Why people look for an alternative
Employment Hero is one of the larger Australian HR platforms, and it is a good fit for an employer whose day is about contracts, policies, leave and pay. The businesses that go looking elsewhere tend to be the ones whose day is about jobs:
- The people system does not know about the work. It knows someone is employed and rostered. It does not know which job they were on, what it cost, or what to bill.
- Two systems for one person. HR holds the employee; a separate job tool holds the worker. Their details are typed into both.
- Per-employee pricing on top of per-seat tools. The HR platform charges for every employee, and the job tool charges again.
- More than the business needs. Benefits marketplaces and engagement surveys are not what a twelve-person crew is short of.
What to compare
Start with where a new hire's details go. In most small businesses they are typed into the HR platform, the roster, the job tool and the accounting package, and the person is still in two of them after they leave. Count those entries for each option. Then do the same for a worked hour: timesheet, payroll, job, invoice. The option with the fewest places to type is the one that saves the time.
Employment Hero and RovrDS, side by side
| Need | Employment Hero | RovrDS |
|---|---|---|
| People records, roles, permissions | Yes | Yes, People in the base plan |
| Onboarding, contracts, compliance | Yes, a core strength | HR and Documentation add-ons, signing built in |
| Rosters and timesheets | Yes | Yes, Scheduling in the base plan, time cards free for every employee |
| Payroll | Built in | Through Xero via the Finance add-on |
| Jobs, quotes, job costing, invoices | No, needs another tool | Yes, Work in the base plan; Sales and Finance add-ons |
| Hours flow to the invoice | No | Yes, Finance bills from logged hours |
| Benefits, perks, engagement | Yes | No |
| Pricing model | Per employee, tiered plans check current plans | A$20 a seat, first 3 free, add-ons only for the people who run them |
| Data hosted in Australia | Check with vendor | Yes, Microsoft Azure in Sydney |
Employment Hero details are from their public product information at the time of writing. Verify current features and Australian pricing on their site before deciding.
Who should stay on Employment Hero
An employer with a large, mostly office-based workforce, complex employment arrangements and no jobs to cost is well served by a dedicated HR platform, especially if built-in payroll and benefits are doing real work. Stay. The switch makes sense when the people you employ are the people on the jobs, and you want the HR side to sit next to the job rather than in a separate system.
Moving across
- Export your employee list and load it into RovrDS People with roles and permissions.
- Decide where payroll lives. If it moves to Xero, set up pay items and leave types there first.
- Bring documents across into the Documentation add-on, so contracts and policies are templates you can send and have signed.
- Run a pay cycle in parallel, then cut over on day one of a pay period.
Questions people ask
Is RovrDS an Employment Hero replacement?
For people records, rosters, time cards, leave, onboarding, documents and signing, yes, through the base plan plus the HR and Documentation add-ons. For payroll, RovrDS Finance runs the pay run through Xero rather than its own payroll engine. If you rely on Employment Hero's built-in payroll and benefits, that is the thing to weigh.
Does RovrDS do onboarding and compliance?
Yes. The HR add-on handles onboarding, leave, compliance and difficult conversations, with everything waiting on someone shown oldest first. New starters sign their documents in their own Personal area, which is free for every employee.
What does it cost compared with Employment Hero?
RovrDS is A$20 a seat a month with the first three seats free, including GST, and add-ons such as HR are bought only for the people who run them. Check Employment Hero's current Australian pricing on their site, as it is tiered by plan and per employee.
Can I keep my payroll where it is?
Yes. Many businesses keep payroll in Xero and connect RovrDS Finance to it. Approved time cards feed the pay run; the ledger and pay items stay where your accountant expects them.
Try RovrDS
People, rosters, jobs and billing in one system, with HR that follows the work. First three seats free.