September 2026 · 8 min read · 32 skills, free

AI in HR: 32 Claude Skills to Run HR as a Fair Process

First the HR desk: who owns what, the calendar, the compliance register, the audit, the dashboard. Then the work that hurts most — a complaint, the route, the investigation, the findings of fact. Then discipline, leave, pay bands, the handbook, and how people stay, leave and join.

01What these skills are

AI in HR: a whole HR function, as installable Claude skills

This is AI in HR that stops at the judgement call. HR automation takes the paperwork — the procedure, the letters, the case log — and a named person makes every decision about someone.

The pack follows the HR week in eight parts, from running the desk to the way people join.

The red line: Claude writes the process, never the verdict. It never screens, ranks, scores or reads people, a named person decides and signs every decision about someone, and every legal point goes to a qualified adviser for the country it concerns.

Each skill produces one artifact you can use the same day, and points to the skill to run next. It works from what you paste, with no connector to install.

Each skill asks where the person works before it drafts, because the law differs by country, state and province. Nothing profiles or tracks an individual.

Download all 32 skills

One zip: ready-to-install skill zips, readable SKILL.md files, and the evidence notes behind every method. Free, no signup. The same 32 skills live in our open repo, if you would rather read them before you install them.

Download the zip Browse on GitHub

Install in Claude Code

Two lines, and every skill in the pack loads at once.

/plugin marketplace add polar-bear-org/claude-skills
/plugin install ai-for-hr-pack@polar-bear-skills

Using Claude on the web instead? Download the zip above and upload each skill from its install folder under Customize → Skills.

02The catalog

The 32 skills you get

The set follows the HR week, in eight parts: running the desk, complaints and investigations, performance and discipline, leave and absence, pay and levels, policies and the handbook, how people stay and leave, and how they join.

1 · Run the HR desk

HR RACI Matrix

Use when: Every manager's people problem lands on your desk
Output: A who-owns-what matrix across HR, managers, employees, payroll, legal and leaders, “manager first” rules, an escalation line, and a must-do list leadership signs

HR Calendar

Use when: Q4 stacks enrollment, reporting and reviews on one person again
Output: A 12-month calendar with an owner and lead time per item, statutory and reporting dates marked for an adviser, and a clash check against your busy season

HR Compliance Checklist

Use when: Nobody can say which rules apply to you this year
Output: An obligations register by location and headcount, a source link and date checked per line, a next action and owner, and an “adviser confirmed on” column that stays empty until a person fills it

HR Audit

Use when: You inherited months of no HR and files in random folders
Output: An audit across files, policies and practices, a gap list ordered by risk and effort, a fix plan with owners, and the deficiency summary leaders sign off

HR Dashboard

Use when: Leaders think HR adds nothing and you cannot show the work
Output: A one-page aggregate dashboard — headcount, hires, leavers, turnover, absence, open cases — with a definition per metric, small groups suppressed, and a “what this cannot tell you” line

2 · Complaints and investigations

Employee Relations Intake

Use when: Someone raises a concern and you must choose what happens next
Output: A first-conversation script, an intake note, the route options, and who decides the route

Grievance Procedure

Use when: Complaints go nowhere because nobody knows the steps
Output: A written procedure from informal first to appeal, with timescales, roles, and the rule for when the grievance is about the person who would hear it

Workplace Investigation Plan

Use when: Your first serious investigation lands
Output: Terms of reference, an investigator conflict check, interview order and questions, an evidence log, and a confidentiality script

Investigation Report Template

Use when: Interviews are done and the write-up must not decide the outcome
Output: A report that keeps allegation, evidence, findings of fact and open questions apart, leaves the decision to a named decision maker, and indexes the evidence

Employee Relations Case Log

Use when: You cannot find what was said, when, once a claim arrives
Output: A case log with stage, owner, next date and documents, the rules for what to record and what not to, and a monthly aggregate count

3 · Performance and discipline

Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)

Use when: Everyone says nobody comes back from a PIP
Output: The specific gap with dated examples, the standard, the support offered, review points and the possible outcomes, after a pre-check of who decided a PIP is warranted

Disciplinary Procedure

Use when: A disciplinary meeting went wrong on paperwork
Output: A standing procedure from establishing facts to appeal, the warning levels and how long each stays live, suspension as a last resort, and who may accompany the employee

Written Warning

Use when: A manager wrote someone up and they never got to answer
Output: The hearing invitation, the warning or outcome letter, the appeal invitation and the appeal outcome — each only from recorded facts and a decision a named person has made

Termination Letter

Use when: The decision is made and the meeting must not be improvised
Output: A meeting plan with one stated reason, who is in the room and what not to say, the letter itself, and the final pay and benefits questions for payroll and an adviser

