Help center
Frequently asked questions
Everything we're asked most often, grouped by module. All answers are also available inside the product.
Admin console
- What happens if a manager leaves?
- Re-assign their direct reports to a new manager from Admin → Team Management. You should also re-check any in-flight appraisals and pending leave requests so nothing is stranded.
- Can one employee report to multiple managers?
- Not in V1. Each employee has one reporting manager. Dotted-line relationships are planned for a future release.
- How does the org chart stay in sync?
- It reads the manager_id field on every profile. Any change in Admin → Team Management reflects immediately at /organisation.
Announcements & feed
- Can I require employees to acknowledge an announcement?
- Yes. Turn on acknowledgement when composing. You can track who has and hasn't acknowledged, and send a one-click reminder to everyone pending.
- Can announcements be scheduled?
- Yes. Pick a future publish time in the composer — a background job publishes it automatically within 15 minutes of the scheduled time.
Performance appraisals
- How often does the appraisal cycle run?
- Quarterly by default. Admins can change cadence under Admin → Settings. Each cycle opens a self-review, manager review, and optional peer feedback windows.
- What is the rating scale?
- A 5-point scale applied to five criteria — Job Knowledge, Productivity, Communication, Initiative, and Customer Execution. The manager also adds an Observation paragraph.
- What is the signature reflection framework?
- It's a structured reflection framework unique to your company. You name it after your company and core values, and ASHR.work's AI turns it into a memorable acronym where each letter is a reflection prompt — spanning themes like failures, accelerations, wins, threats, innovation, feedback, and each person's contribution. Managers add an Observation. It pushes for an honest retrospective rather than generic self-praise.
- Who assigns peer reviewers?
- Admins from /admin → Peer Assignments. Each employee is paired with 2–4 peers who worked with them during the review period, with the months-worked value and projects captured for context.
Asset management
- Do employees confirm they received an asset?
- Yes. When an asset is assigned, the employee sees it under My Assets and acknowledges receipt — the acknowledgement is stamped on the asset's timeline.
- What happens when someone leaves?
- The offboarding clearance checklist includes collecting assets; return each one from its detail view and it goes back to the available pool.
Concerns & grievances
- Can I raise a concern anonymously?
- Yes. Anonymous submissions get a private tracking token — save it; it's the only way to check status and read the committee's updates without revealing your identity.
- Who sees my concern?
- Only the grievance committee members configured by your organisation. Concerns never appear in the general helpdesk queue.
Documents & letters
- Do I have to write templates from scratch?
- No. Click "Add starter templates" on the Templates page to seed six ready-made letters — offer, internship offer, experience, relieving, appraisal and promotion. Seeding skips any template name you already have.
- Where does the employee see their letter?
- On the Documents page under the Generated Documents tab. They can read it online and download it as a branded PDF at any time.
- If I change the letterhead, do old letters update?
- Yes. PDFs are rendered fresh on every download, so logo, colour and footer changes apply to previously generated letters too.
FAQs
- Is my data isolated from other customers?
- Yes. ASHR.work is a multi-tenant platform with a tenant_id on every per-org table and a Postgres row-level-security policy that makes cross-tenant reads or writes impossible — even with a hand-crafted query.
- Is data encrypted?
- All data is encrypted at rest and in transit using modern industry-standard cryptography (AES-256 at rest, TLS in transit) provided by the underlying Supabase platform. Database backups are encrypted.
- Are you GDPR / DPDP / CCPA compliant?
- ASHR.work is designed to support GDPR, India's DPDP Act, and CCPA subject-rights workflows (access, export, erasure). For signed DPAs and specific regional commitments, contact sales.
- Who can see my data inside ASHR.work?
- Only users in your tenant. Within a tenant, RLS plus role gates mean employees see their own data, managers see their direct reports, admins see everything in the tenant. ASHR.work employees do not access customer data except for explicit support requests with customer consent.
- Where is data stored?
- On Supabase (Postgres + Auth + Storage) hosted on major cloud providers. Enterprise customers can discuss regional hosting during contracting.
- Do you have SOC 2 / ISO 27001?
- Independent compliance certifications (SOC 2, ISO 27001) are on the roadmap. For the current status and our security questionnaire, email hello@ashr.work.
- How do you handle data deletion?
- Individual subject-deletion requests are processed promptly per applicable law (e.g. GDPR Article 17). For specific retention and backup timelines for your account, contact us — we document them in the DPA.
- How is ASHR.work priced?
- Per employee per month in USD. Three tiers — Starter ($4), Growth ($8), and Enterprise (custom). INR pricing is available for India-based teams on request.
