Time off should be the easy part
When booking leave is effortless, people actually rest, managers stop firefighting, and you always know where the business stands. If the approver is already on leave, the request moves to their manager. Vacation asks for a named colleague, and only that person can accept. That's what time off should feel like.
Agent example
Request Monday to Wednesday off next week, if my team stays covered.See your agent at work
Time off, quietly handled
From the first request to year-end, nobody has to chase, calculate or worry.
Requests that never get stuck
A request shouldn't wait days because the approver happened to be away. If they are already on leave, the request moves to their manager and keeps moving, even when they are on the beach themselves.
Leave · Approval chain
Annual leave · 10–21 Aug · 10 days
- Step 1 · Direct managerSLA 24h
Natalia BaranOn leave today
Arif Siregar (delegated from Natalia Baran)Now deciding - Step 2 · Any admin (HR)only if duration > 5 days
Waiting for: Magda Król, Marta Zielińska, Filip KamińskiFirst responder decides the step.
Balances no one has to argue about
How much leave is left, what carries over, what's been earned so far - always right, always current, and the same answer for everyone. No spreadsheets, no awkward end-of-year surprises.
People · Entitlement
Entitlement history
| When | Change | Type | Reason | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-07-30 | −5 days (40h) | Annual leave | Approved leave | Request |
| 2026-07-01 | +2.2 days | Annual leave | Monthly accrual | System |
| 2026-01-01 | +26 days | Annual leave | Year entitlement | Policy |
Pending shows up after approval.
Never blindsided by a gap
The worst surprise is realising too late that nobody's covering. You see the risk while there's still time to do something about it - not after the week has already fallen apart.
Next 30 days
2 risks
1 needs a plan
Lowest capacity
57%
Platform · 24 Aug
Uncovered roles
1
Production owner
Capacity threshold
Warn below 70% · Alert below 50% · Critical roles required
| Period | Team | People away | Capacity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24–28 Aug | Platform |  3 of 6 | 57% | Coverage risk |
| 1–5 Sep | Platform | 1 of 6 | 83% | Watch |
Sick notes, right on the request
A doctor's note attaches to the leave it belongs to - visible only to the person, whoever approves it, and HR - instead of floating around an inbox. Old notes clean themselves up when your retention period says so.
Leave · Request
18 Feb 2026 · recorded
Details
Attachment
Visible: Leo, approver, HR
Auto-removed by retention policy
Fair for everyone, everywhere
Part-time or full-time, a public holiday in one country and not another - everybody's time off is counted correctly, without you tracking the exceptions by hand.
Workspace · Leave policies
Planned paid time away · 3 variants · 46 people covered
A clear answer, every time
When someone asks why a request went the way it did, there's a straight, consistent answer ready. Decisions feel fair, and nobody is left guessing.
Leave · Approvals
Annual leave · 24–28 Aug · 5 days requested
Why teams pick it
People actually rest
Effortless to book means leave gets taken, not hoarded and quietly lost.
Managers stop firefighting
Cover is sorted before it ever turns into a crisis.
The business stays protected
What you owe and where you're exposed is always in view.
Live in a day
Sensible defaults out of the box - no rollout project to survive.
Or your team can simply ask
Plain language in, the right thing done - correctly, and always within your rules. Here's a real example.
Quarter end: what's our outstanding PTO liability, who has the highest unused balances, and does the Bradford report show anyone with frequent short absences a manager should talk to supportively?
liability_reportInspect query parameters
{ "year": 2026 }absence_summaryInspect query parameters
{ "startDate": "2026-01-01", "endDate": "2026-06-30" }bradford_factorInspect query parameters
{ "startDate": "2026-01-01", "endDate": "2026-06-30" }get_leave_balanceInspect query parameters
{ "employeeId": "emp_leo", "leaveTypeId": "lt_pto", "asOf": "2026-12-31" }Questions, answered
Will it fit the way we already do leave?
Yes. Set your own leave types, how time is earned and carried over, notice periods and who approves what. It bends to your policy, not the other way around.
Can it handle different countries and part-time staff?
Yes. Public holidays and working patterns are built in, so a week off counts the right number of days for each person, wherever they are.
What happens if the approver is on leave too?
If the approver is already on leave, the request moves to their manager, so nothing stalls while someone is away. Naming a colleague is a separate step the requester chooses. On Vacation, only that colleague can accept.
Can people attach a sick note?
Yes - medical certificates attach to the request itself and are visible only to the person, whoever approves it, and HR. Files stay in the data region you choose at sign-up, EU or US. That choice cannot be changed later. They're removed automatically under your retention policy.
How long does it take to get going?
Most teams are up and running the same day - the defaults are sensible, and you adjust from there.
Is there a free version?
Yes - free for up to 5 people, with every module included. A few admin extras (audit-log browsing, webhooks) are on paid plans.
One suite for the whole people-ops day
Leave, time, attendance, team health, performance reviews and the employee record work as one, so the picture is always joined up - a booked holiday is known everywhere, a new hire's day one starts itself, and a quiet team never slips through.
Know where the week actually went
Time tracking only matters when it's honest and effortless.
Clock in. That's the whole job.
Four buttons for the day.
Know how your team is really doing
Great teams quietly drift long before they visibly break.
Day one, already handled
The moment someone is hired, their record exists, their onboarding tasks have owners and dates, and the policies that need signing find them by themselves.
360 reviews people actually finish
One cycle says who is reviewed and which form they answer.
Run HR from the AI you already use
SquadBear is the system of record.
From the blog
Practical guides on policies, edge cases and rollouts - for HR leads, founders and managers running modern teams.
Mixed UoP and B2B Teams: Five Places Your HR Tool Blurs the Line
How software houses with employees and B2B contractors keep leave, hours, payroll exports and ISO 27001 policies in one workspace without blurring contracts.
Read the guide →Timesheet Close: Why a Grid Is Still a Draft
Logging hours is not the same as signing them. Submit, approve, and close are three different locks, and payroll only trusts the last one.
Read the guide →Named Cover: Why 'Someone Will Cover' Is Not a Name
'The team will pick it up' is not a colleague who agreed. Named cover is a person on the request, not the same as handing your approval queue to a deputy.
Read the guide →Less admin. More time for people.
Let your assistant handle routine leave, time and HR admin. Make room for the conversations and support your team needs.
