December 11, 2013
Good practice guide for employers on using social media as a vetting tool
The debate over the right to privacy of job applicants whose activities may be checked on social media websites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, has led to some confusion over what is legally acceptable. Employers’ body the CIPD’s recent social media research revealed that two in five employers look at candidates’ online activity or profiles to inform recruitment decisions, but few inform applicants as a matter of course that this is being done. But just how aware are employers of the legalities around this kind of vetting? Managers have wide discretion within the law to decide whether or not to recruit a particular candidate, but to avoid risk of legal challenge they should be fully aware of the law on data protection and discrimination in employment. The CIPD has now published some useful guidance on what constitutes good practice.
- Employers can help to manage the risks of candidate dishonesty by using declarations of truth and ensuring employees give permission to allow employers to research their qualifications, experience, dates of employment, and right to work in the UK
- Employers should take reasonable steps to validate the accuracy of information accessed online
- A distinction should be drawn by employers between social media for mainly private purposes and social media for mainly professional purposes (e.g. employers can check LinkedIn but not Facebook)
- Employers should seek employment references once a job offer has been made, not prior to interview
- Employers should apply the same level of care in avoiding unconscious bias and discrimination when online checks are being conducted, as they do when conducting face to face interviews or other aspects of the recruitment process
- When using recruitment agencies, employers should agree what pre-employment checks are necessary and appropriate. Where outsourcing takes place, it may be unclear which organisation is responsible for conducting pre-employment checks in the first place. But where this responsibility is outsourced, the employer must recognise that they retain overall responsibility for the legal and ethical consequences of either lax or over-zealous approaches to pre-employment vetting and could suffer reputational damage where practice is poor
- Employers should establish the potential employee’s eligibility to work in the UK, in order to avoid statutory penalties for employing foreign nationals who do not have lawful permission to work in the role in question.