Managing employee absences, attendance, and PTO can be a difficult task for any business. Depending on which leave management methods you’re using, there can be a lot of time, effort, and investment required to keep workflows running smoothly.
Fortunately, implementing a reliable leave management software system can be your proverbial port in the employee leave “storm.” With the right leave management software, you can streamline PTO requests for both employees and managers.
Need some help figuring out which software to use? Look no further! This post will review some of the top leave management software systems out there so you can make the best decision for your team.
What is Leave Management Software?
Leave management tools streamline requesting, approving, and tracking paid leave. Think of these tools as your HR team’s hyper-organized personal assistant that makes the PTO process simpler – for both employees and employers.
Types of Time-Off (Leaves)
Life is busy for us all, and there are plenty of reasons why employees may have to take leave. Let’s take a look:
Bereavement: Employees use this type of leave upon the death of a loved one. They can take this time to cope, make funeral arrangements, and attend any funeral services.
Compensatory Time: Also known as Comp Time, this is paid time off due to irregular or periodic overtime.
FMLA: Employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave annually. During this period, the health benefits provided by the company remain in effect.
Jury Duty: 32 million people get summoned to jury duty every year! Employed or not, Americans must show up for jury duty. If a federal, local, or state court issues a jury duty summons your employees, they must attend.
Parental Leave: This leave is used when someone has a new child, and can include maternity leave, paternity leave, and time off for adoptions.
Personal Time: This leave can be used to take care of personal matters like doctor's appointments or anything that isn't classified as sick leave or vacation.
Sick Leave: This is one of the most common reasons employees have to call out or request off from work. It’s miserable to work when you’re sick, and the last thing you want as a manager is a sick employee spreading their illness to other employees.
Vacation Days: Most employers offer vacation days, though the number can vary between companies.
Voting: This is time for employees to take off to vote in presidential, state, and local elections.
Best Leave Management Software Systems
Now that we’ve reviewed some different leave types, it’s time to review the tools that can help you manage them! Having the correct leave management system will make it easier to track and approve time off requests, monitor employee absences, and ensure that labor laws and regulations are being followed.
Here are some good leave management systems to try:
TeamSense
TeamSense offers the best attendance management tools for manufacturing and warehousing teams. Businesses with hourly and traveling workforces (think construction) can track all absences, call-offs and scheduled leave without headaches, endless paperwork, or confusing technology.
TeamSense enables your employees to submit leave requests where they are: on their mobile phones. Our absence management capabilities allow employees to report absences and request time off via text–eliminating the need for company email addresses, phone calls, and complicated phone apps. Employees simply text a keyword to their company’s number and fill out a short, intuitive survey. Managers are alerted immediately and then can use TeamSense’s additional text messaging communication tools to easily fill open shifts.
We designed TeamSense to provide communication methods that both employees and supervisors easily buy into.
Key Features & Services:
Request leave, call-off via text, and simple absence survey workflows. No apps are required!
Automated IVR system
Employee engagement surveys and recognition programs
Mark-your-self safe feature for safety check-ins
Self-service access for employees to request time off or view employee handbooks, policies, and forms
Attendance insights and reporting
19 language options
Pricing:
Pricing is simple and straightforward based on the number of employees, not usage.
Basic: Streamlined attendance management via text.
Pro: Attendance management with real-time insights and trends.
Advanced: Digital connection with your frontline workforce.
Connected and engaged employees just get more done! It’s time to make the switch to TeamSense.
BambooHR
BambooHR is a platform that can handle HR, time tracking, PTO, payroll, benefits, and more from one place. Employees can clock in and out of work from their phones, edit time sheets, and track the time spent on projects. The platform also has automatic reminders for employees to update their schedules and get their timesheets approved.
Other services BambooHR offers are digital time requests, enrollment windows, hiring and onboarding, and reporting.
Key Features:
A mobile app employees can use to clock in and out of work
Project tracking
Time-off calculator can check and calculate current PTO balances
Customizable PTO policies that include location, department, etc
Pricing: BambooHR offers two plans, Essentials and Advantage, along with add-ons for payroll, benefits administration, performance management, and time tracking. Pricing for plans is only available by getting a quote.
Calamari
Calamari's system for managing employee absences is designed to help human resources departments keep track of attendance and time away from work. Their calendars keep track of vacations, days off, working remotely, and more.
Managers can keep track of employee shifts or rest periods and approve or reject time requests, while employees can clock in and out of work, schedule or ask for time off, and calculate PTO.
