Real time labour cost
See labour cost against budget as the shift happens.
MHR: Not built in
MHR alternative
Both run core HR for UK employers. HBHR adds real time labour cost, wellbeing and mental health and built in AI assistant in the same platform, so pay, hours and people data stop living in separate places.
Rated higher by customers
Scores out of 5 on each review site, checked 18 September 2026.
19 where HBHR goes further than MHR
Fully included scores 1, limited or a paid add-on or integration scores a half. Public information, September 2026.
The short answer
MHR scores higher than HBHR on 1 of 65 capabilities we compared.
Side by side
Tap any row for what it means in practice. We start with the differences; switch the toggle to see everything.
| Capability |
|
MHR |
|---|---|---|
| Core HR | ||
| Employee records | Included | Included |
|
Single secure record for every employee: personal data, contracts, history. See how HBHR keeps every employee record in one connected, secure place. |
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| Org chart and reporting lines | Included | Included |
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Visual, auto updating org chart and reporting lines. Map your whole organisation in one live org chart. |
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| Employee and manager self service | Included | Included |
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Staff and managers action requests, data and approvals themselves. Give managers and staff self service that actually gets used. |
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| Documents and e signatures | Included | Included |
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Store, share, version and e sign HR documents and contracts. Store, send and e sign every HR document in one place. |
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| Handbook and policies | Included | Included |
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Central, acknowledged company policies and staff handbook. Keep policies current and prove staff have read them. |
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| Workflow automation and approvals | Included | Included |
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Configurable automated workflows for HR processes and approvals. Automate the HR admin that eats your team's week. |
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| Case Management (differs) | Included | Paid add-on or integration |
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All cases logged, managed and tracked in one place |
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| Open API | Included | Included |
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Provides secure API access so HBHR can connect with other systems |
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|
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| Leave and absence | ||
| Annual leave management | Included | Included |
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Book, approve and track annual leave with accurate entitlements. Take the guesswork out of holiday and entitlements. |
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| Absence and sickness | Included | Included |
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Log, monitor and report on sickness and unplanned absence. Spot absence patterns before they become a problem. |
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| Bradford Factor scoring | Included | Included |
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Automatic Bradford Factor scoring to flag persistent short term absence. Flag persistent absence automatically with Bradford scoring. |
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| TOIL and overtime | Included | Included |
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Track time off in lieu and overtime accurately. Track overtime and TOIL without spreadsheets. |
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| Time and rotas | ||
| Time tracking and clocking in | Included | Included |
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Digital clock in/out with accurate worked hours capture. Capture every hour worked, accurately, in real time. |
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| Shift scheduling and rotas | Included | Included |
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Build, publish and manage staff rotas and shifts. Build rotas around real demand, not guesswork. |
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| Timesheets | Included | Included |
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Digital timesheets feeding straight into pay. Timesheets that flow straight into payroll. |
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| Real time labour cost (differs) | Included | Not built in |
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Live view of labour cost against budget as shifts run. See labour cost against budget as the shift happens. |
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| GPS and geofenced clocking (differs) | Included | Paid add-on or integration |
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Location verified clock in for mobile, remote and multi site teams. Verify who clocked in, and where, across every site. |
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| Working time compliance (differs) | Included | Paid add-on or integration |
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Guardrails for breaks, rest and working time rules built into rotas. Keep every rota inside working time rules automatically. |
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| Payroll | ||
| Built in payroll | Included | Included |
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Native UK payroll inside the platform, no third party bridge. Run payroll inside the same platform as your HR. |
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| Complex pay rules | Included | Included |
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Care and shift pay: sleep ins, on call, unsocial hours enhancements, multi cost centre and rolled up holiday. Sleep ins, on call and multi post pay, calculated automatically. |
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| Fully managed payroll | Included | Included |
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HBHR's team runs payroll end to end on your behalf. Lost your payroll person? Our team runs payroll end to end. |
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| HMRC RTI compliance | Included | Included |
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RTI submissions, statutory pay and year end handled correctly. Stay on the right side of HMRC, automatically. |
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| Statutory and occupational pay | Included | Included |
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SSP, SMP and occupational sick pay schemes calculated automatically, not by hand. Statutory and occupational pay worked out for you, not by hand. |
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| Pension auto enrolment | Included | Included |
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Automatic pension assessment, enrolment and re enrolment. Auto enrolment handled without the headache. |
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| NHS and public sector pensions | Included | Included |
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Tiered/banded, multi post public sector schemes: NHS Pension, Teachers' Pension, LGPS. NHS Pension and public sector schemes handled, not bolted on. |
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| Expenses | Included | Included |
|
Submit, approve and reimburse employee expenses. Cut expense admin and reimburse people faster. |
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| Irish payroll (Revenue PAYE) | Included | Included |
|
Native Irish payroll and Revenue compliance for IE employers. One platform that runs UK and Irish payroll properly. |
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| Global payroll (differs) | Coming soon | Paid add-on or integration |
|
Payroll across multiple countries from one system. Growing into Europe? See where HBHR is heading. |
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| Average Holiday Pay (differs) | Included | Not built in |
|
Calculates holiday pay based on an employee’s average earnings over the relevant reference period. |
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| Pension by role (differs) | Included | Not built in |
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Allows pension settings and contribution rules to be applied by job role. |
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| Hiring and onboarding | ||
| Applicant tracking | Included | Included |
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Post roles, manage candidates and hire in one flow. Run hiring end to end without leaving HBHR. |
