The 8 best leave management systems for small businesses
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When you work in a small business, time is your most precious resource. However, managing your team’s annual leave is so time consuming that you can fail to focus on the most important thing: growing your business.
That’s why so many small companies today use a leave management software — so that they can drastically cut the time they spend on repetitive manual tasks.
If you're also looking for a way to automate your time off processes, you're in the right place.
We spent the last few months testing and researching dozens of time-off tools — comparing their features, pros and cons, pricing and customer reviews. The result? A shortlist of the 8 best leave management software for small businesses.
(Guess what? We're one of them 😇. You can click here below to take
Charlie out for a spin — your first 7 days are free).
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Compare HR software
- You want one tool to take all HR admin off your plate
- UK small businesses/ startups
- Starting at £5 per employee per month, cancel anytime
- You're based in the US
- 150+ team members
- Only available on quote request
- You need to calculate time off for hourly workers
- 100+ team members
- Only available on quote request
- You want to track clock-in and out hours
- Multinationals
- £1.5 per employee per month, billed annually
- You need to record actual hours worked
- Companies with legal requirements around minimum staff attendance
- Only available on quote request
- You only want a time off tool, not an HR software
- Small businesses
- £1 per user per month
- You need a tool to manage shifts and rotas
- Hospitality, healthcare and retail
- Only available on quote request
- You can only afford a free tool
- Up to 5 team members
- Free for up to 5 users
Top 8 leave management systems for small businesses
Best all-in-one HR software for UK startups
CharlieHR takes annual leave off your plate with a time-off management system that runs itself, no supervision required.
Included in the same plan, you also get a complete HR software to help you run your business smoothly and professionally. Get all your documents in one place, where you'll always find them and store your employee data securely.
Automate all your admin and save yourself hours on HR tasks, every week.
Employee leave management with Charlie
Stop being the bottleneck: let line managers approve or deny time off requests with a single click.
Say goodbye to complex calculations: Charlie automatically works out pro-rata annual leave for everyone in your team.
No more micromanaging: holiday clashes are flagged during the approval process.
Fewer pointless questions: let your team find all the answers on Charlie's annual leave calendar, updated automatically, public holidays included.
Make it yours: pick from our standard leave types (sick, holiday, parental, etc) or create custom ones.
Keep your finger on the pulse: easily pull annual leave and absence tracking reports.
Clean, simple and intuitive UI: CharlieHR’s great user experience makes it the best solution for ambitious startups and small businesses.
👍
You're a small business looking for a tool to take all HR admin off your plate
❌
Most of your team work shifts, or are on hourly contracts. Charlie doesn’t support timesheet creation.
👍
You want the peace of mind of an error-free system you can rely on
👍
You want an intuitive platform where your team can easily self-serve
James Gill, GoSquared
"With Charlie, I know I've got one place to check who's going to be away, when and for how long. It has a real impact on the work we commit to as a company week by week"
Reviews
Pricing
1-4 team members
£5 per month
5-14 team members
£40 per month
15-29 team members
£100 per month
30-49 team members
£170 per month
50-99 team members
£300 per month
100-149 team members
£400 per month
150-199 team members
£500 per month
200-249 team members
£600 per month
250+ team members
£700 per month
Inclusive of all features
Pay monthly, cancel anytime
No hidden fees or setup costs
Best for US-based teams
BambooHR is an HR platform for companies with 150+ employees, offering a range of key features on top of leave management (onboarding, performance management, payroll, etc). They also have a mobile app (iOS and Android) to manage HR tasks on the go.
Most of its features are specifically designed for US companies, making it the best choice for businesses that have a significant presence in the States.
Employee leave management with BambooHR
BambooHR sends instant time-off request notifications via email and mobile.
US date formats and public holidays are already built in, so you don’t have to add them manually.
The built-in company calendar helps you spot conflicts and holiday overlaps.
Leave balance is updated automatically in your BambooHR dashboard.
Annual leave reports help you spot anomalies in time off booking.
👍
You are a 150+ employee business, with a large part of your workforce based in the US
❌
Your company is mostly based in the UK: BambooHR’s support hours are in the MA time-zone (meaning you could wait 5+ hours to get some help), and public holidays and date formats are US-friendly. The app is also built to comply with US laws only.
