Should employers “creep” on potential new hires or current employees to learn more about them?
Yes, I think employers absolutely should “creep” on potential new hires and current employees, but only to a certain extent. I think that the employees, current or future, have to understand that they may represent the company or organization that they work for. Their behavior can reflect on the company or organization. I think a common rebuttal might be that on social media, such as Facebook, they are no longer “on duty.” Employees do deserve a private life. They should have the freedom to spend their private lives the way that they wish. But again, they have to understand that, even while they may not be within the work environment on Facebook, third parties still view certain kinds of behavior as reflecting poorly on the employer. All I’m suggesting is that both employee and employer are aware of this. Especially when simple things such as changing privacy settings can easily avoid future headaches.
I also feel that a simple Google search or Facebook look-up can honestly help an employer with a hiring decision just by finding out more about the potential employee.
I do think it’s important to note that different jobs, companies, and organizations all have varying levels of exposure through social media, and thus the importance of this can vary a lot as well. For example, a local “Mom & Pop” shop as opposed to a major political campaign.
Do employers have the right to demand passwords to Facebook or other social media sites?
This is where I think it crosses the line. I don’t think employers have the right to demand passwords for Facebook and other social media sites. That seems completely absurd to me. An employer that’s going to demand my Facebook password isn’t one that I’d be interested in working for. I’m not sure how the employers that demanding this sort of thing try justify it. That kind of personal information available on a Facebook account, but is protected by the password, that has the potential to be violated by this shouldn’t even be relevant to the hiring process at all. There are a handful of things that an employer isn’t allowed to ask a potential employee, and these are the same sort of questions that are easily answered if you have their Facebook password.
Is some level of checking up on potential employees on social media acceptable? What do you think?
There’s a balance and I think it has to be found from both sides. Employees have to understand that their behavior may reflect on their employer. But, employers have to grant their employees a respectable amount of privacy.