- Is there a free trial?
- Yes. Every new tenant starts on a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.
- What is included in each tier?
- Starter covers the basics for up to 25 employees — employee directory, leave management, documents, org chart, role-based access, and email support. Growth adds unlimited employees, performance appraisals, 360° peer feedback, onboarding workflows, reports, and priority support. Enterprise adds custom roles & SSO, advanced RBAC & audit logs, payroll & compliance (on request), a dedicated success manager, custom SLAs, and priority phone support.
- Do you charge for inactive or part-time employees?
- You pay for active users (those who can log in). Offboarded employees do not count. Part-time employees count as full seats.
- Can I pay in INR?
- Yes, INR invoicing is supported for India-based teams on request. Contact sales@ashr.work.
- Is there a seat limit?
- Starter is capped at 25 employees. Growth and Enterprise have no cap. If you're above 25 on Starter, upgrade to Growth.
Getting started
- Do I need to migrate data before going live?
- No. You can invite people without pre-loading anything. Additional data (balances, documents) is added inside the product after launch.
- Can I change roles after launch?
- Yes. Admin → Role Management lets you change any user's role, including promoting an employee to manager mid-cycle.
- Where do I configure leave rules?
- Admin → Settings controls the leave escalation window. Leave type definitions (EL, SL, CL, LOP) are managed at the system level.
- Where do I see my leave balance?
- Time Off shows your EL/SL/CL balances at the top of the page, plus every request you have submitted and its current status.
- How do I update my profile?
- Settings → Profile. Change your display name, update your avatar, and set notification preferences.
- What is the signature reflection framework?
- It's a structured reflection framework unique to your company, used in self-reviews and weekly check-ins. Your company names it after its values and our AI turns it into a memorable acronym — prompts spanning failures, accelerations, wins, threats, innovation, feedback, and your contribution. Managers add an Observation. It encourages honest retros rather than generic ratings.
- How do I see my team?
- Manager → Team shows every direct report. Manager → Home shows the collapsible team tree including sub-team hierarchies.
- What happens when I escalate a leave request?
- Escalation triggers an email to the next level up and an admin audit-log entry. The original request stays editable until someone takes a final action.
- Can I delegate appraisals?
- Not in V1. Manager appraisals are owned by the direct manager. Peer feedback is the delegation mechanism for broader input.
- What is ASHR.work?
- ASHR.work is a modern HRMS built for SMBs, startups, and multi-industry teams. It covers employee management, leave, performance appraisals, onboarding, documents, reporting, and more, all inside a single Next.js + Supabase platform.
- Who is ASHR.work for?
- Growing companies (5–500 people) that want a single, well-designed HR system rather than gluing together five point tools. Admins run the org, managers run their teams, employees use it for everyday HR tasks.
- How long does it take to get started?
- Most teams are live inside 15 minutes. An admin creates the tenant, invites people, sets a leave policy, and employees start using the dashboard immediately.
Career growth plans
- Who can create a growth plan?
- Managers create plans for their direct reports; admins can create one for anyone. Employees own their aspiration and update progress on their actions.
- What kinds of development actions can a plan include?
- Skills, trainings, projects, mentoring, certifications and stretch assignments — each with a due date and its own status.
Helpdesk
- Who answers my ticket?
- Tenant admins and designated agents work the queue. Your ticket shows its assignee, every reply, and its current status at all times.
- What if a ticket isn't answered in time?
- Each priority has SLA targets for first response and resolution. An hourly sweep flags breaches and alerts the agents, so overdue tickets can't slip silently.
- Can I reopen a resolved ticket?
- Yes — if the fix didn't stick, reopen it from the ticket page. You can also rate your experience after resolution.
Holiday calendar
- Do holidays count against my leave balance?
- No. When you apply for leave, Sundays and public holidays inside your date range are skipped automatically — the form shows how many days were excluded from the count.
- Can I check holidays from Slack?
- Yes. Type /ashr holidays in Slack to get the next five upcoming company holidays, with optional or restricted holidays labelled. The Slack App Home also shows an upcoming-holidays widget.
- Who manages the holiday list?
- Your HR admin team maintains the company holiday list. If a holiday looks wrong or missing, raise it with HR.
Leave management
- Can I cancel a pending leave request?
- Yes. Pending requests can be edited or withdrawn from your Time Off history. Once approved, contact your manager to cancel.
- What if I do not have enough balance?
- You can still apply as LOP (loss of pay). Your admin decides whether LOP is allowed based on the leave policy.
- My manager has not responded — what happens?
