Is it ethical or legal for employers to look at your facebook or myspace?

I know this is a practice that has been going on but is it really right? I mean it makes since to look on facebook to see what a person looks like, but that in itself is open to discrimination. There are also employers who look at workers accounts and judges them by what they do in their off time. So what if they go to happy hour and get ripped? If they do a good job and it doesn't bother work so be it. Also why are employers checking out non professional sites to judge potential hires. FOr anyone who doesn't know FB is not a professional site. I predict that in the near future people will sue these companies who continue this practice and mindset and WIN!! I have never had an employer do this to me but I felt this is an interesting topic because everybody can relate. So employers/employees/applicants, share how you feel about this and why you think your viewpoint is right? Thank you for your time.

 

http://mqjeffrey.hubpages.com/hub/How_employers_look_at_Myspace_and_Facebook_pages

 

There is more to it than your observations above. There are many different reasons why companies may look at FB. For one thing some people break policies which they agree to or in some cases even break the law by what they post on FB.

For example suppose your company has legitimate copy right concerns and you post pictures or information which violates those copy rights? Some people have done this on FB and the company has every right to check can call them on it even fire them. Some companies do classified work for the government such as General Electric. As a result they may have restrictions on what can be photographed and next thing you know photographs which violate national security show up on FB.

Or perhaps one works for a government agency or institution. Not necessarily one like the military but maybe just law enforcement or corrections and one posts information on FB which clearly violates local, state or federal law.

I have seen this happen where I work. I'm a corrections officer and a couple of employees were severely penalized for posting information on FB which broke state law. They used state photographs and posted information which was considered confidential.

I understand what you are saying that an employer should not discriminate based on personal details which someone publicizes but the issue is far more complex.

 

Aren't they there for the public to read? I'm not a facebook or myspace user but I thought that was the whole purpose. If I were still hiring police officers, I'd be looking at Facebook and any other public postings.

If a person wants the public to know he's a proud pedophile, a neo-nazi, a Black Panther Party member, or a member of a racist church I'd like to know before he's hired.

 

Lets face it the business climate for employees in this country is as bad as it has been since T eddy Roosevelt enacted laws for their protections. Employers can fire at will, block unions, snoop in any way they desire, work employees off the books (overtime)) in fear they may lose their jobs if they don't. they want the legalization of tens of millions of illegals to drive labor costs into the ground, push for Guest workers to keep down labor, offshore millions of jobs, demand drug tests...and you worry about facebook snooping.. Our gutless elected have handed employee rights on a serving tray for employers to carve up. You have no rights other than find an employer that does not do this.

 

I would not even consider hiring someone who used web based social media as a diary toilet.

No one gives a (*)(*)(*)(*) what you had for dinner, what movies you like, or if your wife is a whore. Well, some people do, but they are as insipid as the people who vomit in public.

People better wise up.

 

Lie much? Nothing in your post is accurate.

 

Ok but the last part of your post suggests you do care. And that you care enough to not hire them. Now, I agree that if you are wanting a job in the upper $100,000 plus range you would want to use better judgement for sure. But I know people who have high paying jobs that talk BS on fb. It's not who they really are and they use FB for fun to just vent BS. They never say anything about a business or anything. I also don't agree with talking bad about companies that's just stupid. BUt just because someone has lil wayne on their profile doesn't mean they are thugs supporting killing and all that. Also when hiring someone why is it not part of the orientation to let them know what they cannot post that could hurt the company from that day forward ( i.e. info, pics, etc. ).

 

Enjoying the answers so far. They are very interesting.

 

I was calling an applicant once, years ago, and got his answering machine. I listend to a lengthy rendition of him, his wife, and his three kids singing a parody of the theme song from "The Beverly Hillbillies". I seriously considered tossing his application in the trash but went ahead and left an appointment for an interview. Unfortunately, he got hired. His subsequent judgment did not exceed that displayed on his answering machine.

But, I'm curious, IJustSaying, but do you think other issues like showing up for an job interview wearing a political button should be considered in hiring? How about showing up for a job interview wearing shorts and a tank top with no explanation? How about lying on personal details on either your application or your Facebook page?

I'm just curious?

 

If you want to vent, do what I do, post anonymously on a message board.

If you are presenting yourself for the world to see, as though they give a flying (*)(*)(*)(*) if you have a boil on your ass or you like scat porn, then you have an inferiority complex and likely have other issues making you a less than suitable employee.

It's not just the content of the posts, it's the need to direct a spotlight upon yourself. We now live in a culture of narcissism that is easily fed.

There is now a whole generation that finds nothing wrong in confessing their most intimate thoughts and actions for the entire world to see. Jerry Springer has come home to roost.

 

Please don't take anything personal on this thread. I am just asking questions. And obviously the things in your last paragraph are things people shouldn't do so I am not even getting into any of that. Just merely asking about the looking at FB and myspace practices.

 

http://www.businessweek.com/debateroom/archives/2008/03/employers_get_o.html

 

If you put it out there for most anyone to see, why shouldn't an employer be able to look at it?

 

If you don't want employers reading your personal business then don't post your personal business on the internet. It's like taking out a billboard and then getting pissed when people look at it.

 

Couldn't agree more. Once you put it out there... it's fair game for anybody who wants to read it. Although I can't imagine wading thru most people's facebook pages. Ugh, is it possible to be bored to death? If so, reading FB pages would prob be terminal.

 

I think that if you put something in the public domain, it's fair game. Regardless of where information comes from, there are legal and (generally) contractual limitations to what factors an employer can consider in any kind of punishment or dismissal and similarly the factors which legally can't (shouldn't!) be considered when hiring.

Anything else is pretty much up to the employer concerned. If you don't want people making judgements about your actions or opinions, don't put them on the internet (at least not against your real name ).

 

Facebook has privacy settings. Most people don't friend there employers. But employers do there best to try and snoop around that and get a friend of a friend to check it out. Whether there are pics of you doing crazy stuff. or just pics of you with your family at a bar b, why are people going to these lengths to find out on a FB page? In itself that seems unethical.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRosz3RmgeI"]Employers ask job applicants to open Facebook profiles - YouTube[/ame]

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LN4nN1WJjDQ"]Facebook and Employers - YouTube[/ame]

 

The answer is simple.

Don't place anything on these sites you don't want the world to see!

Why on earth would anyone do otherwise?

 

IJustSaying: "Please don't take anything personal on this thread. I am just asking questions. And obviously the things in your last paragraph are things people shouldn't do so I am not even getting into any of that."

Bingo, you shouldn't wear political pins to a job interview, you shouldn't show up for a job interview wearing shorts and a tank top, and you shouldn't post embarrassing and damaging information on Facebook. It's obviously something people shouldn't do.

I think anyone making a decision about anything are free to access any information they choose if they have legal access to the source of the information.

 

Please do not plagarize my posts again. I wrote more to that post than what you cut off to try and make a point. I also shared along with other posts and youtube videos that employers are seemingly being unethical for snooping into private accounts and asking for account information. Since you like my thread why not answer my question: Do you feel it is ok for employers to try and hack FB pages, ask for account info so they can look when it's private, or try to go the friend of a friend route to look at a profile they don't have access to?

 

You don't think those things are happening?

 

These employers have been doing stuff like that.