Short version: You're recruiter, employee-relations specialist, benefits admin, and compliance officer in one — and when a termination letter has to go out, there's nobody down the hall to sanity-check it. DefensibleHR.ai is the second set of eyes: the document checked against cited federal and state rules, each finding pointing at the line, in about a minute. The first scan is free.
"HR Department of One" isn't a metaphor — it's a job description, and if it's yours, you already know the drill. Monday you're a recruiter. Wednesday you're employee relations. Friday you're the person signing off on a separation, alone, with a decision that could follow the company for years.
The recurring questions aren't about effort — you're doing five jobs competently. They're about verification:
Big companies answer those questions with in-house counsel and a review chain. You answer them at 11pm with a search engine. That's the gap DefensibleHR closes: not another opinion, but a systematic check — the same maintained rule library applied to every document, every time, with the exact line flagged and the authority cited when something looks risky. One biased sentence can unravel an entire investigation; the point is to find it before the document is final, not after it's Exhibit A.
Stop waiting days to run it by legal. A lawyer's review has its place — but at $400–$600 an hour with a 2–5 day turnaround, "its place" can't be every routine document that leaves your desk.
| Attorney review | DefensibleHR scan | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost per document | $400–$600/hr, typically 1–3 hours | ~$5–$10 on a monthly plan |
| Turnaround | 2–5 business days | About 60 seconds |
| Availability | Office hours, by appointment | 24/7 — including the night before the meeting |
| What's at stake | Commonly reported wrongful termination settlements run $40K–$300K | |
The math isn't scanner versus lawyer — it's scanner before lawyer. Routine documents get checked systematically; counsel's hours go to the judgment calls that actually need them.
Monday — the offer letter. A new hire starts in two weeks and the letter goes out today. Scan it for accidental contract language, a missing at-will disclaimer, and compensation terms that don't say what you meant.
Wednesday — the PIP. A manager wants a performance plan "by end of week." Scan it for vague expectations, goals nobody could measure, and the documentation gaps that can weaken your position months from now.
Friday — the termination letter. The hardest one, and it's all on you. Scan it for biased language, retaliation timing, protected-class references, and missing policy citations — findings come back labeled required, recommended, or optional, each quoting the line and citing the authority, in about 60 seconds, before the meeting, not after the demand letter.
Terminations, severance, PIPs, investigations, offer letters — see the document types on the home page.
Jurisdiction detection. Remote workers, multi-state employees, one of you. Each scan detects the states a document references and links each state's labor department, so you can check the right state's rules before you hit send.
Findings labeled by what the law requires. No time for 40 undifferentiated comments — each finding is labeled required, recommended, or optional for the jurisdiction, with a citation and effective date, and the report puts required items first; an overall risk level (high, medium, low) sits on top, so you fix what matters first and judge the rest.
Example replacement language. Where a finding carries example replacement language, it is offered as a starting point, drafted for attorney review — you stay the author; the scan is your editor.
Remediation memo and Word redline export. When something is worth escalating, hand counsel a focused memo — or a Word redline with the findings anchored as comments — instead of a blank slate. Their billable time goes to strategy, not first-pass reading.
The Starter plan is built for a solo practitioner's volume: $99/month for 10 documents, with free rescans to verify your fixes. Compare all plans →
Scan one document free — about a minute, no account needed.
Scan your first document freeNo account required · PII redacted before analysis · Original file never stored
Fast document review that doesn't depend on anyone else's calendar. DefensibleHR checks terminations, severance, PIPs, investigations, and offer letters against cited federal and state rules in about a minute, labels each finding required, recommended, or optional, and exports a remediation memo for the matters worth escalating.
Yes. A scanner doesn't replace an attorney — it changes when you need one. Routine documents get a systematic check in about a minute; counsel's hours go to the genuinely hard calls, armed with a focused memo instead of a first-pass read.
The documentation matters as much as the decision. Scanning the termination letter before the meeting flags biased language, retaliation timing, protected-class references, and missing policy citations — the issues that show up later in demand letters — while there's still time to fix them.
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All scan results are AI-generated, without human review. DefensibleHR.ai is an AI-powered assistant, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice. AI can make mistakes. Scan results may be incomplete or inaccurate. DefensibleHR LLC is not responsible for any decisions or outcomes based on scan results. Always seek the advice of a qualified employment attorney. This page is general information, not legal advice.