4 · Leave and absence

Leave of Absence Plan

Use when: Letters, pay and return dates turn into a mess
Output: A case plan for one person's leave with the eligibility points to confirm, notices, contact, cover and return, the letters, and the questions for the leave administrator

Reasonable Accommodation Process

Use when: Someone senior wants to say no without the conversation
Output: An interactive process record with the options explored and the reason for the choice, a response letter, and adviser questions before any refusal

Absence Management

Use when: You must talk about a pattern without accusing anyone
Output: Reporting and recording rules, a return-to-work meeting guide, review points that open a conversation instead of an automatic warning, and an adjustments check

Leave Policy

Use when: Nobody explained accrual and a leaver got billed for PTO
Output: Holiday and PTO (accrual, carry-over, payout on leaving) plus sick, parental, bereavement and carer leave, statutory floors flagged for an adviser, and a named owner for every enhancement

5 · Pay and levels

Job Architecture

Use when: You are building levels from nothing
Output: Job families, levels with written differences, title rules, how roles move up, and a leveling guide that describes roles and never rates people

Salary Bands

Use when: A rehire gets offered above the top of the band
Output: Bands per level — minimum, midpoint, maximum, range spread — from market data you supply, the rules for offers, moves, interim cover and rehires, and a band letter

Pay Equity Audit

Use when: A leaked offer shows two people on very different pay
Output: An aggregate comparison of pay for equal work by level and group, gap figures where required, small groups suppressed, each gap turned into a question a named person must explain, and an action plan

Compensation Philosophy

Use when: Pay is decided deal by deal and HR is left out
Output: One page on market position, what pay rewards, how progression works, what is shared openly and with whom, the review rhythm, and a trade-offs table for leaders to decide

6 · Policies and handbook

HR Policy

Use when: A policy exists that nobody can administer
Output: One policy at a time in plain language, with scope, owner, version and review date, a section on how managers apply it, and adviser questions for every clause with a legal effect

Employee Handbook

Use when: The rewrite has been “next month” for a year
Output: A handbook assembled from your approved policies, contents in the order a new starter needs them, a disclaimer flagged for an adviser, an acknowledgement page, a change log, and a gap list

Code of Conduct

Use when: Nothing written says what happens when a line is crossed
Output: Your values as observable behaviours, conflicts of interest and relationships with a disclosure route, privacy at work, a speak-up route, a non-retaliation statement, and what happens after a breach

HR Policy FAQ

Use when: A fifth of your week goes to questions the handbook answers
Output: Answers drafted for HR to review from your approved handbook text only, with the clause quoted, “our policy does not cover this” when it does not, medical, legal and personal questions routed to a person, and no record of who asked

7 · Stay and leave

Stay Interview Questions

Use when: Exit interviews tell you why people left too late
Output: A short question set, an opening and closing script for the manager, a stay plan per person that the manager owns, and a team-level theme read

Exit Interview Questions

Use when: Leavers decline because “nothing ever changes”
Output: Who runs the interview (not the line manager), the question set, a consent and recording note, a quarterly theme read for groups only, and the loop back to leaders

Offboarding Checklist

Use when: A leaver's access stays live or final pay becomes a dispute
Output: Notice to last day and after, final pay and PTO questions for payroll and an adviser, access removal by system with an owner, equipment, records retention, and the leaver's own copy

8 · Join

Offer Letter

Use when: An offer has to go tonight and the template is old
Output: An offer drafted from terms a named person approved, a clause list for adviser review, and a check against what the contract says

Onboarding Checklist

Use when: Onboarding stops at paperwork
Output: Before day one to day 90 in four blocks — compliance, clarification, culture, connection — with an owner and date per item, and the new starter's own copy

Probation Review

Use when: Probation end dates pass unnoticed
Output: Expectations agreed at the start, review meeting dates, a short review form for the manager, extension rules, and outcome letters drafted only after the manager decides

03How to use it

Pick the workflow that matches your week

No fixed order. Bring one real thing from the desk and open the skill that matches what hurts this week.

Run the HR desk

Every manager's people problem lands on your desk.

HR RACI Matrix
HR Calendar
HR Compliance Checklist
HR Audit
HR Dashboard

Handle a complaint

A complaint has come in and you need to choose the route.

Employee Relations Intake
Grievance Procedure
Employee Relations Case Log

Run an investigation

The route is an investigation, and a named person needs the facts.

Employee Relations Intake
Workplace Investigation Plan
Investigation Report Template
Employee Relations Case Log

Performance and discipline

A performance or conduct issue needs a fair, written process.

Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
Disciplinary Procedure
Written Warning
Termination Letter

Build pay bands

You bought pay data and have no levels to compare it against.

Job Architecture
Salary Bands
Pay Equity Audit

Write the rules down

A policy nobody can administer, and staff with questions.

