HR & People Management

Human resources platforms for managing employee records, payroll, leave tracking, and performance reviews. European HR tools store your workforce data within the EU, providing the highest level of protection for the most sensitive category of personal data in your organisation.

What to Look For

Employee database
Time tracking
Leave management
Payroll
Performance reviews
Onboarding

GDPR Considerations

HR platforms process the most sensitive personal data in any organisation: employee names, addresses, bank account details, salary information, tax identification numbers, health-related absence records, performance evaluations, disciplinary notes, and diversity data. Under GDPR, much of this data qualifies as special category data requiring enhanced protection. A data breach involving HR records can expose your entire workforce's most private information. When HR data is processed by a US-based platform like BambooHR or Workday, your employees' most sensitive personal information is subject to US jurisdiction and the CLOUD Act. European HR platforms store all employee data exclusively within the EU, comply natively with country-specific employment law requirements, and build GDPR data subject rights directly into their workflows. For organisations with EU employees, this is not just a compliance preference but a duty of care to your workforce.

How to Choose

With 4 European hr & people management options available, choosing the right one depends on your priorities. Here's a quick guide:

Enterprise procurement requirements

Personio, SAP SuccessFactors hold ISO 27001

European HR & People Management Software

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HR & People Management — Frequently Asked Questions

What makes HR data especially sensitive under GDPR?
HR data frequently includes special category data as defined by GDPR Article 9: health information from sick leave records and medical certificates, trade union membership, religious or philosophical beliefs for holiday accommodation, and racial or ethnic data collected for diversity reporting. Beyond special categories, HR platforms also store bank details, salary figures, performance evaluations, and disciplinary records. This combination makes HR systems one of the highest-risk data processing activities in any organisation. GDPR requires explicit measures to protect this data, including strict access controls, encryption, and data minimization.
Can European HR platforms handle multi-country payroll and employment law?
Yes, this is a major advantage of European HR tools. Platforms built for the EU market understand the complexity of cross-border employment within Europe: different payroll tax calculations, mandatory social security contributions, country-specific leave entitlements, and local reporting requirements. US-based HR platforms often treat European employment law as an afterthought, requiring third-party integrations or manual workarounds. European HR tools natively support multi-country payroll, local compliance reporting, and the varied employment regulations across EU member states, all while keeping employee data within EU jurisdiction.
How do European HR tools handle employee data subject requests?
Under GDPR, employees have the right to access, rectify, and request deletion of their personal data. European HR platforms build these rights into their core functionality with features like one-click data export for individual employees, automated data anonymisation for former employees after a configurable retention period, and audit trails showing who accessed employee records. Some platforms also manage consent records for optional data processing like satisfaction surveys or photo usage. These features help HR teams respond to data subject requests within the 30-day deadline without manually searching across multiple systems.
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