Available for the following plans: Lite, Plus, Unlimited HR, Essentials, Engage, Elite, Unlimited HR+Payroll
Available for the following HR Classic plans: Standard, Premium, Platinum
Available for the following user access levels: Admin
Doc Studio is Employment Hero's single, unified document template editor. It replaces the previous basic and advanced template editors with a modern, intuitive WYSIWYG ("What You See Is What You Get") experience, so you can create, edit and manage your HR document templates from one place.
Watch the video below for a walkthrough of the Doc Studio, then read on for a full overview of what's included.
About Doc Studio?
Doc Studio is a single document editor that streamlines the template creation experience. Instead of choosing between a basic (PDF) editor and an advanced (HTML) editor, you now work in one editor that combines the best of both, with additional features built on top.
Doc Studio is designed to:
- Deliver a modern, intuitive editing experience that mirrors familiar word-processing tools
- Remove the confusion of choosing between two separate editors
- Support existing variables and introduce new ones from the employee file
- Provide a foundation for ongoing feature enhancements
Key features
Doc Studio includes the following capabilities:
Formatting
- Copy and paste from external sources (e.g. Microsoft Word, Google Docs) with most formatting retained
- Headings, bold, italics, underline, font colours
- Text alignment and indentation
- Hyperlinks
- Tables
- Image uploads - embed high-resolution brand assets such as letterheads, logos or other images directly into your template
Variables
- Searchable variable library - find any field in seconds from a handy sidebar, with variables organised into categories
- Default variables from the employee file (e.g. name, job title, start date)
- Custom variables - create your own String, Select, Date or Image variable types
Optional clauses
- Standalone optional blocks and optional block groups
- Automatically add or remove sections of a template based on specific employee details at the point of issue
Multiple signatories
- Select up to three sending signatories to sign a document. This is useful for templates that require sign-off from multiple internal approvers before sending.
Tip
Because the Doc Studio editor is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, the HTML source feature from the advanced editor is no longer needed. You can create professional, on-brand templates using the formatting toolbar without touching a line of code.
Availability
Important
The Doc Studio feature is available for all new accounts that were created on or after 19 December 2025 (for NZ, SEA, UK and CA) or on or after 16 March 2026 (for AU).
If your Employment Hero account was created before these dates, you can opt in to Doc Studio from your Template Library. Migration to Doc Studio is now underway for existing accounts. You'll be notified via an in-platform banner and email when it's your turn. You can also opt in early from your Template Library.
From 1 August 2026, the existing Basic (PDF) and Advanced Editors will no longer be available for creating or editing templates. Your existing templates will still be available for use, but any future edits will need to be performed within Doc Studio.
Access Doc Studio
- Sign in to your Employment Hero HR platform as an admin.
- Navigate to Compliance > Template Library.
- If your account has not yet been migrated, follow the in-platform prompts to enable Doc Studio.
- Once enabled, click Create template to start building a new template in Doc Studio.
What happens to my existing templates?
When Doc Studio is enabled on your account:
- You can still view and assign existing templates that were created using the legacy basic or advanced editors.
- You will no longer be able to create new templates or edit existing templates using the legacy editors.
- For advanced editor templates, an in-platform migration wizard is available to clone your existing templates into Doc Studio. The wizard copies your content and variables into the new editor. Minor formatting adjustments may be needed after migration.
- For basic (PDF) editor templates, the migration wizard is not supported. You will need to recreate these templates in Doc Studio. If your PDF was originally created in a word-processing tool (e.g. Microsoft Word or Google Docs), you can copy and paste the content into Doc Studio and most formatting will be retained.
Tip
You don't need to migrate everything at once. We recommend starting with your most frequently used templates first. Your existing templates remain available for viewing and assigning to employees during the transition.