HR Policy
Employee Handbook
HR Policy FAQ

04Setup guide

Install it in five minutes

In Claude Code · two lines

/plugin marketplace add polar-bear-org/claude-skills
/plugin install ai-for-hr-pack@polar-bear-skills

In Claude.ai or Claude Desktop · seven clicks

Download the pack, then open Settings
Unzip the pack: its skills folder holds all 32 skills. In Claude, click your name at the bottom left, then Settings.
Download the zip
Open Skills and click Add
Under Customize, choose Skills. Click Add, then Upload a skill.
Drop in a skill file
Drag the skill's file into the box, or click to browse. You can add several at once.
Pick the skill from the pack
In the pack folder, open skills, then the skill you want, and select its SKILL.md — hr-complaint-intake is a good first one.
Check the preview and upload
Claude shows the skill's name and what it does. Click Upload.
Make sure it is switched on
The skill opens on its own page. Its toggle should be on.
Try it in a new chat
Type / and the skill's name, then say what you need.

Then try one

Run hr-complaint-intake on this note from a first meeting: [paste the anonymised note here]

Run hr-salary-bands. Our levels and market data: [paste them here]

Run hr-policy for [topic]. The policy we have today: [paste it here]

Say where the person works, because every legal point depends on it, and keep names and personal data out: anonymise the case first.

Lantern for HR

Turn your people work into posts candidates and employees read

Lantern drafts a week of posts from your notes and call transcripts, in your voice. You review them and publish the ones you like.

100 free credits, about ten posts. No card needed.

Try for free

05Quick reference

Where to start

Your situation	Skill to run
Every manager's people problem lands on your desk	HR RACI Matrix
You inherited months of no HR and files in random folders	HR Audit
Someone raises a concern and you must choose what happens next	Employee Relations Intake
Complaints go nowhere because nobody knows the steps	Grievance Procedure
Your first serious investigation lands	Workplace Investigation Plan
Interviews are done and the write-up must not decide the outcome	Investigation Report Template
Everyone says nobody comes back from a PIP	Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)
A disciplinary meeting went wrong on paperwork	Disciplinary Procedure
Someone senior wants to refuse an accommodation without the conversation	Reasonable Accommodation Process
A rehire gets offered above the top of the band	Salary Bands
A leaked offer shows two people on very different pay	Pay Equity Audit
A fifth of your week goes to questions the handbook answers	HR Policy FAQ

06Standards

The quality bar

Every skill in the pack holds the same standard, the one we hold when we run HR ourselves:

Place first: every skill with law in it asks where the person works before drafting, marks statutory points “confirm with a qualified adviser” and lists the questions to ask
Every output ends with the decision a named person makes, and by when
Facts apart from findings, findings apart from decisions: investigations, reports and letters keep what happened, what was found and what was decided in separate places
Letters follow decisions: no warning, outcome, termination or offer letter is drafted until a named person has recorded the decision and the reason
Aggregate only: reports about groups suppress small groups, nothing profiles or tracks an individual, and the policy FAQ keeps no record of who asked
No invented facts: numbers, dates, clauses and quotes come from you or a cited source, and everything else stays a [placeholder]
Claude writes the process, never the verdict: it never screens, ranks, scores or reads people

07FAQ

Questions people ask

What is in the AI for HR pack?

32 Claude skills that follow the HR week in eight parts: the HR desk, complaints and investigations, performance and discipline, leave and absence, pay and levels, policies and the handbook, stay and leave, and join. Each skill produces one artifact you can use the same day.

How do I install these Claude skills?

In Claude Code, two lines install all 32 at once. In Claude.ai or Claude Desktop, download the zip, open Settings, Skills, Add, and upload the skills you want. Either way it takes about five minutes.

Do I need Claude Code to use them?

No. The skills work in Claude.ai, Claude Desktop and Claude Code. In the app you upload them yourself; in Claude Code one command installs the whole pack.

Do the skills work with ChatGPT or other assistants?

They are built as Claude Skills, and installing them is a Claude feature. Each one is a plain Markdown file, so you can read it and reuse the method elsewhere, but it will not load and trigger by itself outside Claude.

Will Claude decide about an employee?

No. Claude writes the process, never the verdict. It never screens, ranks, scores or reads people. A named person decides and signs every decision about someone, and every legal point goes to a qualified adviser for the country it concerns.

Is the pack free?

Yes. It is free to use inside your company and in client work, and not for resale. There is no signup: the download and the install command are on this page.

08Who made this

Lantern, by Polar Bear

These skills were written by Polar Bear, a people ops consultancy that runs its own company on Claude. The pack is free, and the same skills are open on GitHub.

Lantern is Polar Bear's content workspace. It turns your notes, documents and call transcripts into drafts for LinkedIn and other networks. You review them and publish the ones you like.