Enterprise DNA

Instead of Employment Hero

Stop renting Employment Hero. Own your HR system.

We build your version around your employers, your policies and your managers, bring your Employment Hero staff records across and run it for you. Every employee is a record, not a monthly charge.

Employment Hero lists HR Essentials at $10 and HR Engage at $14 per user on its Australian pricing page, with at least 10 users billed, and add-ons such as HR Advisory at $14 per employee a month. HR Elite and the tier with payroll are quoted privately.

Get your version built See it working
  • check_circleYour data in a database you own
  • check_circleOpen source, no lock-in
  • check_circleBuilt and run by Enterprise DNA

What the subscription pays for

An HR bill that counts every person, every month

Underneath, an HR system holds employees, agreements, leave, reviews, tickets and policies. Most of what you pay for is the screen on top and the features held back for higher tiers.

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Every employee is a charge

The plans are priced per user, so the bill rises with every hire, including casuals who work a few shifts a month.

rule

A ten-user minimum

Each HR plan bills at least 10 users, or the number in your agreement if that is higher than the people actually active.

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Reviews sit a tier up

Performance reviews, one-on-ones, feedback and learning are in HR Engage, not HR Essentials. Goals, 360s and analytics are in the quoted tier above that.

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Add-ons per head

HR Advisory is $14 per employee a month and LMS Plus is $17, each with its own monthly minimum, on top of the plan.

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Payroll means a quote

Only the top tier, Employment Unlimited, includes payroll, and it is priced by quote. Managed payroll is another add-on.

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Leaving means a template

Staff details come out through an import template filled with your employees. The signatures trail, workflows and settings stay behind.

Your own HR records

The jobs an employer does every week, as plain questions

Records that hold up

Know what would fail an inspection

Every record is checked against NZ and Australian rules, each with its source, so gaps show before an inspector or a lawyer finds them.

  • check A signed agreement for every NZ employee, and trial clauses signed before day one
  • check Fair Work, casual and fixed-term information statements given on time, with the casual schedule for small and larger employers
  • check Australian fixed-term contracts that run past two years or were renewed twice
  • check Visas expired or expiring, and required tickets that have lapsed

Trials and reviews

No trial period runs out unnoticed

Trials, probation and annual reviews sit with the manager who owes them, with how many days are left.

  • check Trials ending in the next fortnight with no review recorded
  • check People past their first year with no annual review done or booked
  • check Overdue one-on-ones by manager
  • check The next annual review booked when one is completed

Leave and cover

Leave decided, cover planned

Requests, approvals and who is away sit next to the balances from payroll.

  • check Requests nobody has answered, with the manager who owes the decision
  • check Who is away in the next two weeks, by department
  • check Annual leave balances over eight weeks, flagged
  • check The annual leave liability by employer, from your payroll figures

Joiners, leavers and policies

Every checklist finished

A new starter gets the onboarding list for their country, a leaver gets the offboarding list, and new policy versions go to everyone they apply to.

  • check Onboarding and offboarding tasks overdue, with the owner
  • check Who has not acknowledged the current version of each policy
  • check A letter of offer and a certificate of service drafted from the record
  • check Reminders drafted to each person, for someone to check and send

Make it yours

Design your own Employment Hero replacement

Everything starts from the open-source base. Then it gets your name, the parts you run, your rules and your data from Employment Hero. Try it here, and we build the real one.

2. What it runs

3. Make it fit

4. Your colour

Your business · your Employment Hero replacement Your version
YB Your business

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Answered from your own database

Build my version

We build it from the open-source base, bring your Employment Hero data across and run it for you.

What it looks like

Ask it like you would ask a colleague

Real answers from the demo data that ships with HR for Claude Code. It runs in Claude Code inside the Claude app, so it feels like any chat you already use.

forum

HR for Claude Code

Connected to your own database

Is anything in our employment records that would not stand up if the labour inspector or Fair Work came in tomorrow?

