In HR, “absence management” involves a lot more than PTO and attendance tracking. Of course, that’s one piece of it, but there’s also sick leave, extended leaves, and a host of state, federal, and union regulations to comply with. For HR managers, there is a lot of paperwork to manage. For people managers, there is a lot of manual work involved in approving (or denying) a time-off request. And for employees, there’s no streamlined process to request time-off. That is, unless you use absence management software, which helps companies streamline employee leave processes and remain compliant.
When you use absence management software, you can give employees the ability to request time-off, allow managers to track coverage and more easily approve requests, keep track of your compliance, and save time and be more productive. In this guide, we’ve outlined the top leave management providers, why use them, what you can expect from them, how much they cost and how to calculate ROI, and more.
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Our criteria: How we chose the best vendors
We take our research seriously and want to make sure we are presenting our readers with the very best solutions in a given software category. Here's how we select vendors to be in our buyer guides:
- Product: We want to have a deep understanding of a vendor's product before recommending it. This usually means getting a demo by a senior executive (their CEO, head of product, etc), and/or using the product ourselves to make sure it has a solid UI, intuitive workflows, and the features to make it a best in class offering.
- User feedback: We do our best to understand what users say when they experience this product. User input allows us to accomplish a more thorough due diligence of products, put new vendors on our radar, and generally make sure we are presenting the right products to our readers.
- Financial metrics: We are very much finance nerds and so use a product's retention rates, growth, profitability, and scale to understand whether or not it is truly best in class.
- Best for a use case: Sometimes the best solution is the cheapest, the best tool for international companies, or the best for startups. We try to include a diversity of solutions so that our readers can find the tool that is best for what they need.
Here's more detail if you want to read further on how we research vendors.
In this guide you'll find
- Best Leave Management Software Programs
- Use-Cases: Why Use Leave Management Software
- Considerations & Common Mistakes for an Online Leave Management System
- Benefits & ROI: How Time-Off Management Can Help Your Company
- Pricing: What Absence Management Solutions Cost
- Features: What You Can Expect from Absence Management Software
- Demo Questions: What to Ask About Absence Management Tools
- Implementation: Getting Your Absence Management Software Off the Ground
- Absence Management Software FAQs
- Next Steps for Absence Management
Featured in
Best Leave Management Software Programs
We searched the landscape for the best leave management software programs, here are some we think you should look into.
Why we love it
:
Affordable yet powerful, Freshteam's absence management software is loaded with incredible features; multiple policies for multiple time zones, advanced analytics and in-depth reports, hassle free time-off approvals, and more.
- Freshteam is very user-friendly, with an intuitive UI that’s easy to navigate. It features a customizable, Kanban-style view of the full hiring process from initial contact to offer sending. Drag and drop mechanism makes it easy to move candidates around as they progress through the different stages.
- Freshteam is affordable for SMBs to use while still having a comparable feature set to more expensive solutions.
- Freshteam is quite scalable. With four plans to choose from, customers can start out with the free plan, then upgrade to more features as their business grows.
- While Freshteam has a free-forever plan that small companies can use, the plan is limited in features and allows for only 3 published job postings. That said, Freshteam’s paid plans are quite affordable, and can be used by small businesses - should they need to - without breaking the bank.
- Freshteam might not be suitable for enterprises and agencies that do volume hiring and are in need of advanced applicant tracking, candidate sourcing, and relationship management capabilities.
Freshteam
Review:
Freshteam is a tool that has a much broader suite of HR and recruiting tools beyond just leave management. Their product of course can allow employees to view the PTO policies for their organization, and then request time off. Freshworks also has modules for recruiting, core HR, onboarding, and much more.
Freshteam
Customers:
SAP, Daimler, Monster, MoneyCorp, University of Pennsylvania, Nissan, PharmEasy
Freshteam
Stats:
- Freshteam is used by 3000+ businesses
- Freshteam offers 24/7 support via chat, email, and phone
Freshteam
Pricing:
- Free: Free for up to 50 active employees
- Growth: $1 per employee/month + $59 platform fee/month billed annually
- Pro: $2 per employee/month + $99 platform fee/month billed annually
- Enterprise: $4 per employee/month + $169 platform fee/month billed annually
Best For:
Companies of all sizes looking for a comprehensive, affordable, and user-friendly HR solution.
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
:
ClearCompany boasts a robust total talent management system which includes an absence management software among other things. User friendly and fully customizable, ClearCompany will help you be in sync with all your employees, using just a few clicks.
ClearCompany
Review:
ClearCompany's absence management is part of their broader HRIS which covers everything from applicant tracking to payroll. HR admins can set paid time off policies, and employees can request time off through their solution.
ClearCompany
Customers:
Chick-fil-A, Jamestown Community College, AEP Energy, Axiom Bank, Bios, FlixBrewHouse, Goodwill, Halco.
ClearCompany
Stats:
- 2,000+ clients
- 640,000 total users
- 96% employee approval rating
ClearCompany
Pricing:
The pricing of ClearCompany’s plans isn’t listed on their site. Contact their sales team to get a price quote according to the size and needs of your company.
Best For
ClearCompany serves businesses of all sizes across all industries.
