Help center
Frequently asked questions
Everything we're asked most often, grouped by module. All answers are also available inside the product.
Admin console
- Can I delete or edit an audit log entry?
- No. Entries are permanent and cannot be changed or removed. That is what makes the log trustworthy for compliance.
- Can other companies see my audit log?
- No. The log is scoped to your org only. You never see other tenants, and they never see yours.
- Do I have to build a template before running appraisals?
- No. If you never build one, the standard self-appraisal keeps working exactly as before. Templates only take over when you publish one.
- Can I reuse the same question in more than one template?
- Yes. Questions live in a shared bank, so one question can sit in as many templates as you like.
- If I change the rating scale, does it change reviews people have already written?
- No. A cycle keeps a copy of the scale it was launched on, so renaming a point or changing your default only affects cycles you launch afterwards.
- Why can a rating scale only have five points?
- Ratings are stored as whole numbers from 1 to 5 everywhere in the product, including the calibration grid. A scale chooses how many of those points you use and what each one is called, so you can run a two, three, four or five point scale — but not a seven or ten point one.
- What happens if I do not set a deadline?
- Nothing is sent. A cycle with no deadline is never shown as overdue and nobody is reminded about it.
- What decides whether someone goes through payroll or payouts?
- The type's payment model. Salaried types (full-time, part-time, intern) run through statutory payroll; payout types (contractor, freelancer, vendor worker) are paid through Contractor Payouts with flat TDS and no PF/ESI.
- Can I stop contractors from getting leave balances or survey invites?
- Yes — that's the default. Each type has six eligibility switches (leave, appraisals, check-ins, surveys, celebrations, talent) you can flip per organisation.
- Do interns get payslips?
- Only if you pay them. Interns are stipend-only and opt-in — with no salary structure they stay off payroll runs entirely (no payslip, no 'missing structure' warning). Give an intern a stipend structure in Payroll — a single stipend line with no PF/ESI/PT — and they're included in runs and get payslips like anyone else. This matches Indian practice: there's no duty to pay a genuine (student) intern, and an unpaid intern carries no PF/ESI liability.
- Will changing the format change existing employee IDs?
- No, never. The format only applies to employees added after you save it. Everyone already in the system keeps their current ID.
- Do I have to update anything when a new year starts?
- No. The year in the ID comes from each employee's joining date automatically. Someone joining in 2027 gets 2027 in their ID without you touching anything.
- Can two employees end up with the same ID?
- No. The system counts up automatically and skips any number that is already taken, even if two employees are added at the same moment or an ID was typed in manually.
- Where does the department code come from?
- It is taken from the first three letters of the employee's department, so Engineering becomes ENG. If an employee has no department, GEN is used.
- Can I type an employee ID by hand instead?
- Yes. When adding an employee you can enter an ID yourself, and it is used as-is. Leave the field blank to let the system generate one in your format.
- What happens when a request escalates?
- It moves up to the next approver, usually the manager's manager, so it can still be actioned instead of getting stuck.
- Does escalation reject the request?
- No. Escalation just passes the request to the next person to decide. Nothing is auto-approved or auto-declined.
- Does turning a module off delete its data?
- No. The data is safely kept. Switching off just hides the module. Turn it back on and everything is exactly as you left it.
- Why is a module greyed out?
- It likely needs a higher plan. Some modules depend on your subscription, so check your plan and billing page.
- How long is the free trial?
- 15 days from the day your organisation is created, with every module unlocked. A countdown banner appears in the last 3 days.
- How is my monthly price calculated?
- Your plan's per-user price times your seat count, plus any modules enabled outside your plan bundle — each priced free, flat per month, or per user per month.
- What counts as a seat?
- Every user who can log in to your workspace. Offboarded employees whose access is removed do not count.
- Why can't I enable some modules myself?
- Beta and provision-on-request modules are gated. Submit a request from the Organisation tab — a super admin reviews it and you'll see the decision there.
- What happens if I give someone the wrong role?
- Just change it back. Roles can be updated any time and take effect right away, so mistakes are easy to fix.
- Can two people be Super Admins?
- Yes. You can have more than one Super Admin, which is wise so you are never locked out if one person leaves.
- 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
- Will the employee get an email on their birthday?
- Yes, if "Email birthday wishes" is on in Feed → Settings (it is on by default). Each morning the celebrations job emails anyone whose birthday is today. It never sends twice for the same day.
- Does a new joiner get a welcome email on their first day?
- Yes, if "Email day-one welcome to new joiners" is on in Feed → Settings (on by default). On the person's joining date the feed posts a welcome card and emails them a warm day-one welcome from your company.
- Can we change what these emails say?
- Yes. Go to Documents → Email Templates and edit "Birthday Wishes", "Work Anniversary" or "Welcome (Day One)". The feed uses your edited version automatically; if you haven't edited it, a friendly default is used.
- Does the birthday email reveal the person's age?
- No. Birthdays are matched on month and day only — the year is never shown on the card or in the email.
- 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
- Is a 3 a bad rating?
- No. A 3 means the person fully met expectations, which is a solid, healthy result for most people.
- Where do my ratings go after I submit?
