How does Harper answer employee handbook and benefits questions accurately?

Harper uses dedicated Vector RAG to index your company's employee handbook, health plan summary descriptions (SBCs), 401(k) policies, and PTO guidelines. When an employee asks a question in Slack or Microsoft Teams, Harper retrieves the exact verified policy clause, quotes the source document, and provides clear next steps without making up answers or hallucinating benefits details.

How does Harper protect employee privacy, PII, and sensitive medical inquiries?

Harper operates on SOC 2 Type II certified infrastructure with zero data retention for LLM training. Private conversations are isolated, and sensitive inquiries (such as confidential health disclosures, parental leave planning, or harassment reports) are automatically encrypted, flagged with elevated confidentiality, and routed directly to designated People Operations leaders.

Can Harper automate new employee onboarding from offer acceptance to Day 30?

Yes. Harper orchestrates the full onboarding journey: sending welcome packets, verifying tax forms and I-9 documents, requesting IT hardware provisioning, scheduling 1-on-1 welcome syncs with team buddies, and delivering automated 7-day, 14-day, and 30-day onboarding pulse surveys.

What HRIS and communication tools does Harper integrate with?

Harper integrates natively with BambooHR, Workday, Gusto, Rippling, Deel, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Lattice, and Culture Amp via bi-directional OAuth APIs.

How does Harper handle PTO and leave request approvals?

Employees can request PTO or sick leave conversationally in Slack (e.g., 'Book next Thursday and Friday off for vacation'). Harper checks their available PTO balance in your HRIS, verifies team holiday coverage rules, and routes an interactive 1-click approval notification to their direct manager on Slack before logging the approved days in the company calendar.

How long does it take to deploy Harper across our company?

Deployment takes less than 15 minutes. Connect your Slack/Teams workspace and HRIS, upload your current employee handbook and benefits documents, and Harper is immediately ready to answer employee inquiries and handle onboarding tasks.

Harper • Autonomous AI HR Assistant

Autonomous Employee Onboarding, Policy Q&A & HR Helpdesk

Harper runs automated new-hire onboarding, resolves handbook & benefits questions 24/7 in Slack & Teams, manages PTO workflows, and keeps BambooHR & Workday updated seamlessly.

$0 Template Fee — Free Trial How To Configure Talk to Team

Connect Tools Only Once

BambooHR • Workday • Gusto • Slack

1,000 Free Credits Included

harper-people-ops-engine

HR_DESK_ACTIVE

Active: #hr-helpdesk <-> BambooHR

24/7 Desk

[06:05:12] SLACK_Q: Sarah M.: "What is our parental leave policy & stipend?"

[06:05:14] RAG_SEARCH: Handbook match: Benefits Guide Sec 4.2 (Parental Leave).

[06:05:17] RESOLVED: Answer posted in Slack thread with policy quote & form link.

[06:05:22] ONBOARDING: David L. (Eng) I-9 verified; BambooHR profile provisioned.

[06:05:27] PTO_ROUTED: 4-day PTO logged for Alex K.; 1-click manager approval sent.

Deflection

94.2%

Speed

< 3 Sec

Onboarding

-70% Time

Connect HRIS & Slack

Link BambooHR, Workday, Gusto, Slack & Teams in 3 clicks.

Ingest Policies & Handbooks

Upload benefits plans, PTO rules, travel policies & FAQs.

24/7 Policy Q&A & PTO

Instant, citation-backed answers to employee questions.

Automated Onboarding

Checklists, document collection & provisioning on rails.

Out-Of-The-Box Capabilities

What We Have In This Template

Harper is pre-configured with 6 specialized People Operations skills. Deploy immediately or fine-tune response policies to match your company culture.

24/7 Handbook & Policy Q&A

Resolves repetitive employee questions in Slack regarding health benefits, 401(k) matching, expense reimbursement, and remote work policies instantly with exact handbook citations.

Channels: Slack, Teams, Email Pre-Built

Automated End-to-End Employee Onboarding

Automated New Hire Onboarding

Coordinates Day 1 to Day 30 milestones: collects I-9 and tax documentation, coordinates IT hardware requests, and delivers welcome checklists and automated manager check-ins.

Workflow: 30-Day Automated Pulse Pre-Built

PTO & Leave Request Automation

Calculates real-time PTO accruals, verifies team coverage windows, routes interactive 1-click approvals to managers in Slack, and logs approved dates directly into your HRIS.

Integration: BambooHR, Workday, Gusto Pre-Built

Benefits & Open Enrollment Navigator

Guides team members through HDHP vs PPO plan comparisons, HSA/FSA contribution limits, and life-event enrollment windows with plain-English summaries.

Coverage: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k Pre-Built

HRIS Profile & Compliance Audit

Maintains clean employee records across multiple entities, auditing missing emergency contacts, expiring visas, and mandatory compliance training certifications.

Compliance: I-9, W-4, Harassment Certs Pre-Built

Confidential Case Triage & Routing

Instantly detects sensitive employee relations issues (interpersonal conflicts, harassment reports, medical leaves), encrypts conversation transcripts, and alerts People Ops leadership.

