Every HR decision, on the record.
Performance, leave, timesheets, discipline and compliance in one system built for South African labour law, so when a decision is questioned the evidence is already there.
What we solve
Five places a decision gets questioned.
Hiring, working time, performance, discipline and the exit. Each one leaves a record somebody can later ask you for, and each one is where an employer who did nothing wrong still comes up short. Open any of them to see what Synthro keeps, and when.
AI built in
NALA AI
An HR expert trained on South African labour law, ready on every screen.
Audit ready
SA Compliance
CCMA ready by default. Built for South African law, not bolted on later.
Continuous feedback
Performance Management
Swap the once a year review for insight your managers act on every week.
Culture built in
Employee Engagement
Culture you can measure and improve, week after week.
All in one
HR Operations
One login for everything your HR team touches.
How it works
The record keeps itself, or somebody has to remember to.
In most growing businesses the evidence behind an HR decision is assembled afterwards, out of spreadsheets, inboxes and a WhatsApp thread, by whoever still remembers. Synthro writes it against the employee as the work happens, dated, so there is nothing to reconstruct on the day somebody asks. Find out what you could produce today.
Where it lives today
- Warnings saved as attachments in one manager’s inbox
- Leave balances in a spreadsheet nobody else can reconcile
- Hearing notes on paper, if they were written down at all
- Policies sent once, with no record of who received them
- Performance concerns raised in conversation and never documented
In Synthro
- Warnings and outcomes recorded against the employee, with dates
- Leave balances built from the applications and approvals behind them
- Reviews, check-ins and improvement plans documented as they happen
- Policy acknowledgements recorded for each employee
- The whole file exportable as a CCMA evidence pack
Comparing vendors? See Synthro vs Sage HR, Synthro vs PaySpace and Synthro vs spreadsheets.
Built for South Africa
BCEA leave rules, B-BBEE scorecards and SETA reporting are built in for South African employers, rather than added later as custom development.
Nala, the AI assistant
Answers HR questions from a South African labour-law source library, cites what it relied on, and drafts working documents such as improvement plans for a manager to check.
Priced for SMEs
From R49.99 per user per month, with onboarding included and no implementation fee.
All-in-One Platform
Replace four or five separate tools: HR system, performance reviews, leave management, compliance tracking and AI advisor. One subscription instead of many.
FAQ
Questions we get asked.
Everything you need to know about Synthro's features and how they work for South African businesses.
What makes Synthro different from Sage HR, SimplePay, or Factorial?
Synthro is built around the record a South African employer has to be able to produce: contracts, warnings, hearings, reviews, leave approvals and certificates of service, kept against each employee as the work happens and exportable as a CCMA evidence pack. BCEA leave rules, B-BBEE scorecards and SETA reporting are built in, and Nala, the AI assistant, answers HR questions from a South African labour-law source library. Pricing starts at R49.99 per user per month, with onboarding included. For a detailed comparison, see the Synthro vs Sage HR and Synthro vs PaySpace pages.
Does Synthro integrate with my existing payroll system (Sage, Xero, QuickBooks)?
Synthro integrates directly with SimplePay: employees, approved leave and timesheets push over the API, with a limited pull back for confirmation. For Sage, Xero, QuickBooks or any other payroll, Synthro exports employee data, leave balances and payroll inputs as Excel files for import, or a custom integration can be scoped.
How does NALA AI work? Is it just a chatbot?
Nala is an AI assistant built into Synthro. It answers HR questions using a South African labour-law source library and cites what it relied on, and it drafts working documents such as performance improvement plans, goals and review questions for a manager to check and edit. It supports a decision rather than making one, and it is not a substitute for legal advice on a specific dispute.
Can Synthro handle 360-degree performance reviews with peer feedback?
Absolutely. Synthro 360° Performance Reviews collect feedback from managers, peers, direct reports, and self-assessments in structured review cycles. Choose from 9 pre-built competency categories with 5-point rating scales and optional written comments. Anonymous feedback options protect honesty. Synthro generates analytics reports with aggregated scores, identifies strengths and weaknesses, and tracks performance trends over time. Export individual reports to PDF for employee records and CCMA documentation.
Is Synthro compliant with BCEA Section 20, 22, 25, and 27?
Yes. Synthro automatically calculates 21-day annual leave entitlements (BCEA Section 20), tracks 30-day sick leave in 36-month cycles (Section 22), manages 3-day family responsibility leave (Section 27), and tracks the shared parental leave pool of 4 months and 10 days introduced by the Constitutional Court's Van Wyk ruling (October 2025), which replaced the old separate maternity and 10-day parental entitlements. The system blocks leave requests exceeding available balances, generates CCMA-ready audit trails, and alerts managers when employees approach limits.
How does Synthro flag burnout risk?
Synthro combines signals already held on the employee record, such as overtime hours, leave patterns and check-in activity, into a burnout risk score, and alerts the manager when the pattern is worth a conversation. It is an early prompt for a manager, not a diagnosis.
Can Synthro generate B-BBEE scorecards for QSE, EME, and Generic companies?
Yes. Synthro automatically classifies your business based on annual turnover: EME (under R10M), QSE (R10 to 50M), or Generic (over R50M). Track all 5 B-BBEE elements: Ownership (25 pts), Management Control (19 pts), Skills Development (20 pts), Enterprise & Supplier Development (40 pts), and Socio-Economic Development (5 pts). Export verification-ready reports for auditors.
Does Synthro work on mobile phones? Do I need to download an app?
Synthro works perfectly on mobile phones with NO app download required. Our Progressive Web App (PWA) technology delivers an app-like experience. Tap 'Add to Home Screen' for a full-screen icon. Touch-optimized interfaces, offline capability (limited), and responsive layout from 6-inch phones to 27-inch monitors. Works on iOS, Android, Windows PC, Mac, and Chromebook.
What happens to my data if I cancel Synthro?
Your data is ALWAYS yours. You have 30 days from the end of your licence to export all of it: single employee exports in Excel, or a company-wide batch export in JSON. After 30 days it is permanently deleted, as POPIA requires. No surprises and no hidden clauses.
How long does it take to set up Synthro and import employees?
A dedicated onboarding specialist sets Synthro up with you: importing your employees from Excel, configuring BCEA leave policies from pre-filled SA defaults, and connecting your payroll. Your core employee and leave records are configured first, with payroll sync and the compliance modules completed over your first working week. It is hands-on and included in your plan - no separate implementation fee.
Find out where your records would fail.
Take the 4-minute HR Defensibility Score, then see Synthro close the gaps it finds.