- Ratings feed appraisal reports and the talent matrix, so keep them consistent and backed by evidence.
- Will people see exactly what I wrote about them?
- Usually not. Peer feedback is normally combined and summarised, so it stays confidential and safe to be honest.
- Is peer feedback used to rank people?
- No. It is about helping each person grow, not scoring or ranking them against colleagues.
- 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.
- How far back can I see my reviews?
- You can see every completed cycle your organisation has kept, so history builds up as you complete more reviews.
- Can my manager see my past reviews?
- Managers and admins can usually view their team's review history to support fair, informed conversations.
- Will I lose my work if I close the page?
- No. Your self-review autosaves as a draft, so you can come back and finish it later.
- Who reads my self-review?
- Your reporting manager reads it as part of the appraisal cycle, so write it for them.
Asset management
- How do I ask for a new laptop or accessory?
- Tap Request asset on the Assets page, say what you need and why. An admin approves or declines it, and fulfils an approved request by assigning the kit to you.
- Who approves my asset request?
- An HR admin or IT reviews it. Nobody can approve their own request, so if you are an admin asking for kit, a colleague signs it off.
- What happens to an asset when I leave?
- You hand it back to IT and they record the return against your assignment, so it is no longer tied to you. Your exit clearance reflects that record.
- 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.
Attendance
- How does attendance feed payroll?
- The monthly report gives each employee a loss-of-pay (LOP) figure = absent days + half of every half day. When you run a pay cycle, payroll reads this same figure. Nothing is double-counted with leave, because approved leave never shows as absent.
- Can I require a selfie or GPS at check-in?
- Yes. In Attendance settings, turn on "Require a selfie" and/or "Require location". Add an office latitude, longitude and radius to only allow check-ins from inside that area — leave the radius blank to record location without blocking anyone.
- Who approves attendance fixes?
- The employee's manager, or any admin. Pending requests appear on the Approvals tab of Team attendance.
- What if I forget to check in or out?
- Open Attendance, click "Fix a day", pick the date, choose Present or Half day, and add a short reason. Your manager (or an admin) approves it and the day is corrected.
- How are my hours counted?
- Every check-in/out pair is added up across the day. If you cross your company's overtime threshold, the extra time shows as overtime. Checking in after the grace window counts the minutes as "late".
- Will approved leave or a holiday show as absent?
- No. If your company syncs leave and holidays (most do), an approved leave day shows as "On leave" and a company holiday shows as "Holiday" — never absent.
Benefits
- Does joining a benefit plan change my salary or my payslip?
- No. Benefits records who is covered and from when. It does not calculate a premium, take anything off your salary, or appear on your payslip. If your organisation recovers a contribution from pay, that is done separately in payroll and nothing here affects it.
- Can my manager see which plans I am on?
- No. Benefits is the one module where a manager gets no view at all — not your enrolment, not your dependant count, not even that you looked. Only you and an HR admin can read your benefit records. That is enforced in the database, not by hiding it on screen.
- I declined a plan and have changed my mind. What do I do?
- Click "Change my mind" on that plan to withdraw the declination, then join it from the same list. You can only have one standing on a plan at a time, which is why it takes two steps rather than one.
- I want to leave the plan and record a declination instead. Can I do that in one click?
- No, and deliberately. Ending your cover and declining the plan are two different facts. Flipping your enrolment into a declination would erase the months you actually were covered, and somebody may need to prove those later.
- Why can I not join a plan that is showing in the list?
- Either the plan has not started covering anyone yet, its cover window has closed, or it has been retired and is not taking anyone new. The plan card says which, in a sentence, instead of showing you a button that would fail.
- What happens to my cover if HR retires the plan?
- Nothing. Retiring a plan stops it taking anyone new; it does not end the cover of anyone already on it. Your standing stays exactly as it is until it is ended.
- Do you store my dependants' names or medical details?
- No. Benefits holds a count and nothing else — no names, no dates of birth, no medical information about anyone you cover. If your insurer needs those, they are collected by the insurer, not here.
- Does the benefits module deduct a premium from payroll?
- No. Benefits holds no money at all — there is no premium, contribution or cost field anywhere in it, and nothing in the module is read by payroll. If your organisation recovers an employee contribution from salary, that is a payroll adjustment recorded separately in Payroll, and it is not driven from here.
- Can a manager see who on their team is enrolled?
- No, and this is the one module where that is true. Managers get no read at all — not the roster, not their own reports' rows, not the dependant counts. A benefit election is closer to a medical fact than to a work output, so only the person themselves and an HR admin can see it. The database grants managers no access, so it is not something a future screen could accidentally expose.
- What does retiring a plan actually do?
- It stops the plan taking anyone new. It does NOT end the cover of anyone already on it — every existing standing stays exactly as it is until it is ended individually. Retiring is permanent; a retired plan can never be brought back.
- Can I delete a plan or an enrolment that was recorded by mistake?
- No. Nothing in Benefits can be deleted, by anyone, including an administrator. An enrolment record answers "was this person covered on the day they went to hospital", and a record that can be erased cannot answer that. A plan is retired; a standing is ended.
- Can I change a plan's cover dates after people have joined?
