HR built for animal collections: staff and volunteers in one place
The rota, the fire register, holiday, training, contracts and payroll, made for zoos, sanctuaries and falconry centres. Volunteers are included, and UK employment law is kept up to date for you.
- Volunteers included, no per-person fee
- £35 a month on AAL & Zoo plans
- No contract, cancel any time
- UK-based support
Not office HR with animals bolted on
General HR software is built for offices. Animal collections run on early shifts, weekend cover, volunteers and safety training, so we built HR around that.
Volunteers included
Every plan has unlimited users, so volunteers get the same rota, training and records as staff at no extra cost.
All in one place
Rota, fire register, training and compliance sit together, next to your animal records, with one login for everyone.
UK law kept up to date
Law Watch follows changes to UK employment law, and we update the system and tell you what they mean.
Made for collections
Built with zoos, sanctuaries and falconry centres, for shift work, outdoor sites and animal-handling training.
Every person, every record, one profile
Staff and volunteers each get one profile with everything about them, so nothing lives in a filing cabinet or someone's inbox.
Staff & volunteer profiles
Contact details, job role, start date, hours and notes, for paid staff and volunteers alike.
Emergency contacts
Who to call if something happens on site, there in a couple of taps.
Your own fields
Add the extra details your collection needs, like licences held or animal groups worked with.
Org chart
See who manages whom, so requests and approvals go to the right person automatically.
Documents with expiry dates
Store certificates and documents on each person, with a reminder before they run out.
Right to work checks
Record each check, the documents seen and when a follow-up check is due.
DBS records
Keep DBS certificate numbers, levels and renewal dates for the people who need them.
Reasonable adjustments
Write down what's been agreed so every manager supports the person the same way.
Benefits
Track the benefits each person gets, from uniform to free entry for family.
Data export
Hand someone a copy of everything held about them when they ask for it.
Leaver anonymising
Once you no longer need a leaver's details, anonymise them while keeping the records you must keep.
From advert to first day, without the spreadsheet
Advertise, shortlist, interview and welcome new starters and volunteers in one flow.
Vacancies
Create a job or volunteer role once and share the link anywhere.
Public jobs page
A careers page for your collection, set up so roles can appear in Google search for jobs.
Application forms
Ask the questions that matter to you, with parental consent built in for under-18s.
CV upload
Applicants attach their CV, and it stays with their application.
References
Request references by email and keep the replies on file.
Interview scheduling
Book interviews and trial days and let everyone involved know.
Interview scorecards
Score each candidate against the same questions, so decisions are fair and recorded.
Talent pool
Keep good candidates on file for the next role that comes up.
Equality monitoring
Collect equality information separately from the application, so it never affects shortlisting.
Offer letters
Send an offer letter in a few clicks, from your own template.
E-signatures
New starters sign online, on a phone or a computer.
Onboarding checklist
Every new starter gets the same checklist, so nothing is missed in the first week.
Paperwork that writes and signs itself
Contracts, letters and policies built from your templates and signed online.
Employment contracts
Contracts filled in from the person's profile, ready to send.
Offer letters
Professional offers that match your contracts.
Your letterhead
Every letter and PDF carries your logo and details.
Policies
Share your handbook and policies and see who has read and signed them.
Sign by typing or drawing
People sign by typing their name or drawing their signature with a finger.
The rota, and the hours behind it
Plan the week, cover the gaps and know who is on site, with UK working-time rules checked as you go.
Rota builder
Build and publish the rota in minutes, then share it to everyone's phone.
Open shifts
Post a shift nobody has and let the team offer to cover it.
Shift swaps
Staff arrange swaps between themselves, with a manager approving.
Availability
Everyone sets when they can and can't work, including volunteers.
Minimum staffing
Get a warning when a day drops below the cover you need.
Wage budget
See what the rota will cost before you publish it.
Sunday opt-outs & night workers
Respect Sunday working opt-outs and flag night workers.
Working time checks
Warnings for rest breaks and weekly hours, with the stricter rules for young workers.
Fire register clock-in
Clock in and out on the fire register with a QR code at the gate and a location check.
Timesheets
Hours come from sign-ins, checked against the rota and approved each pay period.
Overtime
Overtime worked out and shown clearly for approval.
Time off in lieu
Bank extra hours as time off and take them later, with a running balance.
Holiday and sickness, worked out properly
Allowances, requests and absences handled the way UK rules expect, so you can stop checking the maths.
Holiday in days or hours
Allowances in whichever suits each person, with bank holidays worked out for you.
Irregular hours (12.07%)
Holiday builds up at 12.07% of hours worked for irregular-hours and part-year staff.
Carry-over
Set how much unused holiday rolls into the next year.
