According to a 2018 CareerBuilder survey, a majority of employers are using social networking sites to research job candidates.
The good news: Prospective employers can gain greater insights about a candidate by reviewing their social media activity.
The not-so-good news: Conducting a thorough social media screen can be time-consuming, and many employers conduct social media research inefficiently.
The bad news: Companies are exposing themselves to significant liability by . . .
- Not having consistent policies about how they use information gleaned from social media
- Not applying the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to this information
- Viewing protected class information that should not be considered in the hiring process
Risks can be mitigated and human resources (HR) can be used more efficiently by partnering with a background screening firm to perform your company’s employment-related social media research.
Why include social media in employment screening?
Social media research can reveal information about a job candidate’s character that might not be discovered in interviews, reference checks and court records, such as:
- Potential unlawful behavior, including drug use, underage drinking, harassment, etc.
- Demonstrations of racism, discrimination and intolerance
- Potential violent behavior
Social media screening can also turn up other adverse content, such as sexually explicit posts or information that contradicts a candidate’s application.
Finding, verifying and reviewing social media can be time-consuming
There’s no question that reviewing a candidate’s social media accounts can be a valuable part of the screening process. There’s also no question that it takes a lot of time to do it right.
Not all HR personnel have expertise in finding social media accounts. While it may be easy to find social media accounts of candidates with uncommon names, it could take a long time to find the correct profile of someone with a common name. It can take even longer when someone’s screen name or username bears little resemblance to the individual’s actual name.
For liability reasons, any account that can’t be positively identified with the job candidate should not be considered for employment screening. Such verification can take significant time and effort, especially since not all social media profiles have obvious—or any—identifiers.
After an account has been verified, the account’s content needs to be reviewed. Some social media accounts have minimal content and can be reviewed very quickly. Others contain a large volume of content, reflecting years of frequent posts. Sifting through the social media content of an active social media user can be overwhelming.
While it is possible for your HR department to do the work, professional background screening firms have information resources, specialized search tools and experience that allow them to find, verify and review social media accounts more efficiently.
Standard Policies and the FCRA
You might think that any information posted by someone on social media is fair game when considering that person for employment.
But the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) says otherwise.
Even when a candidate publicly posts the information themselves on social media, the information is still covered by the FCRA. For example, according to the FCRA, if a job candidate’s salary is under $75,000 per year, “adverse information” can only be reported if it falls within the past seven years. So, if you use a social media post that is over seven years old as grounds not to hire a candidate with an expected salary under $75,000 per year, you have violated the law. Partnering with an FCRA-compliant background screening firm will help eliminate this risk, as they would only report information in accordance with the FCRA.
Even if the adverse information meets the seven-year requirement, an employer has to decide what to do with that information. What types of findings will potentially end the candidacy of a prospective employee? Does it matter if the derogatory information is recent or five years old? Companies need to have written guidelines for how they use social media findings—and all other information obtained in a background screen—and apply these guidelines consistently.
If candidates and their social media information aren’t treated consistently, the employer can be liable.
Protected Class Information
Protected class information includes personal characteristics, such as age, race, religion, disability, marital status, parental status, sexual preference, political affiliation and military status. Viewing protected class information about a job candidate, even if done innocently or accidentally, creates potential liability when done by HR personnel.
If a candidate has posts indicating their political affiliation or photos celebrating the recent birth of a child, and they know your HR department reviewed their social media accounts, the candidate may have grounds to claim that they were discriminated against if they are not offered a position.
The liability can be significant.
A legally compliant background screening firm will only report content of concern—not protected class information found on social media. By having an outside party conduct the research, and only receiving information that is relevant/legal for making a hiring decision, the employer gains protection from potential liability.
Use Social Media Correctly
Social media screening can be a valuable tool in vetting prospective job candidates. However, employers need to have written guidelines about how this information will be used and apply these guidelines consistently. In addition, having a background screening firm conduct this work can help your HR department save time, ensure legal compliance and avoid liability.