- You can widen the window, but not narrow it past somebody already recorded against it. If an enrolment would fall outside the new dates, the change is refused and says how many rows it would have stranded — otherwise the promise that every enrolment sits inside its plan's window would quietly stop being true.
- Where does the covered-lives number come from?
- It is counted from the rows every time the page loads — enrolled people plus their dependants. Nothing is stored, so the summary can never drift from the roster underneath it.
- Why is there no premium or sum-insured field?
- Because v1 would never compute against it. A number that sits on a screen looking authoritative, drifts from what the insurer actually invoices, and is validated by nothing is worse than no number. Premium calculation, claims handling and insurer integration are configured on request.
Calibration
- Does calibration change anyone's appraisal?
- No. A calibration session records what the room decided, beside the original rating. It does not write back into anyone's manager review, and closing a session does not publish anything. Putting a decision into a published review is a separate, deliberate step.
- Why can I not propose the rating someone already has?
- Because that is not an adjustment. Keeping someone exactly where they are is recorded by leaving them without a row at all, which is what keeps the "adjusted" count honest. If you talk yourself back to the original rating after proposing a move, record that as the decision — deciding to stay put is a real outcome.
- Can I fix a decision I recorded by mistake?
- No. A recorded decision names who made it and when, and is final from that moment. This is deliberate — a decision that can be quietly edited afterwards is not evidence of anything. If a decision was wrong, the correction belongs in the review conversation and the next cycle, not in a rewritten record.
- What happens to the original rating?
- It is captured the moment the room first moves someone, and then frozen. It is never re-read from the appraisal afterwards, so if the underlying review changes later, the record still describes the argument that actually happened.
- Why can I only calibrate a manager review cycle?
- Because calibration compares manager ratings. Running a session over a self-review cycle would mean comparing people against their own view of themselves, which is not a calibration.
- Someone in the cycle has no rating. Why can I not move them?
- Their manager has not submitted their review yet, so there is no rating to calibrate. They appear in the grid marked "Not rated yet" and become movable as soon as the review is in.
- Can an employee see the calibration discussion about themselves?
- No — not their row, not the reason, not the proposed rating. Calibration is deliberative: showing someone an argument about their rating while it is still an argument would both chill the discussion and present an undecided number as though it had been decided. The outcome reaches an employee through their published review, which is a different surface.
- What exactly does a manager see?
- Only the rows about people who report to them, directly or further down their chain. They do not see the rest of the room, and they do not see the overall distribution — a distribution drawn from a partial grid would be misleading.
- Who can change a session?
- The facilitator who convened it and HR admins. A manager with a report in the session reads it and changes nothing.
- Is any of this in the audit log?
- Yes. Opening a session, every proposal, every decision and closing a session are all written to the audit log with who did it and when.
- Can a calibration record be deleted?
- No. There is no delete anywhere in the module, and the database refuses one outright. A record of a deliberation that can be erased is not a record.
- What if a manager review changes after calibration looked at it?
- The calibration record does not move. The original rating is captured when the room first discusses someone and is frozen from then on, so the record keeps describing the discussion that actually happened rather than silently re-writing its own history.
Signature check-ins
- How long does a check-in take?
- A couple of minutes. Each cycle asks only a small, rotating set of prompts — never the whole framework at once.
- What if someone forgets to answer?
- The Slack app sends automatic reminders. Admins can adjust when those reminders go out in Admin → Organisation.
- Are check-in answers private?
- They are not anonymous — your manager and HR can read them. That is the point - they surface wins and problems early so someone can act on them.
- Can we pause check-ins?
- Yes. An admin can set the cadence to Off at any time and turn it back on later. Nothing is deleted.
- Do check-ins affect appraisals?
- They use the same vocabulary as your appraisals, so the year's reflections are available as real evidence at review time instead of being forgotten.
Concepts explained
- Is separation enforced only on screen?
- No. It is enforced deep in the database, so even a mistake in the app cannot leak another company's data.
- What tags a record to my company?
- Every record carries your organisation's ID, and the database only returns rows that match yours.
- Can another company see my organisation's data?
- No. Each tenant is sealed off. You only ever see your own people, leave and settings.
- What is a tenant?
- A tenant is your organisation — your company's own space inside the shared app.
Concerns & grievances
- Who can open the committee workspace?
- Only members your organisation has added to the grievance / POSH committee. Cases never appear in the general helpdesk queue, and every time a member opens a case it is recorded in an access log.
- Can the reporter see our internal notes?
- No. Committee case notes are internal to the committee. The reporter sees status changes and the formal outcome you record — not the working notes.
- How do we stay within POSH timelines?
- The SLA sweep watches each case's deadlines and flags ones approaching a statutory limit, so a POSH complaint doesn't quietly run past its timeline.
- 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.
Contractor payouts
- Who is paid through Contractor Payouts instead of Payroll?
- Anyone whose employment type has the "payout" payment model — contractors, freelancers and vendor workers by default. Salaried types (full-time, part-time, interns) stay on payroll runs. You can change this per type under Admin → Settings → Workforce Types.
- What if a worker has no bank details?
- They are skipped from the bank CSV and listed by name so you can pay them another way. The Workers page shows a "missing bank details" warning with a link to add them.