Blackout dates
Block busy days, like school holidays or events, from holiday requests.
Clash warnings
See who else is off before you approve a request.
Absence reporting
Staff report sickness from their phone, and the right manager is told.
Sick pay & SSP
Statutory Sick Pay and your own sick pay scheme worked out for each absence.
Fit notes
Upload fit notes against the absence they cover.
Bradford Factor
Spot patterns of short, frequent absences early.
Return to work
A return-to-work conversation recorded after every absence.
Lateness
Record lateness and see patterns without keeping a separate list.
Family leave & pay
Maternity, paternity, adoption and shared parental leave and pay, including KIT and SPLIT days.
Flexible working
Handle requests within the legal time limits, with the decision recorded.
Carer's, neonatal & bereavement leave
The newer kinds of leave, set up and tracked like any other.
Ready for payroll, every period
Everything your payroll needs, checked against UK rules before it leaves the building.
Pay periods
Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly or monthly, set to match your payroll.
Payroll downloads
Download the approved hours and pay for each period for your payroll provider.
Minimum wage checks
Pay is checked against the current GOV.UK National Minimum and Living Wage rates.
Pension auto-enrolment checks
See who needs to be enrolled as their age and earnings change.
Payslips
Share payslips so each person can see theirs in the app.
Pay reviews & salary bands
Run a pay review round across the team within the bands you set.
Expenses & mileage
Claims with photos of receipts and mileage worked out, approved in the app.
Tips & tronc
Share out tips fairly and keep a record of how it was done.
Help people grow, and keep a record of it
Reviews, training and the difficult conversations, all written down in one place.
Probation
Reminders and review forms for the end of each probation period.
Appraisals
Regular reviews with the same questions for everyone.
1-to-1s
Notes and actions from each catch-up, kept for next time.
Goals
Set goals together and track progress through the year.
Feedback
Share praise and feedback whenever it's due.
Performance improvement
A clear plan, with review dates, when someone needs extra support.
Grievance & disciplinary
Follow a fair process step by step, with every letter and meeting recorded.
Training courses with quizzes
Build your own courses on animal handling, safety and procedures, with quizzes at the end.
Competencies
Practical sign-offs, like handling a particular species, recorded by the person who checked.
Training requests
Staff ask for training, and managers approve it.
Certificates
A PDF certificate for every course completed.
A team that feels heard
Give staff and volunteers a voice, and keep everyone in the loop.
Team Voice
Ideas, requests and concerns raised by the team, with managers replying in the open.
Speak Up
A confidential way to report a concern, kept away from the people involved.
Birthdays & anniversaries
A reminder so nobody's birthday or work anniversary is forgotten.
Announcements
News to the whole team, straight to their phones.
Team chat
Chat in the app instead of a personal WhatsApp group.
Keep on the right side of employment law
Set-up help, reminders and a record of who did what, so you can show you got it right.
HR set-up checklist
A step-by-step list that gets your HR set up properly from day one.
UK Law Watch
When UK employment law changes, we tell you what it means and update the system.
DSE assessments
Display screen assessments for anyone who works at a computer.
Data protection
Retention rules, access controls and data requests handled in line with UK GDPR.
Digests, not email floods
Managers get one tidy summary instead of an email for every little thing.
Audit trail
A record of who changed what and when, ready if you're ever asked.
Typical HR software vs. built for collections
What you usually get from general HR software, and what you get here.
One price for the whole team
Add the HR & Compliance Suite to any AAL or Zoo plan. Staff and volunteers are all included, with no per-person charge.
First month free on monthly plans. No contract, cancel any time.
HR questions, answered
Do I pay extra for volunteers?
No. Every plan includes unlimited users, so all your staff and volunteers can use the HR & Compliance Suite at no extra cost.
Which plans can I add HR to?
The HR & Compliance Suite is an add-on for AAL and Zoo plans. You can add it when you sign up or at any time afterwards.
How much does it cost?
The HR & Compliance Suite is £35 a month on top of your plan, with no per-person charge. Monthly plans start with a free month and there's no contract.
Does it run our payroll?
It gets everything ready for payroll: approved hours, holiday, sick pay, overtime and expenses for each pay period, checked against minimum wage rates. You download it for your payroll provider or accountant.
How do you keep up with changes to UK employment law?
Law Watch follows changes to UK employment law. When something changes, we update the system and tell you what it means for your collection in plain English.
Can staff use it on their phones?
Yes. Staff and volunteers use the iPhone and Android apps to see the rota, request holiday, report sickness, sign documents and clock in on the fire register.
HR that works the way your collection does
Bring your staff and volunteers into one place. Start your free month, with no contract and UK support from day one.