Executive Snapshot
Headline: Verification, Simplified—No Surprise Fees, No HR Headaches
Industry: Publishing
Challenge: A large publisher’s verification program became unpredictable and labor-intensive—shifting account coverage, delayed social services forms, and fragmented, add-on pricing that created cost and compliance risk.
Solution: Thomas & Company delivered an inclusive, client-first verification model with consolidated packaging and an automated file-feed integration roadmap to reduce manual work and improve consistency.
Outcomes:
- $27,000 in immediate cost avoidance by eliminating a proposed flat-file enablement fee
- More verifications handled by the vendor—without sending social services forms back to HR/payroll
- Faster, more consistent responses with fewer internal touches and clearer KPIs
Introduction
A large publisher set out to modernize its employment and wage verification process as part of a broader shared-services realignment. With verification demand spanning lenders, property managers, government agencies, and employees themselves, the organization needed a dependable partner that could reduce friction for HR and payroll while maintaining a consistent, compliant experience for verifiers and their employees.
The Challenge
The client’s verification program with their previous vendor had become difficult to manage at scale: account coverage changed frequently without notice, creating validation steps every time new contacts appeared. In addition, despite outsourcing the verification process, the client was still doing a tremendous amount of work completing verifications for government assistance since many government agencies would go direct to the client for information because the agencies will not work with their previous vendor. Cost predictability was also a concern—charges were fragmented across services, and they were asked to pay additional fees for services they thought were included in their initial contract. Even the fees that they were paying were high in comparison to the level of service and support they were receiving.
The Solution
The publisher wanted to find a client-first provider whose solutions offered a straightforward, inclusive service model. Thomas & Company met with the publisher and showed that our proposed approach consolidated verification capabilities under one package—eliminating surprise add-ons—while supporting an automated file-feed integration to reduce manual work and improve consistency. Throughout transition planning, Thomas & Company set clear expectations, communicated proactively, and helped the client navigate the inevitable complexities of disentangling from the incumbent verification program.
The Results
The publisher chose Thomas & Company, a verification specialist with an inclusive service model, and began transitioning employment and wage verifications to a modernized operating approach. Early outcomes centered on measurable cost avoidance and decision confidence: by working with the client, we were able to eliminate a proposed $27,000 flat-file enablement charge in addition to handling more verifications than their previous vendor would, saving them both time and money. When the publisher reached out for reference checks, peer organizations reported consistently strong experiences and noted their only regret was not switching verification services sooner.
The Impact
With verification positioned as a specialized, measurable service, the client is shifting from reactive vendor management to KPI-driven operations. Predictable packaging reduces budget surprises, while the automated data exchange roadmap supports faster, more consistent verifier responses and fewer internal touches per request. The organization can already track and report clear operational gains—such as cycle-time reduction, higher straight-through processing, and lower administrative effort—without sacrificing compliance or experience for verifiers or their employees.