- Can a contractor see their own payouts?
- Yes. A payout worker with a login sees a read-only history of their own payouts at the same Payouts link, with a payment-advice PDF for each approved or paid month. They never see other workers' rates.
- How is TDS calculated?
- Each pay profile carries a TDS section (194J professional / 194C contract / none) and a rate, pre-filled from the worker's employment type — 10% for freelancers under 194J, 2% for contractors under 194C by default. TDS is applied to the gross (base plus additions) and can be adjusted per draft row.
Developers & API
- What's the difference between a key and OAuth?
- An API key is a long-lived secret you send directly — simplest for scripts. OAuth2 client-credentials suits apps that prefer short-lived tokens — you exchange a client id + secret for an access token that expires, with a refresh token to get the next one. Both carry the same scopes.
- I lost a key — can I recover it?
- No. Keys and secrets are hashed at rest and only shown once. Rotate the key (new secret, old one dies immediately) or create a new one.
- Can I limit what a key can do?
- Yes — pick only the module permissions you need when creating it, and edit them later. Scopes are limited to your enabled modules.
- Do I need a key to read public data?
- No. Product and module metadata (/api/v1/health, /capabilities, /modules) is anonymous. A key is only needed for your tenant's data and for writes.
- How do I avoid double-posting a write on a retry?
- Send an Idempotency-Key header. If the same key is retried, the first response is replayed instead of running twice; reusing a key with a different body is a 409.
- What do errors look like?
- RFC 9457 problem+json with type, title, status, code, detail and request_id fields. Common codes are api_key_required (401), insufficient_scope (403), invalid_parameter (400) and rate_limited (429).
- Which events can I subscribe to?
- Today — leave.created, leave.approved, leave.rejected and leave.cancelled. Pick specific events or subscribe to everything.
- How do I know a webhook really came from ASHR?
- Every request carries X-Demystify-Signature — an HMAC-SHA256 of "<timestamp>.<rawBody>" using your endpoint secret. Recompute it and compare; reject if it doesn't match or the timestamp is too old.
- What if my endpoint is down?
- Delivery is best-effort and each attempt is recorded. Build your handler to be idempotent (the same event may arrive more than once) and return a 2xx quickly.
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.
- Do templates from other companies show up in my list?
- No. Every template is scoped to your organisation only. You only see and edit your own.
- What are placeholders?
- Tags like employee name or date that auto-fill with real details when you generate a letter.
- Can my manager or coworkers see my vault?
- No. Only you and authorised HR admins can open your personal vault. It is private.
- Where do letters HR generates for me appear?
- They land straight in your vault under Documents, ready to view or download.
Employees & directory
- Where is the Add Employee button? The Employees tab doesn't have one.
- The Admin Dashboard → Employees tab is a read-only list. The Add button lives on the Organisation tab (Add employee), or go straight to /employees/new.
- What password do I set for the new employee?
- None. You never set or see a password. The employee receives a welcome email and sets their own password when they click the link.
- The welcome email never arrived — what do I do?
- Open the employee in /employees and use Resend invite to send or copy a fresh sign-in link. Ask them to check spam for hello@ashr.work first.
- Can I see people's salaries in the directory?
- No. Salary and other private data are never shown in the directory, no matter your role.
- Why can't I see an Export button?
- Export is available to admins and managers. If you do not see it, your role does not include exporting.
- Why can't I change my own designation or department?
- Those are sensitive fields kept admin-only so official records stay correct. Ask your HR admin to update them.
- Do my profile edits need approval?
- No. Self-service fields like your phone and address save straight away, with no approval step.
Expenses
- Who can approve a claim?
- The claimant's manager, an HR admin, or finance. Managers see only the people who report to them, directly or further down the chain. Whoever decides, it can never be the person who filed it.
- Who can mark a claim reimbursed?
- Finance only. Approving a claim and paying it are deliberately different permissions, so a manager who signs off on spend cannot also assert that the money went out.
- Can a rejected claim be paid later?
- No. Rejection is terminal — the claim cannot be approved or reimbursed afterwards, and the database refuses it, not just the screen. If a rejection was a mistake, ask the claimant to file a fresh claim.
- What if two of us approve the same claim at once?
- The first decision wins. The second person is told the claim was already decided by someone else, rather than quietly overwriting the first decision.
- What is the payment reference for?
- It is how a claim is matched back to your bank statement or voucher. It is also the hook the accounting integration will use when that lands — recording it properly now means those claims reconcile later.
- Is any of this audited?
- Yes. Every submission, approval, rejection and reimbursement is written to the audit log with who did it and when. Admins read it under Admin.
- Can I claim something I paid for last year?
- No. A claim has to be dated within the last year and cannot be dated in the future. If the expense is older than that, talk to finance — it needs to go through your usual out-of-cycle process instead.
- Can I attach a receipt?
- Not yet. Receipt attachments are the next thing we are adding to this module. For now, keep the receipt safe in case finance asks to see it before approving.
- What happens if my claim is rejected?
- You are told, with the reason your approver wrote. A rejected claim is final — it cannot later be approved or reimbursed. If the reason is something you can fix, file a fresh claim with the correction.
