Social Media Monitoring Should ONLY Be Conducted by a Third Party Company To

Avoid Unfair Bias  

Social media screening is one way to enhance the background check to determine whether a

candidate should be hired. Segal,  J.  A.  (2014,  September).  LEGAL  TRENDS  Social  Media  Use  in  Hiring:  Assessing  the  Risks  Vol.  59      No.  9  When  it  comes  to  using  social  media  for  hiring,  it's  all  about  balancing  risk.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016.    

75% of human-resource professionals

report that their companies require them to do online research about candidates

Rosen,  J.  (2010,  July  24).  The  Web  Means  the  End  of  ForgeTng.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016  

70% of U.S. recruiters report that they have rejected candidates because of information found online, like photos

and discussion-board conversations and

membership in controversial groups.

Rosen,  J.  (2010,  July  24).  The  Web  Means  the  End  of  ForgeTng.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016  

Recent research conducted by the CIPD showed that two out of five employers look at job applicants' online activity or profiles on sites

such as LinkedIn at the recruitment stage.  

 It's an easy task for employers to search for the name of a job applicant on Facebook in efforts to

learn more about him or her. In corners of the job

market, such as media and technology,

candidates and recruiters swear by Twitter's value.  

R.  Lauren  (2014,  April  17).Social  Media  Screening.  Retrieved  May  29,  2916.    

C.  Choi.  (2014,  October  27).  5  Best  PracZces  for  Lawfully  Monitoring  Employees.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016.    

Silverman,  E.  Rachel,  L.  Weber.  (2013,  April  9).  The  New  Resume:  Its  140  Characters.  Retrieved  May  29,  2014.    

 

However recruiters are seeing

things (they)

CAN’T unsee…  

 R.  Lauren  (2014,  April  17).Social  Media  Screening.  Retrieved  May  29,  2916.      

While HR professionals should not allow

irrelevant information to influence their decisions, they often do (…) they are

Human too.    A.  Dollinger.  (2015,  November  18).  Social  Media  Monitoring:  How  Much  is  Too  Much.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016.    

 

Experience shows that employers

fire employees for reasons

having nothing to do

with work.    

J.  Weber.  (2014,  October  22).  Should  Companies  Monitor  Their  employees’  Social  Media?.  Retrieved  May  29,  2014.    

This is also apparent in COLLEGES… Colleges could arbitrarily discover seemingly troubled comments by a

handful of applicants and deny them admission — without

telling them why. N.  Singer.  (2013,  November  11).  In  College  Admissions,  Social  Media  Can  Be  a  Double-­‐Edged  Sword.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016).  

Of 381 college admissions officers

31% said they had visited an applicant's Facebook or other

personal social media

page to learn more about them

N,  Singer.  "They  loved  your  G.P.A.  then  they  saw  your  tweets."  New  York  Times  10  Nov.  2013:  3(L).  Academic  OneFile.  Web.  3  June  2016.  

Organizations that don't have formal processes regarding the use of social

media for selection may put themselves at risk of legal complaints because

of inconsistent practices.    

R.  Jacobson.  (2014,  January  13).  Facebook  Snooping  on  Job  Candidates  May  Backfire  for  Employers.  Retrieved  May  29,  2014.    

Once employers learn of an employee’s religion, sexual orientation, political

stance, they have opened themselves up to POTENTIAL LAWSUITS.

A.  Dollinger.  (2015,  November  18).  Social  Media  Monitoring.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016.      

However employers are human and cannot avoid being offended by employees' private behavior that

goes against their values.

J.  Weber.  (2014,  October  22).  Should  Companies  Monitor  Their  employees’  Social  Media?.  Retrieved  May  29,  2014.    

BUT be careful. Once you review a candidate’s online profile, a court will

assume you are aware of that

person’s

“protected characteristics” that are often part of their online postings. 

M.  Berkowitz.  (2016,  March  8).  Social  Media  RecruiZng:  Understand  the  Legal  Guidelines.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016.    

These characteristics include gender and race as well as those that are not always evident in a face-to-face

interview such as religion, age, sexual orientation or disability.

M.  Berkowitz.  (2016,  March  8).  Social  Media  RecruiZng:  Understand  the  Legal  Guidelines.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016.    

74% of organizations said they were concerned with legal risks or discovering information about

protected characteristics when perusing candidates’ social media profiles.

J.A.  Segal.  (2014,  September).  Social  Media  Use  in  Hiring:  Assessing  The  Risk.  Retrieved  May  30,  2014.    

Even if a company itself is neutral, the subjective feelings of the person tasked with monitoring employees’ social

media could easily lead to discrimination

S.  Kumar.  (2015,  May  22).  Why  Monitoring  Employees’  Social  Media  Is  a  Bad  Idea.  Retrieved  May  30,  2016.    

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibit employers from making hiring decisions on the basis

of certain protected characteristics, such as an applicant’s race, ethnicity, religion, gender or

disability status  

R.  Jacobson.  (2014,  January  13).  Facebook  Snooping  on  Job  Candidates  May  Backfire  for  Employers.  Retrieved  May  29,  2014.    

The ONLY fair way to track the social media activity of an employee or prospective employee is to hire a

third-party screener.

A.  Dollinger.  (2015,  November  18).  Social  Media  Monitoring.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016.    

This removes one certain risk: the more personal information an employer finds about an employee, the

greater the chance that the employee will accuse his or her boss of discriminatory decision-making.  

A.  Dollinger.  (2015,  November  18).  Social  Media  Monitoring.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016.    

The third-party company would look at social media sites and report only those

items relevant in a professional setting

A.  Dollinger.  (2015,  November  18).  Social  Media  Monitoring.  Retrieved  May  29,  2016.      

Therefore, In cases like these, employers

SHOULD hire a third party to conduct the

search. Employers should determine what type of

information is relevant to the job and instruct

search firms to report ONLY this type of

information.

J.  Weber.  (2014,  October  22).  Should  Companies  Monitor    Their  employees’  Social  Media?.  Retrieved  May  29,  2014.