AU-CEIS

Item
Chloe Nguyen (Totara Foods Australia Pty Ltd)
Finding
CEIS due 2026-09-10, last given 2025-09-10

AU-FIXED-TERM-LIMIT

Item
Ravi Patel (Totara Foods Australia Pty Ltd)
Finding
Fixed term runs 2025-12-10 to 2028-06-10, more than two years

AU-FTCIS

Item
Ravi Patel (Totara Foods Australia Pty Ltd)
Finding
FTCIS due 2025-12-10, never recorded as given

AU-FWIS

Item
Emily Scott (Totara Foods Australia Pty Ltd)
Finding
FWIS due 2026-09-20, never recorded as given

NZ-AEWV-TRIAL

Item
Kai Parata (Totara Foods NZ Ltd)
Finding
Trial period in an AEWV holder's agreement (accredited employer)

NZ-TRIAL-PERIOD

Item
Priya Sharma (Totara Foods NZ Ltd)
Finding
Trial clause signed 2026-09-07, after starting 2026-09-05

NZ-WRITTEN-AGREEMENT

Item
Grace Liu (Totara Foods NZ Ltd)
Finding
No signed employment agreement on file. Started 2025-08-10

REQUIRED-CERTIFICATION

Item
Sam Tuilagi (Totara Foods NZ Ltd)
Finding
Forklift operator certificate (F endorsement) expired 2026-09-30

RIGHT-TO-WORK

Item
Noah Smith (Totara Foods Australia Pty Ltd)
Finding
Visa (Skills in Demand (482)) expired 2026-10-05

Ask it anything

Ten questions your HR records answer

Working examples from the free version on its demo data. The answers come from your own records.

chat_bubble Who is on a 90-day trial that ends in the next fortnight with no review done?
chat_bubble Which trial periods will not hold because the agreement was signed after the person started?
chat_bubble Which casuals are due the Casual Employment Information Statement again?
chat_bubble Whose visa expires in the next 60 days, and is anyone working on one that has expired?
chat_bubble Who is driving a forklift on a ticket that has lapsed?
chat_bubble Which leave requests has nobody answered, and which manager owes the answer?
chat_bubble Who has not had an annual review in the last twelve months, and none is booked?
chat_bubble Who has not acknowledged the new Health and Safety Policy?
chat_bubble Who is carrying more than eight weeks of annual leave?
chat_bubble Which Australian fixed-term contracts run past the two-year limit?

Switching

How to switch from Employment Hero

The move involves exporting employee records, checking how your fields and history map, reviewing the import, and running both systems side by side briefly before you switch.

  1. 1

    Download employee records

    In Employment Hero, go to People, then Import Employees, then Advanced Import Employees, and download the template. Include existing and terminated employees so the export covers current staff and people who have left. Save it as a CSV for the import. Agreements, statements, tickets, policies and reviews may need to come from your own files or spreadsheets if they are not in that employee template.

  2. 2

    Test the employee import

    Load the employee CSV as a test first. HR for Claude Code checks the rows without saving them, and saves nothing until every row reads cleanly. It accepts common column names and links employees to their managers after all rows are in. Leave balances are imported separately from a payroll report as a snapshot, so prepare that report if you want balances included.

  3. 3

    Review import flags and gaps

    Check any rows the import flags and resolve errors before saving. Then compare the imported employee records with Employment Hero, including names, employment details, reporting lines and terminated staff. Decide which history to bring across. Agreements, statements, tickets, policies and reviews can be recorded from your files or spreadsheets, and moving those for you is part of Enterprise DNA's switch service.

  4. 4

    Run both systems briefly

    Keep Employment Hero available while you use the new database for a short period. Check that the people records and the history you chose to bring across are present, and confirm your usual HR work can be handled there. Payroll stays in your payroll system, such as Xero, MYOB or KeyPay. If Employment Hero runs your payroll today, moving it is a separate step to plan.

