Platform Guide

How to use HireStates

A complete walkthrough of every feature - from your first compliance question to automated monitoring with full audit trail.

01

AI Compliance Chat

Ask any California or New York employment law question and get a cited answer - covering 30+ jurisdictions from state baselines down to city ordinances.

1

Open a chat session

Navigate to Chat in the sidebar and click "New Chat". Each session maintains context so you can ask follow-up questions naturally.

2

Type your question in plain language

Examples: "What is the minimum wage in San Francisco for 2025?" or "Do I need to provide written meal-break waivers in Los Angeles?" No legal jargon required.

3

Read the cited answer

The AI returns a direct answer with specific California Labor Code or New York Labor Law sections, city ordinance references, or agency guidance citations so you can verify the source.

4

Generate a document from the answer

If the answer involves a document (e.g. an employment contract clause), click "Generate Document" directly from the chat to jump straight into the document flow.

02

Generate Documents

Create employment contracts, employee handbooks, and offer letters - either via a guided questionnaire or by asking the AI chat directly. Download as PDF or DOCX.

1

Choose your starting point

Go to Documents and click "New Document". You can either use the Step-by-Step Questionnaire (recommended for first-time users) or ask the AI Chat directly.

2

Fill in the questionnaire

The questionnaire walks you through company details, role information, city of employment, compensation, and benefits. City-specific rules are automatically applied based on your answers.

3

Review the generated draft

The document editor shows the complete draft. Each clause that was injected due to a local ordinance is labelled with its legal source so you know why it is there.

4

Download your document

Click "Download" and choose PDF or DOCX. Pro and Enterprise users can save a custom branded version. All documents are fully editable after download.

Supported document types: Employment Contract, Employee Handbook, Offer Letter.

03

Compliance Topic Browser

Browse 22 compliance topics across California and New York jurisdictions. Filter by category, drill into a topic, or use the City Compare tool.

1

Open the Compliance section

Click Compliance in the sidebar. You will see all 22 topics - Minimum Wage, Sick Leave, Overtime, Pay Transparency, Harassment Training, and more.

2

Filter by category

Use the category filter bar at the top (Wages, Leave, Onboarding, Termination, Safety) to narrow down topics relevant to your current need.

3

Select a topic and city

Click any topic card to open its detail page. Select the city from the dropdown to see the exact requirement that applies.

4

Use the City Compare tool

Click "Compare Cities" on any topic page, then select up to 4 cities to compare. The table shows each city's rule, effective date, and the delta versus state law.

04

Compliance Monitoring & Alerts

HireStates continuously monitors CA and NY legislation, city council ordinances, court decisions, and regulatory guidance. When a change is detected, you receive an alert.

1

Monitoring runs automatically

The monitoring pipeline queries LegiScan, FRED, Exa, and CourtListener daily. No setup required.

2

Alerts appear in your dashboard

Each alert shows: the affected rule, the jurisdiction, and a plain-language summary of what changed.

3

Understand the severity levels

Critical (rule in effect, affects your docs), Warning (takes effect within 90 days), Info (proposed legislation, monitor for progress).

4

Take action on an alert

Dismiss it, regenerate the affected document, or trigger a Lawyer Review (see section 05).

05

Lawyer Review Workflow

When an alert is flagged for legal review, an Admin or Owner can examine the triggered rule, edit it, annotate it, then resolve or dismiss. Every action is saved to the audit trail.

1

Open the alert and click Review

On the alert detail page, click "Review". This opens the Lawyer Review panel - only visible to Admins and Owners.

2

Inspect the triggered rule

The panel shows the full text of the compliance rule, its source citation, and the monitoring signal that triggered it.

3

Edit the rule if needed

Click "Edit Rule" to modify the rule text or citation. Useful when a lawyer wants to add precision or clarify scope.

4

Add a note and resolve

"Save & Resolve" updates the rule, marks the alert as resolved, and records your note. "Dismiss" closes without editing. Both are audit-logged.

All Lawyer Review actions are logged with a timestamp and the acting user for GDPR-compliant audit purposes.

06

Document Upload

Already have an employment contract or handbook? Upload it and HireStates will parse it into structured fields.

1

Go to Documents and click Upload

Click "Upload Existing Document". Supported formats: PDF, DOCX, TXT. Maximum file size: 10 MB.

2

Wait for parsing

Claude reads the document and extracts structured fields: parties, compensation, benefits, governing law, and key clauses. Typically 10-30 seconds.

3

Review the extracted data

A side-by-side view shows the original document and the extracted fields. You can correct any misread fields before saving.

4

Save and track the document

Click "Save to Library". The document is stored and flagged as "Uploaded" for traceability.

07

Team & Roles

Invite colleagues and assign roles to control what each team member can see and do.

1

Invite team members

Go to Settings, enter the email address of your colleague, and assign a role.

2

Understand the role hierarchy

Owner: full access including billing. Admin: all features including Lawyer Review. Editor: create and edit documents. Viewer: read-only access.

3

Change or revoke access

Click the role dropdown next to any member to change it, or click "Remove" to revoke access immediately.

Team members available on Pro (up to 5) and Enterprise (unlimited).

08

Plan Tiers

Start free and upgrade as your hiring grows.

1

Free - get started with no commitment

5 AI chat sessions per month, compliance browser, 2 document downloads. No credit card required.

2

Pro - everything for active hiring

Unlimited AI chat, documents, PDF & DOCX export, City Compare, team seats (up to 5), compliance monitoring, priority support, and DPA.

3

Enterprise - unlimited for scaling teams

Unlimited everything, SSO (SAML/OIDC), full audit log, custom integrations, dedicated onboarding, and SLA.

4

Change plans anytime

Go to Settings to change your plan. Upgrades take effect immediately; downgrades at next billing cycle. Pro includes a 30-day money-back guarantee.