Case Study: Hardee’s Food Systems reduces onboarding time and increases WOTC income with Equifax Compliance Center

Hardees Food Systems - Customer Case Study

Hardee’s Food Systems (a division of CKE), operating 450+ restaurants across 12 states with about 15,500 annual new hires and ~500 users, faced significant compliance and operational challenges from a paper-based onboarding process. Incomplete or lost I-9s and state forms created audit and unemployment risks, exposed employee PII, and wasted manager time; despite a strong 97% WOTC screening rate, Hardee’s knew the manual process was leaving money on the table and needed an automated, user-friendly solution that integrated with existing systems.

Hardee’s implemented Equifax Workforce Solutions’ Compliance Center—integrated with their ATS/HRMS and including I-9/E-Verify, WOTC with eSignature, ACA notices and state-specific forms—to streamline onboarding and reduce risk. Results: onboarding time dropped from 1.5 hours to 30 minutes (an estimated $124,000 in savings), postage and manual processing costs fell, WOTC form compliance rose 3% (97%→100%), yielding 238 additional eligible hires and $297,024 in increased income, with the solution effectively paying for itself.

Hardees Food Systems

Steve Sands

Senior HR Manager