Key Features:
Can track employee vacation days, and remote work in shared calendars
Automation for all calculations and absence according to your PTO policy
Manages all kinds of absences including maternity, vacation, etc
Support five languages: English, German, Polish, French, and Spanish
Pricing:
- Annually
Leave management: $1.7 per employee, per month
Clock-in/Clock-out: $2 per employee, per month
Core HR: 1.7 per employee, per month
- Monthly
Leave management: $2 per employee, per month
Clock-in/Clock-out: $2.5 per employee, per month
Core HR: $2 per employee, per month
Absence.io
Absence.io is an absence management software used to help manage and monitor employee data and documents, absences, vacations, and more. Employees can send in requests, view remaining vacation days, and choose substitutions for their shifts.
Absence.io can also generate reports, send notifications to employees and managers, and support up to seven languages.
Key Features:
Marking and managing absences entries with labels
Absences are synchronized with personal calendars
E-mail notifications
Available in seven languages
Pricing: Each of their packages (Vacation Tracking, Time Tracking, and Digital Personnel Files) cost 2 Euros per user, per month.
LeaveBoard
LeaveBoard is an online system designed to help manage employee time off. Employees can use the app to submit vacation requests that managers can review using the HR dashboard. LeaveBoard also provides databases for employees, absence reports, a calculator to determine employee entitlements, and a staff leave planner.
Key Features:
Employees have access to self-service portals
Employees can manage and request their leaves
Able to create custom time-off policies
Access all employee HR data and documents from one place
Integrates into Slack and will notify you when an employee is taking time off, working from home, etc.
Pricing:
Free
Pro: $1.35 per employee, per month
Enterprise: Request a demo
Leave Dates
Leaves Dates is a leave management system that lets users request leave online through their website or mobile app. The software also highlights any overlaps in employee vacations to let managers know if multiple employees will be out of the office simultaneously. Leave Dates offers their users daily reports in Slack and other systems, allowance tracking, dashboard reporting, and more.
Key Features:
Customizable leave types, allowances, and staff schedules
Import public/federal holidays into calendars
Bulk uploads all employee, leave, and allowance data when migrating systems
Data is secured in an encrypted cloud database
Color-coded calendar
Pricing:
Free Forever Plan: For up to five users
Pay an additional $1 per employee per month if you have more than five employees
PurelyHR
PurelyHR, formerly known as Time-Off, was founded in 2010. The software helps identify and track workplace absenteeism and can assist with recruiting, employee management, and more. PurelyHR can keep track of employee performance, send out warnings and reminders, give reports on employee training, and distribute training materials.
Key Features:
Fully customizable time-off policies
Shared leave calendar can sync with Outlook, Apple, and Google
Pre-built report templates
Send notifications for PTO, pending requests, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
Can track remote work, FMLA, banked time, and more
Pricing:
Annually: $4.50 per employee
Monthly: $5 per employee
Timetastic
Timetastic is an absence management system that tracks vacation and paid time off. It sends out weekly reminders and notifications for when an employee takes time off and updates appropriate calendars with the request. Managers can keep track of how many days their employees have taken off and how much paid time off they have left.
Key Features:
PTO requests are recorded and tracked in real time
Calendar updates whenever an employee requests a vacation
Weekly schedules and daily notifications about employees
Tracks and sends reminders of employee birthdays
Pricing:
30-day free trial
$1.30 per user/per month
Best Practices for Managing Employee Leave & Attendance
Now that we’ve gone over some good leave management systems, it’s time to review a few actionable tips to help you handle employee leave like a pro!
Make Call Off Simple
Making it easy for your employee to call out of work is one of the best ways to avoid no-shows and reduce absenteeism in the workplace. Not only is a simplified call-off method a time saver, but a stress saver too!
The best way to end the call-off chaos? It’s not manual spreadsheets or confusing phone apps. It’s TeamSense.
TeamSense is a text-based attendance tracking system that makes it easy for employees to call out – without having to download apps or remember login information. Employees just send a quick text to a company number and fill out the short, intuitive survey they receive back.
As soon as the survey is submitted, managers are notified and can determine shift coverage also through text. Our system also allows you to track employee attendance and access past absence information in case of conflicts.
Ready to experience effortless attendance tracking?
About the Author
Jackie Jones, Employee Relations and Attendance Expert
Jackie brings a wealth of knowledge in fostering positive workplace environments and streamlining attendance management. With a passion for helping businesses create efficient and supportive workplaces, she focuses on developing strategies that enhance employee satisfaction and operational efficiency. Jackie's expertise in employee relations ensures a deep understanding of the challenges faced by hourly workers and their employers, making her insights invaluable for organizations seeking to improve their attendance processes.
