HR software for nurseries, built around training that expires

Everything in the file has a date on it

Paediatric first aid needs renewing. Safeguarding training needs refreshing. Food safety certificates lapse. Right to work copies have a retention period that outlasts the person's employment.

None of that is difficult individually. The difficulty is that across twenty or thirty staff it becomes a rolling calendar nobody owns, and the failure mode is always the same: the training was not refused, it was simply not noticed until it was overdue.

The specific problem with a spreadsheet here is that it tells you what somebody has. It does not tell you what is about to stop being true, because a date in a cell does nothing until a person looks at it.

In HR Henry every document and training record can carry an expiry date, and the expiring records view lists what is lapsing across the whole setting before it lapses. That is the whole mechanism, and it is genuinely the useful part.

One record per person, with the documents attached

Each member of staff has a single record. Contracts, right to work copies, qualifications, certificates and medical information attach to that person rather than to a folder structure somebody invented years ago.

Documents are typed, so a right to work copy is filed as a right to work copy - not as a scan with whatever name the scanner gave it.

Three different retention clocks run on that one file, from three different start dates. Right to work copies are kept for the whole of employment and for two years after the person leaves. Payroll and PAYE records run for three years from the end of the tax year they relate to. Working time records run for two years from the date the record was made.

A filing cabinet cannot tell you which of those has run out. A record with dates on it can.

• Right to work copies: the whole of employment, plus two years after they leave, with the date of the check recorded.
• Payroll and PAYE records: three years from the end of the tax year they relate to.
• Working time records: two years from the date the record was made.
• Health and sickness information: special category data, held on a lawful basis and no longer than needed.

The early years courses in the catalogue

The catalogue holds 182 active courses. The ones an early years setting is most likely to use are Paediatric First Aid, Safeguarding Children, Introduction to Early Years Foundation Stage, Allergen Awareness, Children and Young People's Mental Health, Autism Awareness, ADHD Awareness, and the Level 1 and Level 2 Food Safety courses for catering. Most carry CPD accreditation.

Courses are assigned to a person, completed, and recorded against them with certificates. Where a course carries a renewal period the record holds an expiry, so it appears in the expiring list rather than in somebody's memory.

The honest limit, which matters more here than in most sectors: HR Henry does not certify that any of these courses satisfies the statutory requirements for your setting, meets Ofsted expectations, or maps to the Early Years Foundation Stage framework. It is a catalogue you can assign, complete and evidence. What your staff are required to hold is a judgement for you and your manager, informed by statutory guidance - not a claim we make on a web page.

DBS, and a limit worth knowing before you buy

This is the part where it would be easy to imply more than is true, so here is the actual position.

HR Henry captures DBS certificates as structured data - the DBS number, the date of issue and the issuing organisation, all required fields - on the subcontractor and freelancer side. If you use bank staff or supply cover engaged as self-employed, that is where those records sit, and they carry expiry dates and can be requested through a portal.

For employed staff, a DBS certificate is filed as a document against the person with an expiry date, but without those dedicated fields. You can hold it, date it and be prompted before it needs revisiting. You cannot currently search or report on DBS numbers for employees.

For most nurseries the majority of DBS records sit against employed staff, so this is a real limitation rather than a footnote. It is on our list, and we would rather you knew now than discovered it in week two.

Absence, and the conversation afterwards

Early years settings run close to their staffing numbers, so absence has an operational effect the same day, and a legal tail some time later.

Sickness absences are logged against the person, the return to work record is held, and repeat patterns are flagged.

Two things about that conversation matter and most guidance mentions neither. The first is that the moment somebody tells you why they were off, you are processing special category health data - so record the fact of the absence and its work implications rather than a diagnosis, and keep it where health information belongs rather than in a shared file.

The second is that this conversation is frequently where an employer first learns something that switches on the duty to make reasonable adjustments. Which is why what gets written down matters, and why a chat nobody recorded is not a record.

What it does not do

Plainly, because a nursery has enough to read without wading through claims.

It does not manage staff-to-child ratios, and it does not hold records about the children in your care. It is a system for the adults you employ and engage.

It does not make you Ofsted compliant, or satisfy the requirements of Ofsted, Estyn, Education Scotland or the Education Authority. No software does.

What it does is hold your staff records in a form you can produce, with the dates attached and a list of what is about to lapse. Whether your provision is good enough is a judgement about your setting, made by your regulator, and it rests on what you actually do.

Frequently asked questions

Does HR Henry make my nursery Ofsted compliant?

No. No software makes a setting compliant. HR Henry holds staff records, training, attendance and absence with dates attached and prompts before things lapse. Whether your provision meets the standard is a judgement about your setting, made by your regulator.

Can it track DBS checks for nursery staff?

Partly, and the distinction matters. Structured DBS fields - number, issue date and issuing organisation - sit on the subcontractor and freelancer side. For employed staff you file the certificate as a document with an expiry date, so you can hold it and be prompted, but you cannot report on DBS numbers for employees.

Will it remind me when paediatric first aid is due for renewal?

Yes. Where a course carries a renewal period the training record holds an expiry date, and the expiring records view lists what is lapsing across the whole setting before it does.

Which early years courses are in the catalogue?

Paediatric First Aid, Safeguarding Children, Introduction to Early Years Foundation Stage, Allergen Awareness, Children and Young People's Mental Health, Autism Awareness, ADHD Awareness and the Level 1 and Level 2 Food Safety courses, among others. We do not certify that they satisfy statutory requirements for your setting.

Does it manage staff-to-child ratios?

No. HR Henry does not manage ratios and holds no records about the children in your care. It is a system for the adults you employ and engage.

How long do I keep a nursery worker's right to work check?

For the whole of their employment and for two years after they leave. The copy must be one that cannot be changed, and you must record the date the check was made.