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
:
Workforce Software covers all your leave policies, lets you determine the type of leave, helps walk your employees through pre-built workflows, all while making sure that you confidently comply with labor laws and union agreements.
Workforce Software
Review:
Workforce Software is a comprehensive workforce management suite encompassing an absence management tool that employees can access on the go. Their platform also includes scheduling, labor forecasting, time and attendance, and much more!
Workforce Software
Customers:
Erie Insurance, Ohio University, ATB Financial, Air Canada, Oregon State University.
Workforce Software
Stats:
Workforce Software
Pricing:
The pricing of Workforce Software’s plans and services isn’t listed on their website. Contact their sales team for a price quote according to the size and needs of your business.
Best For
Medium to large companies looking for a comprehensive workforce management solution.
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
:
Edays tailor-makes their offering to each of their customers’ unique needs. They’ll factor in your absence management challenges, the number of employees you have, the number of countries you operate in, and more to create a custom subscription that works for you.
Edays
Review:
Edays is a robust absence management system built for medium and large companies. Through it, you can track employee holidays, sick leaves, and any other type of time-off you define in the system. It can also help you keep track of overtime (OT) and time off in lieu (TOIL). After data is collected, it is automatically analyzed in Edays’ reporting dashboard, allowing you to easily learn your organization's absence trends, sickness rates, cost of absence, % time lost, Bradford Factor scores, and more.
Edays
Customers:
Coca Cola, Asos, Canon, Syngenta, Vaillant, Kier
Edays
Stats:
- 1600 customers
- 120 countries
- 300k users
Edays
Pricing:
Edays has two plans:
- Professional: For companies with 50-499 employees in need of a system to cover regular absence management needs.
- Enterprise: For companies that have over 500 employees, operate across multiple countries, and have complex absence requirements.
The pricing of both plans isn’t disclosed upfront. Contact Edays’ Sales team to get a custom quote. Do note that a minimum purchase of 50 user licenses is required to use their system.
Best For
Edays is best suited for medium to large-sized companies.
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
:
Backed by years of industry expertise, ReedGroup’s LeavePro is a robust leave management system, suitable for enterprises with 5,000 or more employees.
ReedGroup
Review:
LeavePro is an enterprise-grade, SaaS leave management system that can automate several administrative tasks including leave eligibility, notifications, and workflows. The platform also offers compliance assurance as ReedGroup’s team of compliance attorneys are always up to date with changes in state and federal leave laws and regulations.
ReedGroup
Customers:
ReedGroup
Stats:
ReedGroup
Pricing:
The pricing of ReedGroup’s LeavePro software isn’t disclosed upfront. Contact their Sales team to receive a custom quote.
Best For
ReedGroup’s LeavePro is best suited for companies with 5,000 or more employees.
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
:
Bamboo HR is a one-stop HR solution but we particularly love their absence management software for its simplicity and accuracy. Some features that are worth mentioning include a time-off calculator, customizable PTO policies, and a Who's Out Calendar.
BambooHR
Review:
BambooHR boasts over 20,000 customers, which translates into roughly 1.8 million employees active on their system. This software spans across the employee lifecycle as they also have recruiting and performance management in addition to the core HRMS functionality. Check out their app marketplace to see some of the HR/recruiting vendors that integrate with their system.
BambooHR
Customers:
Change.org, Jane, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Stance, Postmates
BambooHR
Stats:
- 20,000+ active client organizations
- 1.8 m+ active employee users
- 45,000+ onboards per month
BambooHR
Pricing:
The pricing of BambooHR’s plans is not disclosed on their website. Contact their sales team for a price quote according to the size and needs of your business.
Best For
BambooHR works for companies of all sizes looking to automate their HR tasks and processes.
Worth Checking Out:
Why we love it
:
GoCo is incredibly clean and easy to understand. Its absence management software allows a quick time-off request that directly reflects on the timesheets. It also generates reports about your employees' time so that you can get better insights.
GoCo
Review:
GoCo helps companies with time off tracking by allowing HR to create flexible PTO programs, and employees to request vacation time, maternity/paternity leave, sick time, and a host of other types of absences. They have a mobile app that lets employees do this conveniently, as well as a desktop based dashboard for human resource teams to manage employee absences.
GoCo
Customers:
Dom & Tom, Synstelien Community Services, Comit Developers, Caliper Foods, Stoughton Area School District.
GoCo
Stats:
GoCo
Pricing:
GoCo’s pricing starts at $5 per employee per month. Customers may also get a custom pricing plan built around their needs.
Best For
Small to medium-sized businesses looking for a cost-efficient method to automate HR tasks.
Worth Checking Out:
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Next Steps for Absence Management
There are a number of state and federal regulations to comply with when it comes to employee leave. There’s the usual — FMLA, Short Term Disability, union agreements as well as policies from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Americans with Disabilities Act. Now, there’s the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides paid sick leave for those unable to work due to COVID-19, either because they are sick or need to take care of a family member who is sick.
So, after considering standard features that help streamline the administrative side of leave management, you’re going to want to see which solution is "all-in-one" when it comes to regulations. That way, you’ll know you are setting company leave policies that comply with the latest laws.
Best Absence Management Software
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