
If your employee details are spread across spreadsheets, emails and disconnected apps, Breathe brings them together. It's a UK HR platform launched in 2012 for small and medium-sized businesses. More than 17,000 of them use it, along with over 1,000 UK HR consultancies.
Three everyday HR problems Breathe fixes
Information everywhere: one central, accurate record for every employee.
Endless chasing: staff book leave, sign documents electronically and follow shared workflows.
A small HR team: start with the essentials and add more as you grow.
The essentials: Core HR
Store records and documents securely, manage holiday and leave, track sickness and absence, and let staff update their own details. Collect e-signatures, set goals, run one-to-ones and reviews, and spot trends with built-in reports.
Optional extras
Rota, Time and Attendance: plan shifts and track hours
Expenses: claims, receipts and manager sign-off
Recruitment: advertise roles and follow each candidate
Health and Safety: risk assessments, incidents and compliance evidence
e-Learning: assign UK-specific courses and see who's completed what
Breathe is also building an AI Assistant to answer HR and policy questions, and plans to launch payroll in late 2026.
Who gets the most from it
UK organisations with up to 200 people, particularly charities, schools, healthcare, retail, start-ups and professional services firms with lean HR. If you need multinational payroll, global compliance or enterprise workforce planning, weigh it up first.
Pricing, support and security
Plans start from £24 a month for your whole organisation, with no long-term contracts or hidden fees. Try it free for 14 days, with UK-based support from setup onwards. Breathe holds ISO 27001 and ISO 42001 accreditation and keeps your data in UK data centres, protected by encryption and access controls.
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Most HR software is built for the US market and adapted for Canada as an afterthought — missing native payroll compliance, storing data on American servers, and offering no French-language support. Folks is different. A Canadian-owned platform designed from day one for the way Canadian businesses actually run.
Folks handles CRA-compliant payroll natively: automatic T4 and RL-1 generation, ROE filing to Service Canada, CPP/QPP/CPP2 and EI deductions, multi-province tax calculations, WSIB/WCB, Ontario EHT, and direct deposit — no third-party payroll provider needed. The platform also covers HRIS, applicant tracking with AI-powered candidate matching and integrations with Indeed, LinkedIn, Jobillico, and Talent.com, plus performance management with 360° evaluations.
SOC 2 Type 2 certified, with all data hosted exclusively in Canada — governed by PIPEDA and provincial privacy laws, not the US CLOUD Act. Fully bilingual in English and French. Plans start at $6/employee/month. 1,200+ Canadian SMBs across manufacturing, construction, healthcare, non-profit, and professional services already made the switch.
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Vacation Tracker
Vacation Tracker simplifies the intricate process of managing employee leave into a seamless, automated system tailored for expanding teams. With features that allow for customizable leave policies, the creation of various departments and locations, and the automation of intricate calculations such as rollovers and PTO accruals, our tool offers extensive personalization options to meet your needs.
You can effortlessly request, approve, and monitor your leave activities in one centralized platform, equipped with numerous convenient features:
- Notifications sent daily or weekly to keep your team updated on all forthcoming leaves
- A straightforward one-click process for leave requests and approvals, including an option for auto-approval
- Support for as many as 25 customizable leave types
- The capability to establish multiple departments and locations
- An employee team leave calendar and Wallchart that offers a quick overview of upcoming leaves
- Location-specific leave policy configurations
- Automated employee PTO accruals and rollovers, among other functionalities
- The option to request leave in hourly increments
- The ability to export detailed reports on employee leave data
- Custom filtering options through Locations, Departments, Labels, or any combination of these
- Compatibility with your preferred external calendars
Vacation Tracker is readily accessible through Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, iOS, Android or directly via email, ensuring that managing leave can be as straightforward and efficient as possible for organizations of any size. By integrating these tools, teams can foster better communication and planning regarding time off, ultimately enhancing overall productivity.
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absence.io
Absence io offers a variety of features aimed at streamlining the management of absences and vacation scheduling. Gone are the days of cumbersome written requests, as the platform's workflow management makes approval processes seamless. Users can now effortlessly request time off with just a click on available dates, while both HR and employees have access to a shared calendar that enhances visibility. This system effectively mitigates issues like overbooking or scheduling conflicts, while also simplifying the configuration of work schedules. Employees benefit significantly from the increased transparency, allowing them to align their vacation plans more effectively with their colleagues' absences. Moreover, the platform provides a well-organized vacation substitute system, enabling individuals to enjoy their time off without worry. Queries about remaining vacation days and public holidays are resolved instantly, as the system displays this information automatically, making the entire process more efficient and user-friendly. Overall, absence io transforms how organizations handle leave management, ensuring a smoother experience for everyone involved.
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