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Four ways to run HR in a small South African business
A folder of templates, a consultant on retainer, HR software built somewhere else, or LetterUp. We name no competitors, because their features and prices change and you should check them yourself. What we can tell you is exactly what we do and don't do.
| What matters | Word templates in a folder | Labour consultant on retainer | Generic HR software | LetterUp |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BCEA leave entitlements | A spreadsheet somebody maintains | Advice, while you still keep the records | Accrual rules you configure, and can configure wrongly | Statutory rules in the engine, counted around SA public holidays |
| Employment contracts | Whatever you downloaded, from whenever | Drafted for you, usually at a fee per contract | Upload your own | Generated on your letterhead, blanks default to the statutory minimum |
| Warnings, notices, outcomes | Templates of unknown origin | Drafted for you on request, in their time | An empty folder called "Disciplinary" | Six disciplinary letters drafted from the case and filed against it |
| The disciplinary process | In somebody's head | Guided over the phone | Incident logging, at best | Allegation, hearing, outcome, sanction and appeal on a timeline, with warning validity tracked |
| Poor-performance safeguards | None | If you ask | A rating box | A poor rating cannot be shared until a support plan and review date are attached |
| E-signatures | Print, sign, scan | Print, sign, scan | Often a paid add-on or a third-party account | Included, with an ECT Act certificate on every signed PDF |
| A portal for your staff | None | None | Yes, usually per employee per month | Yes, for every employee, with no per-user charge |
| Payroll | Retyped | Retyped | Some integrate, many don't | Monthly export for SimplePay, Sage, PaySpace and Pastel |
| POPIA over staff records | A shared drive | Their inbox and yours | Depends where it is hosted and how it was configured | Deny-by-default access, health data never broadcast, full export and erasure |
| Judgement on your particular case | None | Yes. This is what you are paying for | None | None. Take the file to an attorney or consultant when it matters |
| Monthly cost, 20 staff | R0, plus the risk | R1,500 – R4,500 | R540 – R1,580 before tier upgrades | R849, everything included |
Costs are indicative ranges from published SA pricing and typical consultant quotes in 2026.
Honest answer
When LetterUp is the wrong choice
Choose something else if…
- You need payroll calculated and filed, meaning PAYE, UIF and SARS. We export to payroll and we are not one.
- You need recruitment, an applicant tracking system, staff surveys or project boards. We left those out deliberately.
- You employ people outside South Africa. The rules in here are South African and only South African.
- You are in a retrenchment, a strike or a CCMA dispute right now. Get a person first, then bring them your file.
Choose LetterUp if…
- You employ people in South Africa and nobody's whole job is HR.
- Your contracts, warnings and leave records are spread across a folder, an inbox and a spreadsheet, or missing.
- You have been caught at the CCMA on procedure, or watched it happen to somebody you know.
- You would like your staff to check their own balances and payslips instead of asking you.
Try it next to whatever you use now
Fourteen days, every feature, no card. Keep what already works for you.