Employee management apps matter because the manager of a small business is not at a desk. The record and its documents are on the phone; the hire signs the contract and the handbook from theirs; the manager approves hours, notes feedback and books reviews from theirs. The tools on this site print the documents free, without an account; this page is what the app that keeps them has to do on a phone, and what the vendors charge from their own pages.
For the hire
Sign the contract and acknowledge the handbook from the phone before day one; see the onboarding checklist; submit hours. The employee contract tool and the employee handbook template on this site print what they sign.
For the manager
Approve hours, note feedback against a person the moment it happens, see who is overdue for a review, start a write-up from the handbook policy. The review template on this site is the form the notes feed.
For the owner
The record per employee, the documents signed and dated, the reviews done or overdue, exportable. The same record as on the desk, which is the test. If the phone shows less than the desk, the phone is a notification service and not the record.
The price
From the vendors' own pricing pages, cited below: Homebase lists its Essentials plan at $30 per location per month billed monthly or $24 billed annually, with unlimited employees, and a Basic plan at $0 for one location with up to 10 employees; BambooHR starts at $10 per employee per month for Core and $17 for Pro; Deputy's Core plan is $6.50 per user per month. HeadcountDesk Pro is $24 per month per location.
Questions people ask about employee management apps
Does an app replace the handbook?
It carries it; the handbook is still the document acknowledged at hire.
Can hours be approved from the app?
In the ones worth having; the PTO and overtime calculator on this site is the arithmetic behind the approval.
What is free here?
Every document tool, without an account.