Top Absence Management Software — August 2020

Another question to ask on demos relates to pricing. Most providers offer a per employee per month rate that depends, of course, on the number of users as well as the individual features you plan to use.

At the end of the day, leave management systems are designed to streamline all aspects of employee leave and leave tracking. There are a variety of features that aim to reduce the administrative burden of managing leave requests, tracking employee time off and timesheets, etc. Depending on the provider you choose, you’ll have access to some or all of the following:

• Leave accrual: Employees will not have to keep track of how much PTO, annual leave, etc. they have accrued during their tenure at your company. The leave management system will track accruals based on your company policies as well as state and federal laws and regulations around employee leave.
• Employee self-service: Employees have access to a user-friendly portal where they can access their own accrual information, submit time-off requests, and more. In other words, these HR solutions for employee leave are not just designed to help managers or human resource teams — they’re also designed to make requesting time off easier for employees.
• Integrations with payroll, accounting, HRIS: Because employee leaves — and especially extended leaves — have payroll-related implications, some providers allow you to integrate your employee leave software with your payroll, accounting, and/or HRIS functions. That way, if an employee is on an extended leave and eligible for half pay, for example, you won’t have to duplicate work by updating several software programs.
• Customizable approvals: Depending on your company’s time-off policies, you can create approval workflows to automate all steps of the time-off decision process. So if a leave request needs to be approved by more than one person, it can through a customized step-by-step process where one person makes an approval, then it’s routed to the next, and so on. 
• Mobile access for employees, especially hourly workers: To further streamline absence management, many providers offer a mobile app for Android and iOS users. That way, full-time and hourly workers can request time off directly from their smartphone.‍
• Integration with team calendars: Another integration you might find helpful is team calendar integration, which allows employees and managers alike to see who is taking time off when. That way, everyone can see when there will be necessary coverage in the office and when might not be the right time to take off. If you use this feature, you might also be able to add another customization to your approval workflow whereby requests will automatically be approved if they hit certain criteria (like necessary accruals and in-office coverage).

To understand how absence management software can help streamline your HR processes, you’ll want to book a few demos. This will give you an opportunity to actually see how each platform works and ask any and all questions you might have. To help you prepare for your demos, here are some questions to ask:

• Ask about any geographic or worker specific regulations you are subject to and how this solution will accommodate them.
• How is PTO/leave asked for?
• How is PTO/leave approved?  What is automated and what is manual?
• How are policies communicated to employees?
• How are leave balances accrued?
• What is the user onboarding process like?
• What is the user experience like?
• What integrations are possible and, given your existing tech stack, what considerations should you keep in mind?
• What are the key features to learn about?
• What implementation/user challenges might there be/that would be worth knowing before investing? What complaints do existing customers have?

Some HR software solutions require major months-long implementation processes, while others are quick and more straightforward. In many cases, leave management solutions are part of larger HRM suites — one that you might already be using. Others are as easy as using a free trial and then making an investment for continued use. 

When you’re doing your demos, don’t forget to ask about how implementation works, what’s required on your end, what internal stakeholders might need to be involved (for example, IT), etc.