Corporate counsel must own their companies’ social medial policy in order both to keep ahead of the curve of rapidly evolving legal questions arising from the use of such media by both employees and employers, and to serve as effective conduits between employees and their companies.
The Impact of Employers’ Use of Social Media Before Employment
Corporate handling of social media has very serious implications, especially when it occurs before an individual’s employment. Employers regularly use social media to investigate candidates. While legal, this practice can have serious consequences. For example, the use of social media is highly skewed towards Caucasians and Asian Americans between the ages of 18 and 34. What if an employer conducts independent online background checks on 100 candidates and is unable to find information about 29 of them? Now assume that 26 of those 29 are members of a minority group outside of the user demographics mentioned above, yet the firm doesn’t know this. If the company opts not to hire candidates about whom it can find little information online, could the company be liable for de facto racial discrimination? This is one of many pre-employment issues for general counsel to consider with managers and Human Resources.
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Source: blogs.forbes.com
By: Ben Kerschberg
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