- Can I approve my own claim if I am a manager?
- No. Nobody can approve their own expense claim, whatever their role — not managers, not HR admins, not finance. Your own claim always goes to somebody else.
- When do I actually get paid?
- Approval and payment are two separate steps. Once finance has paid you, they record the payment reference against the claim and it shows as Reimbursed, so you can match it to your bank statement.
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 15-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
- My company is already on ASHR.work — how do I get in?
- Ask your HR admin to invite you from the Employees page. For security, you can't sign yourself up into an existing organization.
- Why was my sign-up rejected as "already registered"?
- We match company names (ignoring suffixes like Pvt Ltd or LLP) and website domains so each company exists exactly once. If yours is taken, request an invite from your admin instead.
- Can I use my Gmail address?
- Not to create an organization — a work email is required so we can tie your company's domain to your account. Your admin can still invite specific external addresses later if needed.
- 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.
- My Pending tasks card is empty. Is something wrong?
- No. An empty card means nothing needs you right now. New items appear automatically when they arrive.
- Do I have to remember to check it?
- The card sits on your Home screen, and important items also trigger a notification, so you get nudged either way.
- Is a different home screen a bug?
- No. Home is role-aware on purpose, so everyone sees what matters to them. Nothing is broken.
- Why does a teammate in the same role see slightly different cards?
- Home also depends on which modules your org has switched on, so two admins can see different widgets if their access differs.
- 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.
Goals & OKRs
- How often should I check in?
- Often enough that the number is never a surprise. Weekly or fortnightly works for most teams. The point is to have the progress conversation while the period is still running, not to discover the answer during a review.
- Can I check in on someone else's key result?
- No. Only the person who owns an objective can move its key results — including their manager and HR admins. Managers can see where their reports are, which is what the Team tab is for.
- What if I overshoot the target?
- Record the real number. Progress shows as 100% rather than something higher — an objective is not 140% achieved — but the value you entered is what is stored.
- I typed the wrong number. What happens?
- Check in again with the right one; the latest value is what counts. If the number was wildly out — an extra three zeroes, say — it is refused outright rather than quietly recorded, so the mistake surfaces immediately.
- Can I reopen an objective I closed?
- No. Closing is final, and deliberately so — the record of how the period went is not rewritten afterwards. If the work continues, set a fresh objective for the new period.
- Does my manager find out when I close one?
- Yes — they get a notification saying which objective closed, how it landed, and the progress it finished on.
- Why do I have to add a key result?
- Because an objective without one is a wish. A key result is the number that settles the argument at the end of the period — without it, "did we do it?" has no answer except an opinion. The form asks for at least one and at most ten.
- Can I type in a progress percentage?
- No, and that is deliberate. Progress is worked out from your key results every time the page loads, so it can never drift away from the numbers it claims to summarise. Move the key result and the progress moves with it.
- What if my key result is about reducing something?
- That works exactly the same way. Set the starting value high and the target low — cutting a response time from 900ms to 300ms, say — and progress counts down instead of up.
- Can my manager or HR change my objective?
- No. Your manager and HR admins can see your objectives, and that is the point — but only you can change, check in on, or close your own. A goal somebody else can quietly rewrite is not your goal.
- Who can see my objectives?
- You, the people you report to, and HR admins. Colleagues cannot see them, and nobody outside your organisation can, ever.
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.
- What is an SLA?
- A target time to respond and resolve your ticket. Higher priority means a faster target.
- How do I know if my ticket was answered?
- Open the ticket on the Helpdesk page to see its status and any replies, and reply back there.
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.
- Does a holiday inside my leave dates cost a day?
- No. Holidays inside a leave range are not counted, so your balance is not charged for them.
- Are holidays paid?
- Yes. Holidays are paid non-working days, so your salary is not reduced for them.
Leave management
- Are my adjustments recorded anywhere?
- Yes. Every override and balance change is written to the audit log with your name, the time, and the reason.
- Can I give someone extra leave for working a holiday?
- Yes. Credit their balance as a comp-off adjustment and note the reason so the record is clear.
- Can I stop a request from escalating?
- Yes. Approve or reject it before the escalation window closes, and it will never escalate.
- Who receives the escalated request?
- It moves to the next level, usually the manager's own manager or HR, and both people are emailed.
- 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.
- What happens to my balance if a request is rejected?
- Nothing is lost. Days are only deducted for approved leave, so rejected or cancelled requests return to your balance.
- Why did my balance go down at the start of the year?
- Some leave types lapse if unused, so any amount above the carry-forward cap is removed when the new year begins.
- Why don't I see all of these leave types?
- Your organisation chooses which types to use. Your admin sets the policy, so your list may differ.
- What happens when my balance reaches zero?
- If you still need time off, extra days are usually treated as LOP, which means unpaid leave.
For managers
- Does my report see the feedback right away?
- Feedback is saved to their record and surfaces at appraisal time. Check your org's setting for whether it is shared instantly.
- Do I have to wait for appraisal season to give feedback?
- No. That is the whole point. Give feedback the moment something happens so it is fresh and useful.
- Why can't I see everyone in the company here?
- The Team page only shows people who report to you in the org chart. To browse everyone, use the employee directory.