👍
A mobile app is a must-have
❌
You are on a tight budget: Core features like onboarding, employee satisfaction surveys and phone support are only included in the premium Advantage package which can price out small businesses
❌
Perks are a must-have: BambooHR doesn’t offer employee perks.
Anna - US-based CFO - Capterra review
"Overall we have really benefited from Bamboo. I think the next big thing for Bamboo would be to offer a scheduling tool within the software."
Reviews
Pricing
On quote, with different packages available.
Best for medium-sized companies with complex HR needs
Namely is an HR platform for mid-sized companies with 100 - 1000 employees. It offers everything a company needs to run its HR across the employee life cycle. From payroll, to benefits administration and HR analytics.
Its leave management system is a bit old-fashioned, but it compensates with the breadth of its other features.
Employee leave management with Namely
Simple, online timesheets allow you to track shifts and attendance for hourly workers.
You can centralise all holiday requests and approval workflows in one place.
Access attendance management reports to keep track of effective hours worked.
The systems supports US tax laws and date formats too.
👍
You need a variety of complex HR features on top of just leave management (like an Applicant Tracking System and payroll).
❌
You’re a startup looking for a simple and effective solution, out-of-the-box. Namely can be quite complex and time consuming to set up, and some features can be redundant for small businesses.
👍
You need to track attendance for hourly workers.
❌
Your priority is to get a first-class leave-management system. Namely’s time-off tracker is a bit clunky, and its design and UX are not very user-friendly.
Melissa - US-based Employee Experience Manager - Capterra review
"Namely is a good system. It has helped us to make our candidate and employee experience easier and more efficient."
Reviews
Pricing
On quote.
Best for hourly contracts
Zoho is ideal for companies whose team members work irregular hours, shifts or part-time. Its leave management system allows you to process attendance tracking and hours worked, so you can easily manage payroll too. It also works as an absence management software.
Employee leave management with Zoho
Easily create and update your timesheets online using the templates.
Log your team’s working hours in Zoho and the system will work out the rest.
Run reports to track time spent on particular projects, so you can allocate resources where they’re most needed.
Create a personalised approval process for line managers to approve working hours and time off, based on your preferences.
👍
The majority of your team work irregular hours.
❌
Most of your team work full-time — this tool is just not for you.
👍
You need a workforce management platform to track attendance and clock-in clock-out hours.
❌
You are a progressive startup and value an intuitive and modern design: Zoho can feel a bit old-school.
Ana - Spain-based Security Architecture Leader - Capterra review
“The system makes it easy to see how many vacation days each team member has left. It also shows which team members are out because of sickness.”
Reviews
Pricing
£1.5 per employee per month, billed annually.
Best for attendance management
Kelio is an employee absence management tool designed for companies that need to track their team’s work attendance (such as warehouses, for example).
The system ensures that the legal attendance requirements are always met to guarantee the security and compliance of your workplace.
Employee leave management with Kelio
Compatible with most work patterns: permanent, fixed-term, part-time, temporary workers, etc.
Monitor real-time clock-in-and-out attendance and hours worked on the dashboard.
Kelio integrates with any clocking hardware, so you don’t have to manually copy information and data.
Works out and tracks break time and absences.
👍
You have legal requirements in terms of attendance and staff numbers.
❌
Your team is not paid based on attendance.
👍
You need to record actual hours worked to calculate your employees’ pay.
❌
You don’t need to track actual hours worked.
Mileage Count - Support Assistant - Capterra review
“If you have forgotten to clock in on a morning you can do this manually on Kelio.”
Reviews
Pricing
On quote.
Best for holiday management, with nothing else included
Timetastic offers essential time-tracking functionalities to manage employees’ annual leave at small businesses.
Its features only cover annual leave management, so you will need additional tools to look after other aspects of HR.
Employee leave management with Timetastic
Use Timetastic’s company calendar to get an overview of time off across the team.
Easy annual leave request system to streamline your processes and calculate holiday accrual.
Automated email updates to keep you in the loop.
Choose what leave types to have according to your time off policy.
👍
You already have other tools to automate processes like onboarding, performance management and document storage.
❌
You have other needs on top of annual leave management. In that case, you’d be better off with an all-inclusive HRMS like CharlieHR.
