accompany her at least once, even though I am not inclined to do so. I wish I could convey to her that I generally avoid socializing with colleagues, but she is aware that I am friends with a member of her team (a friendship that predates my employment), and we often spend time together. How can I politely decline her invitation without negatively affecting our working relationship?

Can you plausibly say you don’t think you’re going to be able to make time for any kayaking (even on your own) this summer because you’re swamped with family commitments? This would require that you not regularly post photos of yourself kayaking on Slack or so forth, but it could be the easiest way to shut it down.

Otherwise, I think you will need to point her to this story.

4. When to tell my company about an upcoming medical leave when I don’t know the dates yet

I’m trans masculine (they/them pronouns), and am on the waiting list to get top surgery. My projected wait-time puts my surgery dates sometime between September and November this year. I’ll be out for at least a couple days for the actual treatment, and probably at least a week following that for recovery. (All of which is highly variable depending on how the surgery goes, natch.)

I’m having a bit of a dilemma on when to tell my company that I’ll be needing that time. From talking with friends who’ve had the same treatment, some of them got a month or two’s notice, some of them got a call that a place had opened up in a week, and would they like to take it. Given the state of the NHS at the moment, I will 100% be taking whatever I am offered. But there’s also a possibility that there will be further delays and I won’t get a date until early 2024.

Complicating the unknown dates is that Sep-Nov is our busy period. Normally folks are only allowed a day or two in a row of holiday time at that time of year. (Obviously I will be taking the time I need to recover and that’s non-negotiable, but just to illustrate the situation.) I’m one of only two perm staff who do my specific job, so losing me for a week will put strain on the team, and schedules will need to be changed.

Do I let my manager know that I might need to take medical time off sometime in that busy window, just so he’s got some warning in case it does happen, or do I wait until I have more concrete information from my surgeon on the dates? On the one hand, giving some warning feels like it would be kind, especially if the date does fall in our busy period, just so no one’s blindsided (and also to quell the intrusive medical questions); on the other hand, it’s early enough that since I don’t have concrete dates it feels like it might just get forgotten anyways or not be practical/useful information for him?

I’ve talked about it with a few friends and some are on the “more info is always useful” side, and some are on the “you don’t owe your employer anything” side. I was mostly convinced by the “more info” side, and started trying to draft an email to my manager about it, but I just couldn’t find words that made it feel … useful to say. I do have a 1:1 scheduled in a couple weeks which could be a decent time to bring it up verbally rather than in writing, but … again, I’m just not sure. Would you as a manager want a heads-up about a maybe thing, or would you prefer to not think about it until there was a set date? Is giving them the heads up a kindness or does it set expectations in a way that isn’t helpful since I don’t have a date yet?

To some extent it probably depends on the nature of the work and what your manager is like. All else being equal, I’d always prefer more info than less, but I’m not sure there’s much they can do with it here. But there is something to be said for mental preparation, so that when you do know your dates, it’s “here’s that thing I mentioned would be coming” rather than “surprise, I will be gone gone for 10 days or more during our busy period, goodbye.” It’s not that the latter is unworkable — sometimes emergencies come up with no advance notice and people make do — but when you have the option for the former, it can be helpful to offer it. So I’m in favor of that, assuming your manager is a generally reasonable person and won’t spend the whole time between now and then hassling you about whether you’ve confirmed a date yet.