- Can admins see the Team page too?
- Yes. Admins can open the Team page, and they see the reports for whichever manager line they are viewing.
Offboarding & exit
- Do checklist changes affect exits already in progress?
- No. Each exit snapshots the templates as they are when it starts, so editing a template later never rewrites an exit that's already running — only future exits pick up the change.
- Can different exit types have different tasks?
- Yes. Build the task templates that fit your process; when HR starts an exit, the relevant clearance tasks are pre-populated so nothing is forgotten.
- 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
- Can two employees ever get the same ID?
- No. The counter skips any number already taken, so duplicates are impossible.
- Can I choose the ID myself?
- Yes. Switch to manual mode and type the ID; ASHR.work uses exactly what you enter.
- Do I have to finish the form in one sitting?
- No. The form autosaves as you type, so you can stop anytime and pick up right where you left off.
- What happens after I submit?
- Your form goes to HR to review. They approve it or send it back with a note if something needs fixing.
- 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.
- What does Approve actually do?
- It converts the new hire into an active employee and triggers their employee ID assignment.
- How does the new hire know I asked for changes?
- Request changes sends the form back to them with your note, so they can fix it and resubmit.
1:1s
- Who can see my 1:1s?
- Only the two of you. Not your colleagues, not your manager's manager, and not HR — there is no view anywhere in ASHR.work that lists somebody else's 1:1s, and the database refuses the read rather than the screen simply hiding it.
- Can I schedule a 1:1 with anyone?
- No. A 1:1 runs between one person and somebody who reports to them, directly or further down the line. That covers skip-levels. If you cannot find someone in the list, the reporting line in the directory is what decides it, and HR can correct it.
- Does it repeat automatically?
- Not yet. Each 1:1 is its own conversation, and after one is done the page offers to schedule the next one a week on. Automatic recurring schedules and reminders are on the list.
- What happens to action items nobody ticked off?
- They show up on your next 1:1 with that person, under "Still open from before". They are not copied — there is one of each, wherever you tick it off.
- Can I cancel one?
- Yes, while it is still scheduled, and you can say why. Everything written on it is kept and nothing more can be added. A 1:1 is never deleted, so the record that you had one in the diary survives.
- Can I link a 1:1 to a goal?
- If your organisation also has Goals & OKRs switched on, a talking point can point at one of your objectives or one of theirs — whichever you could already see in Goals. If Goals is off, the option is simply not there.
- Can the other person see my private note?
- No — and they cannot see that it exists either. It does not appear in their list, in any count on the page, or in a search. When they open the same 1:1, the page they get simply has one fewer item on it, with nothing to indicate that anything was left out.
- Can HR or an admin read it?
- No. This is the one module in ASHR.work where HR admins get nothing at all. Everywhere else an HR admin can read across the organisation, because that is their job. A private note in a 1:1 that HR could read would not be a private note, so the permission simply does not exist for anyone to grant.
- What about my manager's manager?
- No. Being further up the reporting line gives no access to a 1:1 you are not in — not to the private items, and not to the shared ones either.
- Can the other person make my private note public?
- No. Only the person who wrote a note can change who can read it. Nobody else can widen it, and nobody else can narrow one of your shared items to hide it from you either.
- Why can't an action item be private?
- Because an action item is a commitment between the two of you, and one that only the writer can see is not a commitment — it would let somebody "assign" work to a person who can never read it. If it should be yours alone, make it a note instead. The form will not let you save a private action item.
- Is any of this in the audit log?
- The fact that an item was added or changed is recorded, along with whether it was shared or private. What you actually wrote is never copied there, because the audit log is something administrators can read.
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
- Can an adjustment accidentally be paid twice?
- No. An adjustment stays pending until you process a run; processing claims that month's pending adjustments and locking the run marks them applied. Once applied, an adjustment can never be picked up by a later run.
- Are bonuses and reimbursements taxable?
- Earnings carry a taxable switch — a bonus is taxable, while a reimbursement of money already spent usually isn't. With auto TDS on, taxable adjustments raise that month's income tax. Deductions are never treated as taxable.
- Should I use manual or automatic TDS?
- Manual (the default) deducts exactly the figure you type on the run's review screen — right if your accountant computes it. Auto projects each employee's annual tax from their regime and declarations, subtracts what's been withheld this year, and spreads the rest across the remaining months. An explicit manual figure always overrides auto for that employee.
- Which investment fields matter under each regime?
- Under the new regime only the standard deduction applies, so the investment fields are ignored. Under the old regime payroll nets off HRA exemption, 80C (capped at ₹1,50,000), 80D, home-loan interest (capped at ₹2,00,000) and other declared exemptions.
- 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.
- Do I have to build each employee's salary breakup by hand?
- No. You set the rules once in Payroll → Settings (Basic %, HRA %, PF, ESI, Professional Tax, gratuity — India statutory defaults are pre-filled), then enter a single annual CTC per employee and ASHR builds the compliant monthly breakup automatically.
- What happens to the old structure when someone gets an increment?
- Each CTC change is saved as a new revision with an effective date, and the previous breakup is kept as history — so past payslips always reflect the structure that was in force then.
