Legal Landscape Regarding Social Media Background Checks of Job Applicants Not Fully Formed

A recent Security Management article ‘Pre-employment Screening and Social Media’ examined how consideration of social media use of job applicants may become standard practice for employers during the hiring process in the future as technology improves and people spend more time online. While the legal challenges employers may face with social media background checks was not the focus of a recent ASIS International Information Asset Protection and Pre-Employment Screening Council (IAPPES) conference call, Security Management reached out to Attorney Lester Rosen, Founder and CEO of Employment Screening Resources® (ESR), for some perspective on the subject and found the legal landscape is not yet fully formed. The article by Megan Gates is available at http://www.securitymanagement.com/news/preemployment-screening-and-social-media-0012730.

In the article, Rosen – author of ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ – explains that there is still a lack of legislation about using social media in the hiring process, and while there have been a few court cases involving employee use of social media after they have been hired and what employers can do, there have not been cases addressing the use of social media activity or content as a disqualifier in the hiring process. “The legal landscape leaves employers largely without clear direction other than the password laws, so employers need to apply existing laws to determine risk,” Rosen says in the article. He adds that since a body of law can take a while for to emerge due to new technology, “employers need to see a number of cases from different jurisdictions before a clear pattern is established.”

According the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), legislation has been introduced or is pending in at least 36 states to limit employer access to social media user names and passwords.  A list of social media privacy legislation is available on the NCLC website at http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/telecom/employer-access-to-social-media-passwords-2013.aspx. To review the potential dangers of social media background checks, Rosen has written a complimentary whitepaper titled ‘Managing the Risks of Using the Internet for Employment Screening Background Checks’ available at https://www.esrcheck.com/Download/. To learn more about Employment Screening Resources® (ESR), a nationwide screening provider accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®), visit https://www.esrcheck.com or call Toll Free 888.999.4474.

Source:

http://www.securitymanagement.com/news/preemployment-screening-and-social-media-0012730

About Employment Screening Resources® (ESR):

Founded by safe hiring expert Attorney Les Rosen in 1997, Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – ‘The Background Check Authority®’– provides accurate and actionable information that empowers employers to make informed hiring decisions for the benefit of their organizations, employees, and the public. CEO Rosen literally wrote the book on background checks with “The Safe Hiring Manual” and ESR is accredited by The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS), a distinction held by a small percent of screening firms. Employers choosing ESR know they have selected an agency meeting the highest industry standards. To learn more about ESR, visit https://www.esrcheck.com or call toll free 888.999.4474.

About ESR News:  The Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) News blog – ESR News – provides employment screening information for employers, recruiters, and jobseekers on a variety of topics including credit reports, criminal records, data privacy, discrimination, E-Verify, jobs reports, legal updates, negligent hiring, workplace violence, and use of search engines and social network sites for background checks. For more information about ESR News or to send comments or questions, please email ESR News Editor Thomas Ahearn at [email protected]. To subscribe to the ESR News Blog Feed, visit https://www.esrcheck.com/wordpress/feed/. To subscribe to the complimentary ESRcheck Report monthly newsletter, please visit https://www.esrcheck.com/Newsletter/.