2026 CharlieHR Product update – Summer

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Automate all your repetitive HR tasks and save yourself hours every week to focus on your most important work.

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Hey there,

Welcome to our new biannual product update, a place where you can see what we've been building, what's coming next.

Charlie exists to free your business from the friction of HR. We believe you should be pouring your energy into your mission, not your admin, so we build software and services designed to protect your time and help your team thrive. That's what's driven everything we've shipped this year.

In the past six months, we've made meaningful improvements across the board, introducing features like expiry dates for carried over leave, scaled questions in performance reviews, and Microsoft SSO sign in, and much more, all shaped by feedback from founders and HR teams like yours.

And there's plenty more to come. You'll find everything we're working on at the bottom of the page, but I wanted to call out two things in particular. AskCharlie is a new AI powered HR assistant built into Charlie, with expert guidance designed by our Charlie Grow team, launching in beta soon. And eSignature is on its way too, so you'll soon be able to send, sign, and store documents without ever leaving Charlie.

Explore everything that's new and coming soon below.

New to Time off

1. Set limits for any time off type

Set allowance limits for any time off type, not just holiday.

👉 Learn more

2. More control over your leave limits

Make one-off adjustments to any leave type allowance, useful for exceptions without changing the underlying policy.

👉 Learn more

‍3. View your leave usage by leave year or the last 12 months

Toggle between leave year and rolling 12-month usage from a team member's profile.

👉 Learn more

4. Set an expiry date on one-off adjustments

Adjustments like TOIL or gifted days can now be set to expire automatically if unused.

👉 Learn more

5. Set an expiry date on carried-over leave

Carryover that has to be used within a set window now expires automatically, no year-end manual check needed.

👉 Learn more

6. Give hourly workers their own holiday allowance

Hourly team members can now have an allowance that differs from the company default.

👉 Learn more

7. Control which types of leave your team can see and book

Choose exactly which leave types appear for different groups of team members, based on their policy.

👉 Learn more

‍

Smarter, simpler Performance reviews

1. Add scaled questions to your review templates

Build templates with 5-point scale questions alongside free text, so you can gather and export quantitative feedback as well as qualitative.

👉 Learn more

2. Remove or reassign peer feedback requests mid-cycle

Retract unanswered peer requests without it affecting completion stats, and re-add a different peer if needed.

👉 Learn more

3. Edit your review templates, even after you've used them

Make changes to a template at any time, regardless of whether it's been used in a previous cycle.

👉 Learn more

‍

Improvements to our add-on feature, Recruit

1. Spot new candidates and see team sentiment at a glance

New candidates are flagged automatically, profiles show who's already reviewed them, and team sentiment is visible on every card.

👉 Learn more

2. Let candidates apply by scanning a QR code

Generate a QR code for any job and let candidates apply instantly, perfect for job fairs, posters, or print materials.

👉 Learn more

3. Customise candidate statuses to match your hiring process

Manually update candidate statuses, including your own custom ones, so the kanban reflects what's actually happening, even activity that occurs outside the platform.

👉 Learn more

‍

Stronger Security, simpler Sign-in

1. Set a stronger password to keep your account safe

Passwords now need to meet a higher security standard, with a strength meter and real-time feedback to guide you as you set one.

👉 Learn more

2. Sign in with your Microsoft account

Microsoft SSO is now available, team members can now log in using Microsoft SSO for a secure and seamless login.

👉 Learn more

‍

What’s coming next?

Disclaimer: The below is not the full product roadmap, only a small snapshot of what is coming next for Charlie. Items are subject to change.

1. Time off

Different allowances will soon be available for the same time off type.

2. AskCharlie beta

AskCharlie, an AI-powered HR assistant built into Charlie, is launching soon with expert guidance designed by our Charlie Grow team.

3. Docs & employee data

International bank details will soon be able to be stored directly in Charlie.

4. E-signature

Send documents for signature and get them back, all without leaving Charlie. Employment contracts, onboarding paperwork, change of employment documents.

5. Reviews

Line managers will soon be able to create and schedule reviews themselves.

6. Charlie Recruit

Improvements to Email reply handling and Job templates in Recruit.

Ben Gateley

CEO & Co-Founder @ CharlieHR

Ben Gateley is a life-long entrepreneur who co-founded CharlieHR, the HR software built for and loved by UK small businesses, and continues to lead the company as CEO. He also co-founded and led Born Social, a marketing agency that has since been acquired and continues to thrive under new leadership. Ben draws his energy from a mix of passions — HR tech, company culture, and the challenge of building and scaling leadership teams. He also supports operations leaders and professionals in his role as Chair of the Operations Nation board. Such experience makes him an expert in all matters of running and scaling small businesses.

Got an HR challenge?

Time off
I want to track holidays and sick leave
We lose track of who's off and when. Spreadsheets lag behind, and mistakes cause too much stress.
How to manage time off at your small business
10 min read
Read our guide
Docs
I want to securely store employee data
Our HR files are scattered. It's time-consuming, unreliable, and risky for GDPR.
Why you need an employee database (+ free excel template)
6 min read
Read our guide
Perks
I want to offer competitive perks & benefits
We can't offer big perks, and the ones we do often go unused. It hurts morale and retention.
The power of Perks: employee benefits for small businesses
8 min read
Read our guide
Reviews
I want to run impactful performance reviews
Reviews feel rushed and inconsistent. Without clear goals, progress and recognition slip away.
Performance management: the complete guide
8 min read
Read our guide