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| Safer recruitment and checks | Included | Included |
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Safer recruitment workflows: DBS/PVG checks, Ofsted Schedule 2, automated reference chasing. Safer recruitment and reference chasing without the admin. |
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| Employee onboarding | Included | Included |
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Structured digital onboarding for new starters. Give every new starter a great first day. |
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| Offers and contracts signed online | Included | Included |
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Generate offers and issue e signed contracts. Get contracts signed on day zero, not week two. |
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| Performance | ||
| Reviews and appraisals | Included | Included |
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Structured appraisals, review cycles and sign off. Run review cycles people actually complete. |
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| Goals and OKRs | Included | Included |
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Set, cascade and track objectives and key results. Connect everyday work to the goals that matter. |
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| One to ones and feedback (differs) | Included | Paid add-on or integration |
|
Ongoing check ins and feedback, not just annual reviews. Keep feedback flowing all year, not once a year. |
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| Recognition and rewards (differs) | Included | Not built in |
|
Peer recognition, rewards and staff perks. Recognise great work and make it stick. |
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| Engagement surveys and eNPS (differs) | Included | Paid add-on or integration |
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Pulse surveys and engagement measurement. Hear what your people really think, and act on it. |
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| Wellbeing and mental health (differs) | Included | Not built in |
|
Dedicated wellbeing support and mental health tools. Support your team's wellbeing inside the platform they use daily. |
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| Learning | ||
| Learning management | Included | Included |
|
Assign, deliver and track training and compliance learning. Assign and track compliance training in HBHR Learn. |
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| Reporting | ||
| Reports and dashboards | Included | Included |
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Out of the box dashboards for the metrics that matter. Get the HR numbers you need without a data team. |
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| Custom report builder | Included | Included |
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Build bespoke reports across HR, pay and time data. Answer any people question with a custom report. |
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| Predictive AI analytics (differs) | Included | Paid add-on or integration |
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AI surfaced trends, risks and forecasts across your workforce. Let AI spot the workforce risks before they cost you. |
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| AI | ||
| Built in AI assistant (differs) | Included | Not built in |
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Ask HR and payroll questions in plain language and get answers. Ask HBHR anything and get an answer in seconds. |
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| AI task automation (differs) | Included | Not built in |
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AI executes routine HR and payroll actions, not just suggests them. AI that does the work, not just points at it. |
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| Ask a question, get a report (differs) | Included | Not built in |
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Generate reports by asking a question, no report building. Type a question, get the report. No spreadsheets. |
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| AI alerts and anomaly detection (differs) | Included | Not built in |
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Proactive AI alerts on risks, deadlines and data anomalies. Get warned about the problem before it lands. |
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| Autonomous AI agent (differs) | Included | Not built in |
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AI agents complete HR and payroll tasks automatically in the background without manual intervention. Let AI handle repetitive HR work for you. |
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| Facial Recognition Scanner (differs) | Included | Paid add-on or integration |
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Auto clock in device for rota time and attendance |
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| Compliance | ||
| ISO 27001 certified | Included | Included |
|
Independently certified information security management. Your people data, protected to ISO 27001. |
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| GDPR compliant | Included | Included |
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Built for UK/EU data protection compliance. GDPR ready from day one. |
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| Cyber Essentials certified | Included | Included |
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UK Cyber Essentials security certification. Certified to UK Cyber Essentials. |
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| UK and Irish data residency | Included | Included |
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UK and Ireland home market, data and support, not a US bolt on. Built for UK and Irish employers, not adapted from the US. |
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| Health and safety (differs) | Included | Not built in |
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H and S, risk assessments and incident reporting. Managing H and S risk? Let's talk about what HBHR covers. |
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| Employment law advice | Not built in | Not built in |
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Access to employment law guidance and support. |
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| Single Central Record (SCR) | Included | Included |
|
Maintain a compliant Single Central Record with automated checks, staff records and safeguarding information in one place. Simplify SCR compliance and keep safeguarding records always up to date. |
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| School Workforce Census (SWC) | Included | Included |
|
Prepare, validate and submit School Workforce Census (SWC) data accurately with automated workforce reporting. Simplify School Workforce Census submissions and reduce manual reporting. |
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| Further Education Workforce (FEW) | Included | Included |
|
Prepare, validate and submit Further Education Workforce (FEW) data accurately with automated workforce reporting. Simplify FEW returns and reduce manual workforce reporting. |
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| Gender pay gap reporting | Included | Included |
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Calculate, analyse and generate compliant gender pay gap reports with automated workforce data. Produce accurate gender pay gap reports without manual spreadsheets. |
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| Platform | ||
| Mobile app | Included | Included |
|
Full featured mobile app for staff and managers. Everything your team needs, in their pocket. |
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| Team chat (differs) | Included | Not built in |
|
Built in messaging and internal communications. Reach your whole team without another app. |
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| Open API and integrations | Included | Included |
|
Connect to your finance, ATS and productivity stack. Plug HBHR into the tools you already run. |
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| Named onboarding and human support | Included | Included |
|
Real people onboarding and ongoing support, not just a chatbot. Get set up by real people who know your sector. |
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| HR, payroll and time in one platform | Included | Included |
|
One platform for HR, payroll and workforce, not stitched together integrations. One platform, one data model. Stop running on disparate systems. |
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| No differences in this area. Switch off “Differences only” to see every row. | ||
Based on publicly available information as of September 2026.
