Social media profiles make it easy to do a bit of background research on a person, but using that information in a hiring decision could be considered discriminatory. Examples of this include race, color, gender, national origin, religion, disability, citizenship, pregnancy, age and, in some states, sexual orientation, weight, and marital status. Some states have enacted laws that protect the off-duty activities of both the employee and the applicant, but even so, many employers have ended up in court over such battles. Some best practices include: Refraining from conducting screening in-house, establishing a clear focus for social media screening, ensuring the screening report does not include information that could be construed as discriminatory toward the candidate, and maintaining a social media policy.
Post By Ken Shafton (2,326 Posts)