Workforce solutions built for early years services

Employment Hero helps early years providers replace paper-heavy HR, onboarding, rostering and payroll admin with streamlined processes, so they can spend more time supporting children and families.

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Trusted by early years centres globally.

4.4/5 on Capterra 4.1/5 on Trustpilot 4.3/5 on G2

What’s really making running an early years service so hard?

PAIN POINT #1

Managing ratios with a casual and part-time workforce

Early years centres run on precise educator-to-child ratios. But when staff call in sick, swap shifts or move between rooms, keeping compliant coverage becomes a daily scramble. Especially when rotas live in spreadsheets or group chats.

✦ EMPLOYMENT HERO

Real-time rotas with built-in visibility mean you can see coverage across rooms and locations instantly.

PAIN POINT #2

Hiring qualified educators fast enough

The early years sector faces a persistent talent shortage. Finding and onboarding qualified early years practitioners, room leaders and support staff quickly is one of the sector’s biggest operational challenges.

✦ EMPLOYMENT HERO

Our AI recruitment tool instantly matches you with pre-qualified candidates. Automated onboarding ensures new team members complete DBS checks, upload qualification certificates and sign contracts before their first shift.

PAIN POINT #3

Employment contracts and payroll complexity

Practitioners and support staff are governed by varying employment contracts. Managing complex pay scales, shift allowances and statutory holiday rules across varying qualification levels can quickly lead to payroll errors.

✦ EMPLOYMENT HERO

We improve payroll compliance and contract management, applying the correct pay rates, allowances and statutory leave entitlements automatically so your payroll stays compliant.

Are manual tasks slowing your centres down? See how we help

Build and manage rotas across your centres with complete visibility over who is working, where and when. With staff qualifications stored centrally, centre managers can easily maintain Ofsted staff-to-child ratios without juggling spreadsheets.

New practitioners and support staff can complete all paperwork, submit DBS check details, upload vetting documentation, sign contracts and acknowledge policies before stepping into the room. Centre managers receive real-time notifications once complete, eliminating paper forms and manual chasing.

From entry-level support staff to room leaders and nursery managers, Employment Hero automatically applies the correct pay rates, pay scales and statutory holiday entitlements. Qualification and experience progressions update seamlessly so you never have to calculate pay step increases manually.

Assign and track mandatory training, paediatric first aid, safeguarding and CPR certifications across your entire team. Automated reminders flag upcoming renewal dates before compliance gaps occur, keeping your records fully digital and audit-ready for Ofsted inspections.