Security: Confidential Escalation Gate Pre-Built

Measurable People Ops ROI

Why HR & People Leaders Hire Harper

Deflect repetitive questions, deliver delightful employee support, and free your People team for strategic culture and talent development.

94% HR Helpdesk Ticket Deflection

Empower employees to get instant handbook answers on demand in Slack rather than cluttering HR inboxes with routine inquiries.

70% Faster Onboarding Cycles

Turn chaotic manual onboarding checklists into smooth automated workflows that ensure new hires feel welcomed and productive from day one.

24/7 Global Time-Zone Support

Remote team members in London, Tokyo, or San Francisco receive immediate policy answers at midnight without waiting for HQ office hours.

Zero PTO Approval Delays

Managers approve time-off requests directly in Slack with a single tap, updating calendars and HRIS balances instantaneously.

Zero Compliance Gaps

Harper automatically flags missing I-9 forms, overdue compliance certifications, and incomplete benefits elections before audit deadlines.

Higher Employee Satisfaction

Deliver a world-class employee experience with rapid, empathetic, and confidential assistance across all life and career stages.

People Operations: Traditional Process vs. Harper

Handbook & Policy Inquiries

24-48 hour email delay; repetitive answers typed by HR generalists

Instant sub-3-second answers citing verified handbook clauses

New Hire Onboarding Execution

Scattered Google spreadsheets, manual reminders, missing forms

Automated Day 1-30 checklists with automated HRIS sync

PTO Approval Workflow

Employees log into separate HR portals; requests sit forgotten

Conversational Slack booking with 1-click manager approvals

HR Team Focus

Overwhelmed by repetitive administrative and paperwork tasks

Freed to focus on talent development, retention, and culture

94.2%

Ticket Deflection Rate

Directly in Slack & Teams

< 3 Sec

Average Response Speed

24/7 across all time-zones

70%

Faster Onboarding

Zero missed Day-1 tasks

Template Fee

1,000 Free Credits included

Enterprise Infrastructure

Built on the RhinoAgents Enterprise Core

Every employee interaction is protected by SOC 2 Type II compliance, strict PII encryption, and isolated organizational memory.

HR Knowledge Vector RAG

Indexes company handbooks, summary plan descriptions, and state labor policies for verified citation-backed answers.

Sub-Second Policy Lookup

Global Employee Memory

Remembers individual employee tenure, office location, department tier, and onboarding progression milestones.

Context-Aware Responses

Deterministic Guardrails

Guarantees zero hallucination on corporate legal and health policies; automatically routes edge cases to human HR staff.

Zero Policy Fabrication

Immutable Audit Logs

Every PTO booking, handbook update, and profile modification is logged with tamper-proof cryptographic attribution.

SOC 2 Type II Certified

Human-In-The-Loop Governance

Autonomous Routine HR with Human Escalation Safeguards

Harper handles routine handbook questions and PTO tracking autonomously, but immediately encrypts and hands off sensitive employee relations or performance inquiries to your People Ops leaders.

Schedule Architecture Review

Native People Ecosystem

Tools Required & Integrations

Harper connects directly to your existing HRIS platforms, workplace communication channels, and identity providers.

HRIS & Payroll

Bi-directional employee records & PTO sync.

• BambooHR
• Workday HCM
• Gusto & Rippling
• Deel & Remote.com

Workplace Chat

Instant conversational support and approvals.

• Slack Workspaces
• Microsoft Teams
• Google Workspace / Gmail
• Microsoft Outlook / 365

Performance & Culture

Pulse surveys and check-in milestone tracking.

• Lattice
• Culture Amp
• 15Five
• Officevibe

IT & Identity Access

Automated user provisioning and deprovisioning.

• Okta / JumpCloud
• Google Workspace Admin
• Jira Service Management
• Jamf / Kandji MDM

Need custom on-premise HRIS or proprietary intranet integration?

RhinoAgents supports 400+ connectors via SCIM 2.0, SAML SSO, and secure REST APIs.

Request Custom Connector

Architecture & Pipeline

How Harper Autonomously Resolves HR Requests

Review Harper's deterministic People Operations DAG below. Every stage includes verified source retrieval, privacy screening, and HRIS synchronization.

Official Autonomous HR Helpdesk Pipeline DAG

Continuous execution cycle for policy Q&A, onboarding workflows, and PTO tracking

DAG: workflow-ai-hr-assistant.png

STAGE 01

Intent Ingest & Identity

Pulls employee message from Slack, verifies worker location, department, and tenure permissions in the HRIS.

STAGE 02

Vector RAG Retrieval

Searches indexed employee handbook, insurance plan SBCs, and corporate policy files for exact matching clauses.

STAGE 03

Privacy & Policy Guard

Applies PII filters, verifies answers against company guidelines, and isolates sensitive grievances for human escalation.

STAGE 04

HRIS Action & Delivery

Posts citation-backed response in thread, updates BambooHR/Workday profiles, or routes manager PTO approvals.

3 Ways to Deploy Your AI HR Assistant

Select the deployment model that best aligns with your team culture and compliance setup.

