It isn’t uncommon for people to announce their every thought, feeling and emotion over social media. You may post statuses about how you dread going to work on Monday morning to how you may have had one tipple too many on Saturday night to the resulting negative impacts about said tipple.
Typically, these posts are full of explicit language and very colourful images. This may not be a bad thing among your friends, but how would you feel if a potential employer saw this?
Social Media vs. Recruitment
According to many reports, in recent years more and more employers will look at would-be employee’s social media profiles in their recruitment processes. Employers want to make sure that they are hiring the right people, and this means conducting their own research via social media.
A recent study by ACAS found that 45% of employers already conduct social media research as part of their recruitment process, while a further 40% claimed that they would make more use of it in the future.
Legalities of this Process
Despite what you may think, there is nothing illegal about researching candidate’s social media profiles as the data is considered public access. This means that the manner in which employers conduct pre-employment checks needs to be monitored and controlled.
In order to stay within legal boundaries, it is essential to read the pre-employment checks publication by the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (CIPD). This guide puts forward a set of principles that you should follow when monitoring social media use, including points such as:
• Candidates should be told if their social media will be used as part of the decision making process.
• Employers should not use the online presence of a candidate as part of a trawling exercise.
• Searches need to be relevant to the job that has been applied for. Employers should definitely not use social media in order to come to discriminatory decisions.
• Distinguish between what information is private and what is professional. It would be appropriate to view a person’s professional profiles when considering a candidate; while their private profiles would not be.
Not sure where you legally stand regarding social media and recruitment? Talk to Howells Solicitors today by calling us on 0808 178 2773. Our employment law solicitors are specialists at providing advice surrounding difficult situations such as this and are happy to help you every step of the way.
