8 top absence management software solutions to streamline employee leave

Personio’s all-in-one HR software solution comes with specific absence management features like employee self-service tools, leave calendars and easy approvals. 

It simplifies the process of requesting, reviewing and tracking absences and allows managers to assign someone to cover during an employee's time off while approving leave – all in one click. 

You can create and customise absence and accrual policies that align with company guidelines and local regulations wherever your team is based. 

The platform helps you keep track of leave balances and generate accurate absence reports, ensuring compliance with company policies. 

Personio’s user-friendly interface makes it easy for team members to navigate the system. Plus, you can customise settings to fit your specific needs, meaning it’s a flexible solution for any organisation.

The tool is designed to be scalable and adaptable, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes and from a range of industries.

• Streamlined requests: Employees can easily request leave, and managers can approve it with just a few clicks.

• Customisable policies: Tailor leave policies to meet your organisation’s unique requirements.

• Real-time reporting: Gain insights into absence management trends with Personio’s powerful analytics tools.

• Up-to-date leave balances: Team members can quickly see how many days they have left thanks to automatic time off calculations.  

• Integrated solutions: Sync with payroll, popular calendars such as Google Calendar and Outlook Calendar, collaboration tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams and other HR systems for a seamless experience.

Simpler absence management, for employees and managers

Personio’s end-to-end absence management system makes it easier to request and approve time off, saving your team time.

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Timetastic’s straightforward solution helps you manage employee absence, from annual leave and public holidays to sick days, maternity leave and unpaid leave. 

It prioritises efficiency by integrating with popular calendars, making it easy for everyone in your organisation to view leave dates.

Note that Timetastic focuses solely on absence management. While this keeps the monthly price low, it means you’ll need additional tools to build a complete HR tech stack. 

This can lead to more complexity and potentially higher expenses, as managing multiple tools can be complicated and time-consuming.

• Individual calendars: Every employee gets a personal calendar to track their holidays, view upcoming time off and check their remaining allowance. 

• Calendar integrations: Sync Timetastic with your preferred calendar, whether it’s Outlook, Gmail or Apple Calendar. 

• App and email notifications: Employees can send leave requests directly through the app, and managers can approve or decline them via email.

Breathe offers a comprehensive absence management tool designed to simplify HR admin for UK-based SMEs with up to 200 employees, with features like an employee holiday tracker and a convenient calendar view. 

While Breathe offers an all-in-one HR solution that includes people management and shift planning, features like rota management and time tracking come at an added cost.

• Custom sickness triggers: Set specific sickness trigger rules, such as Bradford Factor levels or the number of sickness instances. Breathe alerts you when an employee reaches these levels, helping you proactively manage absenteeism.

• Employee portal: A user-friendly portal empowers employees to book time off, log sickness with supporting documents and view their leave balances – in one place. 

• Integration with calendars: Sync Breathe with your Office 365 or Google Calendar to ensure all leave booked is visible, making it easier to plan and avoid clashes.

Sage HR’s absence management features include custom approval flows and the ability to sign off on leave from various channels, like email, their mobile app or Slack. These features help streamline attendance and leave tracking.

Just note that Sage HR’s pricing model is module based, so while leave management is included with the Core HR plan, timesheets and shift scheduling incur additional costs per employee per month.

• Real-time reporting: Sage HR offers real-time reporting to monitor and track attendance. This feature helps identify trends and spot attendance issues early.

• Shared calendar: The shared calendar feature allows everyone to see when colleagues are on leave. 

• Employee self-service: Employees can access their accounts to check leave balances, request time off and view their leave history.

Factorial’s time management features include custom PTO policies, a calendar view to check employee availability and time off request notifications for HR teams and managers. 

Note that some Capterra users have reported difficulties with limited integrations and challenges when trying to connect Factorial with third-party tools.

• Customisable time off policies: Factorial allows users to create tailored PTO policies and leave approval workflows. 

• Time off calendar: The time off calendar provides a comprehensive overview of team absences, helping you avoid scheduling conflicts and plan effectively.

• Self-service portal: Employees can easily manage their time off requests, check their leave balances and update personal data through the intuitive self-service portal.

Leave Dates offers a straightforward tool that simplifies holiday booking and leave tracking with features like a live shared wall chart and daily reports.

The platform focuses solely on leave management and lacks comprehensive HR functionalities such as payroll, recruitment and talent management. This means businesses needing a full-range HR tool will need to invest in additional software.

• Live shared wall chart: This feature provides a real-time, shared overview of your team’s availability. 

• Easy leave requests: Employees can request time off and managers are instantly notified. 

• Calendar connectivity: Leave Dates seamlessly syncs with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook.

Sloneek’s time management features include absence management, activity and time tracking and an attendance system.

The platform is a good fit for organisations looking for a highly automated and intelligent absence management system. However, its integration limitations might pose challenges for some users.

• Flexible reporting: Sloneek offers configurable reports that provide important statistics on absence management.

• Working time fund: Each employee's working hours are individually defined, allowing for an accurate calculation of their monthly working time fund.

• Mobile absence management: Employees and managers can handle leave requests and approvals via the mobile app, ensuring convenience and flexibility on the go.

AttendanceBot is designed to manage time off, time tracking and employee scheduling directly within Slack and Microsoft Teams.

This tool is ideal for teams using Slack or Microsoft Teams that need an integrated tool for managing time off and attendance. However, its platform limitations and pricing structure may not be suitable for every organisation. 

• Custom leave types and quotas: AttendanceBot lets you set up unlimited types of leave and define accrual policies. 

• Integrated calendar: The platform integrates seamlessly with Google, Microsoft Outlook and Apple calendars, ensuring that all leave data is up-to-date and easily accessible.

• Leave requests via chat: Employees can request leave by simply sending a message in Slack or Microsoft Teams. Managers can approve these requests in real-time, directly within the chat.

Choosing the right absence and leave management software can transform how you handle employee leave. Here are the top features and factors to consider.

1. User-friendly: You need a tool that’s easy to navigate. A simple and intuitive interface ensures your whole team can use it without extensive training.

2. Customisable leave policies: Every organisation is unique and your software should allow you to tailor leave policies to fit your company’s policies, ensuring compliance and flexibility.

3. Automated workflows: Automating leave requests, approvals and notifications saves you time and reduces the risk of human error. 

4. Integration capabilities: Your absence management tool should seamlessly integrate with your existing software, such as payroll and performance management tools, to make your HR processes smooth and connected. 

5. Comprehensive reporting and analytics: Detailed reports and analytics help you track leave trends, identify patterns and make data-driven decisions. You can then improve your absence management strategies based on these insights.

6. Mobile accessibility: A mobile-friendly platform (or better yet, a dedicated mobile app) allows employees to request leave and check their balances on the go, making it more convenient and accessible for your team.

Effective absence management tools can simplify your HR processes, save you time and help reduce errors. And by centralising leave tracking, you can gain valuable insights into employee absence and improve overall efficiency.

Personio’s comprehensive HR solution integrates leave management into the rest of your HR operations, from time tracking to payroll, to keep all your processes centralised on one powerful platform. 

Ready to streamline your absence management? Consider a comprehensive solution like Personio to support your HR needs and enhance your team's experience. Speak with one of our HR experts today to learn more. 

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Create custom policies and give your employees the flexibility to book their own leave for streamlined leave management.

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