Employee record management software is judged by what it does to a document after it exists. It dates it, so the sequence of contract, acknowledgment, review, write-up and letter can be read. It locks it at the signature, so the record cannot drift. It retains it on a rule and removes it on the anniversary. It exports the whole record for one person in one action. The tools on this site print every document free, without an account; this page is the four tests and the prices from the vendors' pages.
Dated
Every document with the date it was signed or issued, unalterable. The employee contract tool, handbook template, onboarding checklist and review template on this site print a date line; the software keeps the date.
Locked
A signed document that can still be edited is not a record. Sign the template's review as both parties on the trial and try to change it; it should refuse and keep every version. The version history is what shows a document was not changed after the employee signed it.
Retained and removed
The retention rule per document type, applied on the anniversary of exit and recorded when applied. A system that never removes is a liability that grows; a cabinet removes when someone remembers. The removal is recorded, so the absence of a document is itself a record rather than a gap.
Exported
The record for one person, in date order, in one action, for the auditor, the adviser or the employee. 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 record management software
Who should have access?
The owner; managers for their people; employees for their own; payroll for the sensitive section. The software enforces it.
Is a shared drive enough?
Until the first document is edited after signing or cannot be found.
What is free here?
Every document tool, without an account.