Pathway 01

Deploy Pre-Built Template

Connect your Slack/Teams workspace, link your BambooHR or Gusto account, and activate 24/7 helpdesk in under 15 minutes.

Deploy Now →

Pathway 02

Customize with Natural Language

Configure custom onboarding schedules, department escalation matrices, and specific tone-of-voice directives in simple English.

Configure Prompts →

Pathway 03

Bespoke Enterprise Rollout

Partner with RhinoAgents engineers to build multi-country compliance pipelines, private VPC deployments, and custom Workday business processes.

Book Enterprise Demo →

Battle-Tested Directives

Test Harper with Real People Operations Prompts

These production prompts power Harper's autonomous workflows. Copy them directly or customize them for your company's benefits packages.

DIRECTIVE: Employee Policy & Benefits Guidance

Role: AI HR Assistant (Harper)
Objective: Answer employee benefits and handbook questions in Slack with citation-backed accuracy.
Parameters:
1. Parse incoming employee question in Slack (#hr-helpdesk or direct message).
2. Query the Vector RAG Knowledge Base indexing the official Company Employee Handbook and Benefits SBCs.
3. Formulate the response:
   - Provide a clear, empathetic direct answer.
   - Quote the relevant handbook clause and section title (e.g., Section 4.3: Health Insurance Deductibles).
   - Attach direct links to the relevant claim form, provider portal, or internal Wiki page.
4. Tone guidelines: Professional, warm, and supportive.
5. If question involves formal disciplinary issues or confidential grievances:
   - Do NOT answer publicly.
   - Reply privately: "I've flagged this confidentially to our People team who will reach out directly today."
   - Route encrypted ticket to #hr-confidential Slack channel.

DIRECTIVE: 30-Day New Hire Onboarding Orchestration

Role: AI HR Assistant (Harper)
Objective: Automate new-hire onboarding workflows from pre-boarding through Day 30.
Parameters:
1. Detect new hire profile created in BambooHR / Workday.
2. Pre-boarding (7 days before start):
   - Send welcome email with company swag selection form and I-9 / W-4 document instructions.
   - Trigger IT ticket in Jira Service Management for laptop provisioning and email creation.
3. Day 1:
   - Send Slack DM welcome message: First-day schedule, team buddy introduction, and orientation deck.
4. Day 7 & Day 14:
   - Check-in DM: "How was your first week? Here are 3 tips on setting up your benefits."
5. Day 30:
   - Dispatch automated 30-day onboarding pulse survey and prompt manager to schedule 30-day review.

DIRECTIVE: Conversational PTO Booking & Manager Approvals

Role: AI HR Assistant (Harper)
Objective: Process conversational PTO leave requests in Slack and coordinate manager sign-off.
Parameters:
1. Parse conversational PTO intent (e.g., "Take off Friday, Nov 14 for a long weekend").
2. Query BambooHR / Gusto API to check employee's remaining PTO balance:
   - If balance is insufficient: Politely inform employee of available hours and unpaid leave options.
   - If balance is sufficient: Check department team calendar to verify coverage rules.
3. Send interactive Slack DM to the employee's direct manager:
   - "Alex K. requested 8 hours PTO for Nov 14. Remaining balance: 14 days. Team coverage: Normal."
   - Action buttons: [Approve Request] [Decline Request] [Add Note].
4. Upon approval:
   - Log approved PTO entry into BambooHR / Workday.
   - Update company Google Calendar / Outlook out-of-office status.
   - Notify employee: "Your PTO request has been approved! Enjoy your time off."

DIRECTIVE: Secure Offboarding & Asset Deprovisioning

Role: AI HR Assistant (Harper)
Objective: Orchestrate secure, compliant employee offboarding procedures.
Parameters:
1. Receive offboarding notice from HR Manager with effective departure date and time.
2. Generate comprehensive offboarding checklist:
   - Calculate final compensation and accrued PTO payout according to state labor laws.
   - Prepare COBRA health continuation notices and 401(k) rollover information packet.
   - Schedule confidential exit interview questionnaire.
3. Coordinate with IT & Security:
   - Trigger Okta / Google Workspace account suspension at precisely 5:00 PM on departure date.
   - Send prepaid return shipping label for corporate laptop and access badges.
4. Update HRIS record to "Terminated - Voluntary/Involuntary" with complete audit documentation.

Built For High-Performing Teams

Who Is This AI HR Assistant For?

Whether you are a 15-person startup without full-time HR or an enterprise People team supporting thousands of remote employees, Harper scales your workplace support.

Founders & Ops Leads

Provide professional HR support without hiring a full-time People Ops manager before you are ready.

Automate Early-Stage HR →

Rapidly Scaling Teams

Onboard 10+ new hires every month seamlessly while keeping handbook policies organized and accessible.

Scale Onboarding Velocity →

VPs of People & HRDs

Deflect thousands of monthly repetitive tickets, freeing your strategic HR business partners for high-impact talent programs.

Enterprise Ticket Deflection →

Distributed & Remote Teams

Support employees across every time zone 24/7 in Slack with localized PTO rules and regional benefits guidance.

24/7 Global Time-Zones →

Got Questions?

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about privacy, HRIS integrations, and deploying Harper.