HR management for small business comes down to five records and one monthly routine. Keep each person's terms, hours, leave, pay and till access written down, and check them once a month. In Kenya, the Employment Act lists the records an employer must keep and opens three years of them to inspection.
Most HR advice for small firms ends with "check your local laws". This guide checks them for five African countries, works through two leave calculations, and shows the set-up in ArmPOS step by step.
What does HR management mean in a small shop?
In a shop with 3 to 20 people, HR is six jobs: hiring, written terms, hours, leave, pay, and who may touch the till and the stock. A large firm adds policies and appraisal cycles. A small shop needs the six done every month by the owner or one manager.
The sixth job is the one generic HR guides skip. In a shop, staff handle cash and stock, so HR and loss control share one file. A leaver who still has a sign-in is a risk from the day they go.
Which employee records must a small business keep?
Keep a written record for every employee, covering their terms, rest days, leave, sickness, pay statements and any warnings. Kenya's Employment Act lists these items one by one in section 74. An officer the Act authorises can require the last 36 months of them for inspection.
Other countries word it differently, but the Kenyan list is a sound model for any small employer. The table maps each record to where it can live.
| Record | What goes in it | Where it can live in ArmPOS |
|---|---|---|
| Terms of employment | Job, start date, pay, and any change to them | The employee's record and profile; the signed contract under Contracts |
| Rest days and hours | The days and times each person works | Office Shift, one per pattern of hours |
| Annual leave | Days owed, days taken, days due | Annual Leave and Remaining leave on the employee |
| Sick and maternity leave | Dates, and the doctor's note | A leave request of that type, with the note attached |
| Pay and deductions | What was paid and what was deducted | Wages as an expense; deduction statements stay with your accountant |
| Warnings and misconduct | Warning letters and evidence | A paper or cloud folder: ArmPOS has no field for it |
How much annual leave must you give?
Among these five countries, the legal minimum ranges from 6 working days in Nigeria to 28 consecutive days in Tanzania. Each figure below is a floor: a contract can give more, never less.
| Country | Minimum paid annual leave | How it is earned | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uganda | 21 days a year | 7 days for each 4 months of continuous service | Employment Act 2006, via WageIndicator |
| Kenya | 21 working days | After every 12 consecutive months; 1.75 days per completed month if the job ends sooner | Employment Act, section 28 |
| Tanzania | 28 consecutive days, public holidays inside them included | Each 12-month leave cycle | Employment and Labour Relations Act 2004, via WageIndicator |
| Ghana | 15 working days | After 12 months of continuous service | Labour Act 2003, via WageIndicator |
| Nigeria | 6 working days | After 12 months of continuous service | Labour Act, section 18, via WageIndicator |
The figures were checked against these sources in October 2026. Laws change, so confirm with your labour ministry or a lawyer before a dispute.
Two worked examples
For example, a cashier in Kampala joins on 1 March. By 31 October she has completed two 4-month periods, so she has earned 14 days of paid leave (2 × 7).
For example, a shop assistant in Nakuru leaves after 5 completed months. Section 28 of Kenya's Act gives him at least 8.75 days of leave with full pay (5 × 1.75).
Kenya's Act also gives sick leave of 7 days on full pay, then 7 on half pay, each year after two months' service, against a doctor's certificate.
How do you track hours without a clock-in machine?
Write down each person's arrival and departure every day, against a shift that says when they should be there. One line at opening and one at closing does it, and it settles arguments about lateness and overtime before they start.
Build the rest day into the shift itself. Kenya's Act gives every employee at least one rest day in every seven. A shift with all seven days filled is a warning sign.
In ArmPOS, a manager enters each day's Time In and Time Out; staff don't clock themselves in. ArmPOS compares the day with the person's shift and counts late time, leaving early and overtime. The Attendance summary report adds up the hours by day or month.
A monthly HR routine for a shop with 3 to 20 staff
- Every day: record attendance at opening and closing.
- Every week: decide pending leave requests, and read the Cash Register Report by cashier.
- Every month: record wages as an expense in a Salaries category, against each branch. Each branch's profit then carries its own staff cost.
- Every month: check each person's remaining leave, and approve and pay any sales commissions.
- The day someone leaves: set their Leaving Date in HR and switch off their Status under Users, so they can't sign in again.
- Every year: give each person their new year's leave, renew contracts that end, and check the leave figures above against the current law.
For a shop with branches, the routine runs per branch; multi-location retail management covers the rest of that set-up.
How to set up HR management in ArmPOS
HR sits in the same ArmPOS account as your till and stock, under Team & projects › HRM. It comes with some plans only; the pricing page shows which.
- Set up the structure, in order. Company, then Departments (such as Shop floor), then Designations (such as Cashier), then an Office Shift with each day's hours. See Set up HR.
- Add each employee with their department, job and shift, then edit them to set Annual Leave, such as 21. See Employees.
- Record attendance daily. See Attendance.
- Create leave types such as Annual leave and Sick leave, then record requests as Pending, Approved or Rejected. Approving takes the days off Remaining leave. See Leave requests.
- Give each person who sells a sign-in with a role that opens only what they need. See Add your team and Roles and permissions.
- Add the extras your plan includes: sales agents and commissions, hiring with jobs, candidates and interviews, and your team's handbook for written procedures.
Four limits are worth knowing before you rely on it:
- An employee is an HR record, not a sign-in. Someone who also sells needs a user as well.
- Editing an employee clears the details only their profile page holds, such as basic salary and address. Fill those on the profile after any edit.
- A leave request counts days within one month, so split a leave that crosses a month end into two requests.
- Deleting an approved request doesn't give the days back: correct Remaining leave by hand.
New staff then need a short, planned induction on the till itself: how to train employees on a new POS system gives a one-week plan. For the stock side of the business, start with inventory management for small businesses.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need HR software with only three employees?
You need the records, not necessarily software. A notebook works until attendance, leave and pay live in three places; software that sits beside your till keeps them in one.
Can staff clock themselves in on ArmPOS?
No. A manager records each day's arrival and departure, and ArmPOS works out lateness, overtime and hours from the shift.
Does ArmPOS calculate wages and tax deductions?
No: HRM › Payroll records each salary payment you type in, but ArmPOS doesn't work out the amount or any deductions. Record wages as an expense too, so they count in your profit. Work out tax and statutory deductions with your accountant or the tax authority's own tools.
What happens to leave an employee doesn't take?
In Kenya, the part beyond two uninterrupted weeks must be taken within 18 months of the end of the year it was earned. Other countries set their own rules, so check yours.
Which records should I keep the longest?
Keep at least three years of everything in the table above, because an officer authorised under Kenya's Act can require the last 36 months.
Start with each person's own sign-in on the till, then add HR when your plan includes it. Create a free ArmPOS account for your shop in Uganda, Kenya or wherever you trade.