Policy acknowledgements
- Is this a digital signature?
- No, and the page says so. It is a recorded acknowledgement — evidence that you opened a named version of a policy and confirmed you had read it. That is the kind of electronic acceptance section 10A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 contemplates for everyday internal documents. Anything that must actually be signed, such as an offer letter or a contract, goes through Demystify Sign instead.
- What happens when the policy is updated?
- Nothing happens to what you already confirmed. Your acknowledgement is stored against the exact version you read, and that record is never rewritten. The new version appears as something new to read and confirm, so the record shows plainly which version each person accepted.
- I clicked the button twice. Did I acknowledge it twice?
- No. Confirming twice records once — the second attempt returns the acknowledgement that already exists and tells you so. There is no way to end up with two records of the same act.
- Can I undo an acknowledgement?
- No, and neither can HR. An acknowledgement is a record of something that happened, so it cannot be edited or deleted by anyone through the product. If you confirmed something in error, tell your HR team — they can publish a new version, which you will be asked to read afresh.
- I got a link by email instead. Is that the same thing?
- Yes, and it records the same thing. The link opens the same policy text and the same confirmation, and it works without a login — useful if you are joining and your account is not set up yet. It expires, and it only ever works for you and for that one version.
- Who can see that I acknowledged it?
- You, and your HR admins. Your colleagues cannot, and nobody outside your organisation can.
- Why does the same policy appear on more than one row?
- Because each version is its own record. Republishing a policy does not overwrite the previous version — it retires it and publishes a new one — so the earlier acknowledgements stay true statements about the text those people actually read. Showing them merged would tell you that people had accepted words they never saw.
- Someone acknowledged the old version. Do I have to chase them?
- That is your call, and the view is built so you can make it. They appear as confirmed against the version they read, and outstanding against the current one. If the change was material you chase them; if it was a typo fix you may not.
- Can I correct or remove an acknowledgement?
- No. Acknowledgements are append-only — there is no edit and no delete, for anyone, including HR and platform administrators. A record of a past act that could be quietly rewritten would not be worth keeping. If something was recorded in error, publish a new version and collect fresh acknowledgements against it.
- Is an acknowledgement the same as a signature?
- No. It records that a named person opened a named version of a policy and confirmed they had read it. That is evidence of assent to an internal document, not a digital signature. Documents that must genuinely be signed — offer letters, contracts — route through Demystify Sign, where signing is switched on for your organisation.
- What is stored about the link I send?
- Only a one-way hash of it, and its expiry — never the link itself, because anyone holding it could use it. The record shows which link was redeemed without the link being recoverable from the record.
- Can a manager see this?
- No. This view is HR-admin only. It names people who have not done something, which is a people-management fact rather than a directory one.
Recognition
- Where can I give recognition from?
- From the Recognition page itself ("Give recognition"), from the company feed ("Give kudos"), and — once the Slack app is connected — with `/ashr kudos @colleague why`. All three land in the same place.
- Can I remove a recognition I posted by mistake?
- Yes — you can remove any recognition you gave, and an HR admin can remove any recognition. It disappears from the feed and the dashboard for everyone.
- Who can see the Recognition dashboard?
- Everyone in your company can open Recognition to celebrate wins. It shows recent kudos, the most-recognised people this month, and a breakdown by company value.
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.
- Where does a candidate's application go?
- Every application submitted through the public career page lands directly in that job opening's pipeline at the first stage, with the resume and intro video attached to the candidate.
- Is the 1-minute intro video mandatory?
- You choose. In Recruitment → Settings you can require the video, set its length (up to your plan's cap), number of retakes and the prompt. Candidates who can't record can request an alternative, which is flagged for your team.
- How do candidates give consent for their data?
- The application form shows a plain-language consent notice (editable in Settings) that candidates must accept before submitting. You control retention windows, and candidates can withdraw and erase their data from their status page.
Reports & analytics
- What does percent complete mean?
- It is the share of all required reviews that are finished across the whole cycle.
- Can I see exactly who is pending?
- Yes. The report lists the people who still need to finish their part.
- Can I choose a date range?
- No. Each report covers its own fixed window — the current year for leave utilisation, the current month for the leave workflow, the last six locked runs for payroll — and the filename says which. The Reports page is a snapshot, not a query builder.
- Do managers and admins get the same files?
- No. Managers get the cards their screen shows, narrowed to the people they can see. Recent activity is admin-only. Payroll summary and Contractor payouts are limited to the people who administer payroll, so a manager sees neither card nor file — and if your organisation restricts payroll to finance, HR admins do not see them either. Asking for a card you cannot see is refused rather than answered with an empty file.
- Who can export the payroll figures?
- Only the people who can open Payroll itself. Reports applies the same permission the Payroll module applies, including the setting that restricts payroll to your finance team, so the export can never widen who sees the money.
- Why can I see some module sections but not others?
- Each section of Module snapshots follows the permissions of the module it reports on. If you administer Recruitment but not Assets, you get the recruitment counts and not the asset ones — the same split the modules' own pages apply, where you see the whole organisation only for the modules you administer.
- Why does a figure say "withheld"?
