BambooHR

The look an feel of BambooHR (BHR) is amazing! Its almost like Facebook for recruiting. It is very intuitive for what it does and offers to the administrator and end user. The applicant tracking system is very easy to use and goes the extra mile with automation and thoughtfulness concerning on-boarding and then " flowing" into the core HRIS. The BHR system was chosen by a previous HR professional that clearly had a recruiting bias. Although important, more vetting should have been done to make a sound choice for long term success regarding the needs of a small to mid-size business.

Beyond what I described above there is limited functionality without also purchasing and integrating other systems through a "bolt-on" approach. By "Bolt-on" I mean that BHR will not automate between the core HR system of BHR and a timekeeping system, a payroll system, benefits administration system, leave administration system. The ability to have a robust system is possible but is not practical or cost effective with BambooHR. In order to get a full platform, covering the full life cycle of and employee, through BHR, a business would have to pay upwards of 30-40 dollars per employee per month. Simply put other options are available and far more robust with better long term results for less money- See my review of APS Payroll for an example.

Love the simplicity of the HRIS system to allow for tracking personnel

The payroll system and time management are not as robust as it needs to be. Unlike optional features such as performance or applicant tracking that are not critical to risk management, the payroll and time management must be up to par to ensure customers are compliant with state regulations, able to identify and correct discrepancies quickly, and able to customize reporting to identify labor cost trends. Unfortunately, the payroll and time tracking doesn't relate.1 Example: We cannot track if meals are being taken or the system does not alert us when someone does not take their required lunch breaks. Depending on state, there are penalties associated with this2 Example: If an employee is scheduled to be terminated on a specific day, they are automatically taken out of the system before ensuring they were paid their last check. States have many different regulations around when a former employee must be paid their final check. We would have to alter the person's last day and final pay date in order to process their last check, which can cause incorrect records if we forget to switch the dates back to correct separation date. If we schedule termination ahead of time, we have no way of tracking who is up for termination soon or no notice that the person was removed from payroll ensuring timely payment. 3 Example: Timetracking is more than just about having the ability to clock in and out with approval. There is very limited reporting that can be pulled to track labor cost