- After the escalation window set by your admin (commonly 24–48 hours), the request is escalated to the next level and both parties are notified by email.
- Can I apply for leave on a holiday?
- No. Holidays are blocked in the date picker so you do not spend balance on days you already have off.
- What do the validation flags mean?
- Flags highlight requests that need extra attention — back-dated, overlapping a holiday or another leave, or exceeding balance. Read the flag, then decide. Approval is still one click.
- Can I approve leave on behalf of another manager?
- Admins can. Managers see only their direct reports. If a manager is on vacation, an admin can approve on their behalf from /time-off/admin.
- What is the escalation window?
- The number of hours your admin has configured (default 48). If you do not act within the window, the request is escalated automatically and audit-logged.
- Does rejection notify the employee?
- Yes. An email with your rejection reason is sent immediately. The employee can withdraw and re-submit if the reason can be addressed.
Offboarding & exit
- Can employees resign from ASHR.work directly?
- Yes. An employee opens Offboarding, shares a reason and a proposed last working day, and HR is notified to accept and set the notice period.
- Can we change the clearance checklist?
- Yes. Admins edit the checklist templates under Offboarding → Clearance checklist. New exits snapshot the current templates, so past exits never change.
- What happens when an exit is completed?
- The employee record is marked inactive with their exit date stamped, and the case moves to the Alumni tab for future reference and rehire checks.
Onboarding
- What if the new hire loses their form progress?
- They won't — the form autosaves as a draft moments after every change and shows a "Draft saved" timestamp. They can leave and pick up on the same step later.
- What happens when HR requests changes?
- The form becomes editable again with HR's note shown in a banner, and the employee gets a notification. They fix the flagged items and re-submit for another review.
- How are employee IDs assigned?
- Automatically when the admin adds the employee, using your company's configurable format — a prefix plus a zero-padded number (for example SAAS0011). Admins can also type an ID manually.
Organisation chart
- Which profile fields can I edit myself?
- Preferred name, pronouns, work location, work phone, a short bio and your skills — from the Edit button on your own directory profile. Designation, department and other HR fields are managed by HR.
- Why does someone show an OOO badge?
- The out-of-office badge appears automatically when a person has approved leave covering today, along with the date they're back. There's nothing to toggle manually.
- Can my manager see my bank details?
- No. Managers up your reporting line see contact-tier fields like personal phone and emergency contact. Sensitive details — date of birth, address, PAN, bank — are visible only to you and HR admins.
Payroll & compensation
- When can employees see their payslips?
- Only after the run is locked. Locking releases payslips under My Payslips, sends an in-app notification, and (if Slack is connected) a Slack DM with the net pay.
- What is the difference between manual and auto TDS?
- In manual mode you type each employee's monthly TDS on the run. In auto mode ASHR projects the annual tax from the employee's declaration and slabs, then spreads the remaining balance over the months left in the financial year. A manual override always wins.
- Can I add a one-time bonus or deduction?
- Yes. Add it under Payroll → Adjustments. It stays queued until the next run is processed, appears as its own payslip line, and is marked applied when that run locks — so it can never be paid twice.
Recruitment / ATS
- Can I customise the pipeline stages?
- Yes. Go to Recruitment → Pipeline stages to add, rename, reorder or archive stages. Hired and Rejected are permanent outcomes and always available.
- What happens when a candidate accepts an offer?
- Marking an offer as Accepted automatically marks the candidate as Hired, and ASHR.work suggests adding them as an employee so onboarding can begin.
Reports & analytics
- Who can open the Reports page?
- Admins and managers. Employees who open /reports are redirected to their home page. The Recent activity card is visible to admins only.
- Is the data real-time?
- Yes — the page is rendered fresh on every visit as a live snapshot of your organisation. Leave utilisation covers the current calendar year and workflow counts cover the current month.
Surveys & eNPS
- Are survey responses anonymous?
- Yes. Results are only shown as aggregates and the respondent list is separated from answers; reminders go to non-responders without exposing who answered what.
- What is eNPS?
- Employee Net Promoter Score — "How likely are you to recommend working here?" on a 0–10 scale. Promoters (9–10) minus detractors (0–6) gives a score from −100 to +100, tracked per cycle.
Talent matrix (9-box)
- Can we rename the boxes and axes?
- Yes. Open the matrix settings to rename both axes and each of the nine boxes, including the guidance text shown for each box.
- Where does the suggested performance rating come from?
- If a manager has submitted feedback for the selected review period, ASHR.work suggests a performance level from their 1–5 rating. It is only a hint — you always place people manually.