Using Internet Information in the Recruiting Process: Understanding the Risks
Many of you have asked for guidance on whether or not to use the Internet, including social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook, as part of the job applicant screening process. While we understand the appeal of having access to so much additional information about prospective applicants, there are risks to using Internet information to screen job applicants. It is critical to understand the risks when you consider whether or not to use Internet information as part of the recruiting process. You are strongly urged to confer with Human Resources before using Internet information in any way as the basis for selecting or eliminating a candidate.
The risks associated with the use of Internet Information in the recruiting process include:
Discrimination Risks
California law prohibits the use of certain types of “off-duty” behavior as the basis for an employment decision. In addition, a simple online photo or “profile” may contain a wealth of information about a person’s race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, age (40+) etc., and these factors cannot be taken into account in making hiring or other employment decisions under both state and federal law. Use of this type of Internet information to pre-screen job applicants could lead to a hiring discrimination claim -- that is to say, a claim that you used Internet information to screen out applicants on the basis of a protected category such as those listed above, or on the basis of legal off-duty behavior.
Information Reliability Risks
Not all the information you find on the Internet is reliable. The “name” you find on your Internet search may not actually be your applicant (statistics show that most of us have “computer twins,” that is to say people with our names and even a similar date of birth). There are even anecdotes of false postings created under another person’s name – a form of “cyber identity theft.” Finally, an applicant may simply have exaggerated or invented certain facts or stories for fun, or for a variety of other reasons.
Privacy Risks
While it might seem like anything on the Internet is “fair game” to a prospective employer, a job applicant might actually have a reasonable right to privacy in certain online information, especially where access to the site has been restricted (for example, when only “friends” can view profile information). More importantly, trying to obtain information on job applicants through the use of multiple identities or “pretexting” (meaning through the creation of an “alter ego” or false identity) may violate not only the rules of the social networking site, but the user’s privacy rights as well.
Because of these risks, if you choose to use Internet information as part of the recruiting process, please follow these guidelines to ensure that the information you find is used in a fair, non-discriminatory way that respects our job applicants’ privacy.
- Do not search the Internet to prescreen applicants.
- Interview a job applicant in person before conducting an Internet search about the individual.
- Only after all the personal interviews are complete should an Internet search be used, if at all.
- If a search is done, it should be done for all final candidates.
- Information that you find must not be used to discriminate unlawfully against job applicants.
- Information must be obtained ethically and in a way that does not violate privacy permissions.
If you have any questions, please contact Human Resources - Employment at 893-3166.