Build your shortlist
Tick your must haves and see how each platform covers them. Your list comes with you to the demo, so we show you the parts that matter to you first.
The cost of staying put
Three numbers, the same maths as our full calculator. Every assumption is on the pricing page, ready to change.
Estimated saving every year
£91,744
£275,231 over three years
2,188 admin hours back a year
A gross estimate from your inputs and the default assumptions on our pricing page. It does not include the cost of HBHR.
Where HBHR goes further
See labour cost against budget as the shift happens.
MHR: Not built in
Support your team's wellbeing inside the platform they use daily.
MHR: Not built in
Ask HBHR anything and get an answer in seconds.
MHR: Not built in
Reach your whole team without another app.
MHR: Not built in
Trusted by the world’s leading global employers
In their words
Switching stories
The transition from our old system to HBHR was seamless.
Charlotte Langley
Case study
HealthBox are such a breath of fresh air in the world of HR/Payroll systems. They are completely different to my experience with other systems in so many (positive) ways.
Emily Whiter
We have been using HBHR for around 6 months. The platform itself is very user friendly for both admins and users, and is easy to adapt to your needs.
Hannah Clifton
Having tried other HR software I have to say that I think Healthbox HR is the best on the market.
Diane Page
We transitioned to HealthboxHR to find a more cost-effective solution for managing our workforce.
Jane Burton
Exceptional Support We switched over from an American HR platform to HBHR in search of a better feature for booking time off.
We’ve had a very positive experience with HealthBoxHR. The system brings all HR processes into one place, making day-to-day tasks much more efficient and reducing manual work.
Shelley Jenkins
We have just rolled out HealthBox HR and have had an excellent experience so far.
Shane Lynch
We moved to HealthBoxHR about a year ago.
Great engagement and full support offered all the way through the transaction process from our previous HR platform to Healthbox HR.
Clare Rose
We have been using Healthbox HR for over 12 months, and on the whole the experience has been a very positive one.
I was approached by HealthBoxHR in relation to this new platform; naturally sceptical i tentatively agreed to a meeting to be introduced to the software and was blown away almost immediately by what it can do.
We have just launched HealthBox HR so it's still early days but the support we have received from the HealthBox team during the implementation phase is second to none!
We have recently started using HealthBox HR and I have been very impressed with the implementation and support we have received.
We were searching for a HR & Payroll Platform that met our needs being an SME in the construction industry.
Steve Johnson
Excellent service from HealthBox HR from the initial sign up and ongoing, nothing is too much trouble. Great platform to use, does exactly what it says on the tin.
Nicola Hayes
I have been using HBHR for about 8 months now. When looking for a HRIS I feel like HBHR stood out from the rest.
Ella Holland
HealthboxHR does just want you would expect and more. The functionality is great and the app works really well for our teams.
We have had a great experience with Health Box HR from the initial Sales meetings (they were very reactive to all our questions and queries) to the support we receive, which is still going strong.
Klara O'Malley
We've been using HealthboxHR for a while now, and it's made a noticeable difference in how we manage our HR tasks.
Stephen Gillespie
We have been using HBHR for around 6 months now and its helped to streamline our processes and manage some of the more mundane HR tasks more efficiently.
Inderjit Marwaha
We launched HBHR to our employees a few month ago and have had a great response to our new platform, not all modules are live yet and I think the phasing of modules is a great feature of HBHR.
Megan Blackburn
Since implementing HealthboxHR, we have been thoroughly impressed by the platform's dependability and the outstanding service levels provided by the team, it has been a real game changer for our company, and we have found the platform to be exceptionally reliable with no outage time.
Liz Hendriks
Having all our employees information central, homepage with all main info in one page, really helpful team
Dovi Jakelaityte
Gartner
58 reviews from 38 organisations
Questions
For UK and Irish employers who want HR, payroll and time in one platform, yes. On the 65 capabilities we compared, HBHR goes further on 19, including real time labour cost, working time compliance, wellbeing and mental health and predictive AI analytics.
MHR scores higher on global payroll. If those are central to your team, weigh them honestly, and ask us how customers cover them today.
It depends on team size, pay and how much admin sits between systems. Run the estimate with your own numbers to see what a team your size could reclaim.
Yes. UK (HMRC RTI) and Irish (Revenue PAYE) payroll run natively in the same platform. MHR is shown as including Irish payroll in public information.
Most moves follow four stages: a scope call, data migration, a parallel payroll run and go live, led by one named person. Your timeline depends on size and how many systems you are consolidating.