- Because it would describe too few people to report safely — an eNPS score, an average satisfaction rating or a leave type only one or two employees have used. The number is withheld on the card and in the file, and both say so rather than showing a blank or a zero, either of which would read as a real result.
- Is the download recorded anywhere?
- Yes. Every export writes an audit-log entry naming the report, the period it covered and how many rows it contained.
- Are the payroll numbers the same as on the payslips?
- Yes for the run totals — the export copies the figures stored on the payroll run itself, rounded to whole rupees exactly as the dashboard displays them. The per-employee statutory filing files (PF, ESI, PT, TDS) are downloaded from Payroll, not from here.
- Do managers see the whole company?
- No. Managers see only their own team. Admins see the entire organisation.
- What counts as an active person?
- Anyone employed and not exited. People who have left are counted separately as leavers.
- What does very low leave usage mean?
- It can be a burnout warning. People who never take leave may be overworked or afraid to step away.
- Why does unused earned leave matter?
- Unused earned leave often has to be paid out later, so it is a cost your organisation carries.
- 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.
- Can I download what I see?
- Yes. Export CSV at the top right downloads any card you can see as a CSV file. See "How do I export a report?" for what each file contains.
Your settings
- Does my theme change what colleagues see?
- No. The theme only changes how ASHR looks for you. Everyone else keeps their own choice.
- What does System do?
- System follows your device setting, so ASHR is light by day and dark at night automatically.
- Can I turn off every notification?
- No. Some critical notices, like account or security alerts, cannot be switched off.
- Why don't I get Slack messages?
- Slack notifications need the ASHR Slack app connected to your account first.
- Why can't I change my name or salary?
- Those are sensitive fields kept admin-only, so only HR can change them for you.
- Where does my photo show up?
- Your photo appears in the people directory and the org chart for your colleagues.
- What makes a strong password?
- Make it long, mix letters, numbers and symbols, and never reuse it from another site.
- I sign in with Google — can I change my password here?
- If your org uses Google sign-in, you manage that password in your Google account, not here.
- Can I see a list of my devices?
- No. ASHR cannot list your devices, because the sign-in service does not report them. You can still sign out of your other sessions from the Security page.
- What if I lose the phone with my authenticator?
- Ask your HR admin to raise it with ASHR support, who can clear the authenticator on your account so you can set up a new one. Your password is not changed.
Shifts & scheduling
- Why can't I see next week yet?
- You only see a week once your manager publishes it. Draft rosters stay hidden until then. Use the arrows to move between published weeks.
- How does a swap work?
- Open Shifts, find the shift, and click Swap. Add a short reason and send it. Your manager either reassigns the shift or declines, and you get a notification either way.
- What does publishing do?
- While you build a roster, cells are drafts (amber outline) and employees can't see them. Publishing the week makes those assignments visible to your team and notifies anyone with new shifts.
- How do I approve a swap to a specific colleague?
- On the Swaps tab, click Approve. If the requester named a colleague and that colleague is free that day, the shift moves to them automatically. If they're already scheduled, adjust the roster first, then approve.
- Who can edit the roster?
- Admins can schedule everyone; managers can schedule their own reporting team. Only admins manage the shift templates.
Slack app
- Do I need to connect my account every time?
- No — /ashr connect is a one-time step. After that the app knows who you are.
- Is it safe to approve leave from Slack?
- Yes. Every message between Slack and ASHR.work is signed and verified, tokens are stored encrypted per company, and only your linked Slack user can act as you.
- What can managers do from Slack?
- Approve or reject leave requests straight from the DM notification, see pending approvals with /ashr pending, and receive a daily digest of who is off.
- Do I still need the web portal?
- For everyday tasks, rarely. Admin work — payroll, settings, reports, org changes — still happens on the web.
- What if I typed a command wrong?
- Just type /ashr help to see everything the app can do.
Surveys & eNPS
- Can I see who gave a low score?
- No. Individual answers stay anonymous. You only ever see grouped numbers, never one person's reply.
- What is a good eNPS?
- Anything above zero means more promoters than detractors. Above 20 is often seen as healthy.
- What do you benchmark my score against?
- Your own workspace — this cycle against earlier closed cycles of the same survey, and each department against your own overall score. ASHR.work does not publish industry or cross-customer benchmarks.
- Why is one of my departments shown as hidden?
- Too few people there have answered for a score to be shown without risking anonymity. Sometimes a second department is hidden as well — if only one were hidden you could work its score out by subtracting the others from the total.
- 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.
- Does the anonymity threshold apply to a department breakdown too?
- Yes, and it is the same number. A department is scored only once enough people there have answered; below that it is listed as hidden rather than dropped. When hiding one department would let you work its score out by subtracting the rest, a second is hidden as well.
- 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.
- Does ASHR.work work out who is a flight risk?
- No. A flight-risk note is something an HR admin records by hand, with a written reason that is required and is shown beside the note. ASHR.work does not derive it from tenure, pay history or engagement scores — a guess about whether someone is about to leave should not arrive looking like a measurement.
- Who can see a flight-risk note?
- Only HR admins. The talent matrix is an HR-admin screen, the note lives on it, and it appears nowhere else in the product — not on the person's profile, not to their manager, and not to them.