Pep Boys goes paperless

A paperless applicant-tracking system is significantly reducing costs for Pep Boys, the automotive aftermarket retail and service chain with nearly 600 retail locations across the United States and Puerto Rico.

The Pep Boys hiring system by nowHIRE enables exempt and non-exempt candidates to apply for a position at www.PepBoys.com or simply walk into any Pep Boys store to apply via a store kiosk. The system takes the applicant through a complete online application and interview process. If the candidate meets the minimum requirements and is eligible for an on-site interview, the applicant is asked to digitally sign the appropriate documents by using a physical signature pad that is integrated into the system. 

The signature pad offers a completely paperless and legally defensible electronic-signature process for all pre- and post-hire documentation, which is imaged and then vaulted by storing on secured servers. Once a hiring decision has been made and a candidate accepts the position, the digital-signature process is carried through for all the necessary new-hire forms, including all on-boarding documents, such as W-4 and I-9 forms.

Hard-cost savings for Pep Boys include mailing, paper and printing costs for all applicants and new hires. Soft costs include the reduction of administrative work by store managers. With this system in place, hiring managers reduce time spent doing administrative tasks related to hiring, allowing store managers to spend more time with customers.

Additionally, Pep Boys recently integrated a drug-screen system that further eliminates paper waste and reduces costs for Pep Boys. The integration allows Pep Boys to easily and quickly request the necessary drug screening and automatically receive results electronically through the applicant-tracking system. Negative drug-test results are available in the system, once completed, in about 15 minutes.