Class Social Media Discussion: What is this Persuasive?

Disadvantages of Social Media on Hiring Decisions

Melissa Black, Robert Chiaramonte, Joseph Demarco, Emily Forella, Sara Gavette, Catherine Lacivita, Porsche Abernathy & Yessenia Ordonez

October 16, 2016

Using social media in todays society can be almost unavoidable for many of us but sometimes our personal or private information can be used to represent us for hiring purposes. CareerBuilder’s annual social media survey found that of more than 2,000 hiring managers and HR professionals and more than 3,000 full-time U.S. workers, 60 percent of employers revealed they use social networking sites to research job candidates. Using a candidates’ social media can have disadvantages for recruiters and businesses alike because it can lead to discrimination, basis, or errors based on miss-representations of personal characteristics. With few laws regulating the usage of social media in probing prospective employees, one’s social media, can have a major impact on whether or not a candidate is hired.

Using social media for screening potential candidates for jobs can be extremely risky. While it may have its advantages, employers also enter the risk of learning details about the employee such as if they are pregnant, disabled, their race, religion, and age which could detour them away from hiring an applicant. Throughout the hiring process within companies, many times, employers go to social media to find any information they can on this person.  Essentially what these employers do is try to weed out anyone that they find could hurt their company or the environment within. “While much of the information contained on an applicant’s social media page will be benign, information regarding protected characteristics (e.g., religion, disabled status, sexual orientation, marital status, genetic information, etc.) often is prominently displayed in social media” (Morgan & Davis, 2013).  Beginning in 2012 and throughout 2013, many states nationwide have passed laws that prohibit employers from requesting personal information that can allow access to a candidate’s personal social sites (Morgan & Davis, 2013).  Delaware, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington are a few states that have enforced these laws.  There is one state in particular where it is illegal for an employer to screen their applicants through social media and that is Illinois.  Screening applicants through social media could also lead to more lawsuits. For example, the University of Kentucky paid $125,000 for a lawsuit where a professor was not given a job because of his views that he expressed about evolution on social media and religious discrimination was the result of screening this applicant on social media. (Ruiz, 2016). In 2013, the Federal level had passed the Social Networking Online Protection Act which is an act that “would prohibit employers, schools and universities from requesting candidates’ social media usernames and passwords, or denying employment or penalizing candidates for refusing to divulge such information” (Morgan & Davis, 2013).  Employers not only need to be aware of the federal laws, but the state laws as well.

Some employers have faced ramifications for discrimination charges due to eligible candidates not receiving jobs due to what is on their pages.  False identity, inaccurate information, and impermissible subject matters are a couple of examples that employers could make decisions over and could be discriminatory on something that may or may not be true.  “The use of sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook can provide a valuable tool for identifying good candidates by searching for specific qualifications, panelists told the Commission. But the improper use of information obtained from such sites may be discriminatory since most individuals' race, gender, general age and possibly ethnicity can be discerned from information on these sites” (EEOC, 2014). The legal repercussions of using social media to evaluate applicants are quite real, businesses also run the risk of unfairly interpreting the information viewed on social media.  This discrimination is not necessarily intentional, making it difficult to identify and remedy.  Proper training is essential to ensure that the employee who is sifting through various social media profiles can properly evaluate relevant data.  This may be difficult due to the amount and nature of the information, which can be emotional and expressionistic; "The Pew Research Center released a study stating that three quarters of millennials (those between the ages of 18 and 29) have created a profile on a social networking site as a means of self expression" (Pew Research Center, 2010), Especially when looking outside of an applicants LinkedIn profile, employees must be careful not to misinterpret information.  When the information was posted on to these platforms it could have had a number of purposes, few could be related to the company’s objective. Employers need to be aware that there can be legal repercussions, if these laws are not followed.

 Through proper training and a clear understanding of how this information is to be applied to recruiting, an employer should be able to screen for problems, without delving into unnecessary details of an individual’s personal life. Social media can be very helpful in hiring when used properly. Unfortunately, hiring managers who check social media accounts may be prone to a bias before you ever end up in a meeting or interview. Furthermore, once an employer knows certain information about a candidate, they can't unlearn it. If someone is checked out on social media and disqualified before even going in for an interview, the employer could miss out on a really good candidate.  Recruiters need to keep in mind that “If wouldn’t peek into the applicant’s window at home, why look into his or her postings on social media?” (Segal &Le May, SHRM.org, 2016).

References Berkowitz, Melanie (2016). Social Media Recruiting: Understanding the Legal Guidelines. http://hiring.monster.com/hr/hr-best-practices/recruiting-hiring-advice/acquiring-job-candidates/social-media-recruiting-guidelines.aspx Lambert, Arthur (2016). 5 Ways Social Media Can Land Employers in Court. http://www.law360.com/articles/761008/5-ways-social-media-can-land-employers-in-court McDonnell, Amy. 2016, April 28. http://thehiringsite.careerbuilder.com/2016/04/28/37823/. 60% Employers Use Social Media to Screen Job Canidates. Morgan, H.A. Davis, F. A. (2013). Social Media and Employment Law: Summary of Key Cases and Legal Issues.  http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/events/labor_law/2013/04/aba_national_symposiumontechnologyinlaboremploymentlaw/10_socialmedia.authcheckdam.pdf Elejalde-Ruiz, A. (2016, January 13). Using social media to disqualify job candidates is risky. Retrieved October 16, 2016, from http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-social-media-job-candidates-0113-biz-20160111-story.html Segal, O., & LeMay, J. (2014, November 01). POINT/COUNTERPOINT Should Employers Use Social Media to Screen Job Applicants? Retrieved October 12, 2016, from https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/pages/1114-social-media U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (2013).  Social Media Is Part of Today's Workplace but its Use May Raise Employment Discrimination Concerns. https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/3-12-14.cfm Vicknair, J., Elkersh, D., Yancey, K., & Budden, M. C. (2010). The use of social networking websites as A recruiting tool for employers. American Journal of Business Education, 3(11), 7-12