👍
You’re looking for a modern-looking platform that’s easy to use.
Seamus - IT Manager - Capterra review
“Timetastic is easy for employees to use to request holidays and track leave days remaining, days in lieu, etc.”
Reviews
Pricing
£1/user/month. They also offer a 50% discount for charities and Certified B corporations.
Best for employee scheduling
Rotageek is a workforce management platform mainly used in retail, healthcare and hospitality to plan and track shifts.
Its cloud-based functionalities allow you to manage staff work patterns and time off easily and in real time.
Employee leave management with Rotageek
One dashboard to create and manage all your rotas.
Optimised for tablet and mobile, so your team can use it on the go.
Self-service annual leave management and absence tracking.
Shift swaps managed through the system.
👍
You’re looking for a shift scheduling tool for your healthcare, hospitality or retail company.
❌
Your employees don’t not work in shifts.
👍
A mobile app is a must-have.
❌
You’re looking for a more comprehensive HR tool
Gary - UK-based Area Manager - Capterra review
“I like the fact that I can see multi-site rotas, making it easier to plan my weeks so that I can visit stores when the right people are working.”
Reviews
Pricing
On quote.
Best for <5-people teams
Leave Dates is a simple and effective planner to manage staff holiday and sick days. It is a good option for small teams looking for a free tool (Leave Dates is free for companies under 5 employees).
Employee leave management with Leave Dates
User-friendly chart to check your staff’s availability.
Automatic annual leave allowance calculations.
Create the leave types you need or pick from the existing options.
Available on laptop, phone and tablet.
👍
Your budget is tight and you don’t expect to grow your team in the near future.
❌
You’re planning to scale: Leave Dates’ basic features don’t meet the needs of growing businesses.
👍
You want a simple tool that anyone can use.
❌
You need more than just a time off planner — Leave Dates don’t offer onboarding, performance management or employee engagement features.
Ana - People Generalist - Capterra review
“I think it is great for smaller companies but we are growing and our needs are higher and more complex at the moment.”
Reviews
Pricing
Free for companies with up to 5 employees.
£0.80/user/month for larger teams.
Leave management systems FAQs
A leave management system is a digital HR solution that helps companies manage their team’s time off (holidays, sick leave, parental leave, etc).
There are many different names to indicate this type of tool, including leave management software, annual leave software, annual leave tracker and employee time off tracker software. They’re all the same thing!
Most companies now choose to get HR software (also called HRIS) which combines time-off management with other essential features like onboarding, performance reviews and employee data storage. This is a very convenient option as it allows you to have all your HR workflows in one place and at a lower cost than if you used different tools for each of your Human Resources tasks.
Most leave management software providers will help you with this set of features:
-
Self-service annual leave management: With employee self-service, direct reports and their line managers can respectively submit and approve leave requests via the platform.
- Automatic annual leave calculations: the system calculates PTO (paid time off) allowance for each team member, keeping track of past and future leave.
- Types of leave: most leave management software will allow you to create different types of time off (sick days, holiday, jury duty, etc.) and decide which ones are deductible from people’s allowance based on your company policy.
- Team calendar: the time off data is synched into a calendar that people can use to get an overview of who’s off on any given day.
On top of these essential features, some HRMS software like CharlieHR also offer:
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Real-time slack notifications to keep your team in the loop
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Alerts when multiple people are requesting the same period off
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Customisable working locations to flag who is working from the office and who from home
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Reports to check if anyone in the team is not taking enough time off and may need a break
- Ability to set an automatic
carry over leave limit
It’s surprising how many small businesses still use Excel spreadsheets and manual HR processes to manage time off. But the benefits of switching to a leave management system are clear:
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You’re not a bottleneck for all time-off admin anymore: With leave management software, your employees can manage their time off independently, without needing to pass through you or fill a holiday request form.”
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Human error is out of the question: Complex and time-consuming holiday calculations happen automatically in the background, including holiday rollover, new starter leave allowance and pro-rated holiday for part-time workers. – no need to use an annual leave outlook calendar or an Excel leave tracker.
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All your time-off information is in one place: All the important data is accessible in one click on your platform, whether you are an employee, line manager, the CEO or work in the HR team.
We hope this guide was useful to choose the right time tracking software for your business.
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