  5. 5

    Switch off Employment Hero

    Once you have checked the records and are comfortable using the new system for your HR work, stop relying on Employment Hero and cancel it through your usual account process. Keep any records you need to retain in a suitable place. Do not treat the move as a payroll migration: pay runs, tax, KiwiSaver, super and returns remain in your payroll system unless you plan a separate move.

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Where the real effort goes

The main work is usually mapping your own fields and rules, then deciding how much history to bring. The employee template covers employee details, but agreements, statements, tickets, policies and reviews may need separate files or spreadsheets. Leave balances come from payroll. Enterprise DNA handles this mapping and history work when you have them run the switch.

Not ready for a call?

Get your Employment Hero switch plan by email

We will send you the step-by-step plan for moving your business off Employment Hero, what the move really involves, and how we would do it for you.

One email with your plan. No spam, and you can unsubscribe any time.

Three ways to own it

Start free, have it customised or have it run for you

Open source

Do it yourself

Free, open source

  1. 1 Clone the repo and run npm install
  2. 2 Run npm run demo to see a fictional NZ food manufacturer with an Australian sales company
  3. 3 Open the folder in Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode or Cursor
  4. 4 Download the Advanced Import Employees template from Employment Hero and test the import with --dry-run
Get it on GitHub

Built around your business

We customise it

One setup fee, then a retainer for ongoing work

  • check Your employers, departments, policies, tickets and onboarding lists
  • check Your Employment Hero staff records, agreements and history brought across and checked
  • check Your payroll connected so leave balances arrive on their own
  • check A self-service page for staff to request leave and read policies, or a different technology stack, if you want one
Get your version built

Omni by Enterprise DNA

We run it for you

One setup fee, then a retainer

  • check Installed and operated through Omni by Enterprise DNA
  • check Your Monday people review prepared from current records
  • check Trial, ticket and visa dates watched, with reminders drafted before they lapse
  • check Your rules kept up to date as NZ and Australian employment law changes
Book a call

Questions

Instead of Employment Hero, answered

Our staff request leave in the Employment Hero app. What happens to that? expand_more

In the free version, staff ask their manager or the office, and the request is recorded and decided in one step. If you want staff to request leave, read policies and update their own details from their phone, Enterprise DNA builds that self-service page into your version, on the same database.

Does it run payroll? expand_more

No. Pay runs, tax, KiwiSaver, super and the returns to Inland Revenue and the ATO stay in your payroll system, such as Xero, MYOB or KeyPay. Leave balances come across from payroll as a snapshot so the leave liability and large balances show here. If Employment Hero runs your payroll today, moving it is a separate step we plan with you.

What comes across from Employment Hero? expand_more

Employment Hero downloads an import template filled with every employee, including people who have left if you tick that box. The free version reads it, links each person to their manager, and saves nothing until every row reads cleanly. Agreements, statements, tickets, policies and reviews come across from your own files or by asking: moving those for you is part of what Enterprise DNA does in a switch.

Are the trial period, information statement and visa checks legal advice? expand_more

No. They are record checks with the rule and its source named: the 90-day trial rules under the Employment Relations Act, the Fair Work, casual and fixed-term information statements, the two-year limit on Australian fixed-term contracts, and right to work. Whether a trial period holds or an exception applies is for you and your employment lawyer.

What does it cost compared with Employment Hero? expand_more

The free version has no licence fee. Hosting it and using a coding assistant have their own costs. Enterprise DNA charges one setup fee for your version, then a retainer, with no charge per employee, so the bill does not rise when you hire.

Bring your Employment Hero invoice and one export

Book 30 minutes with Sam. We will look at how you employ people across NZ and Australia, what your Employment Hero plan holds and the version your business needs.

Book 30 minutes with Sam Get the free version

HR for Claude Code is free and open source, published by Enterprise DNA.

Done paying for Employment Hero?

Get your version built