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Doesn't it astound you that your employers are allowed to snoop on your Facebook to decide whether you're gonna get the job??

Oh yes that's right, in fact if you don't have a Facebook account you are significantly less likely to be employed in the big businesses...

So your potential employer sees you having a fun night out? Back to the old welfare office. You have under 100 friends or your friends list is private kiss that job goodbye.

Well done social media, government and cooperate scumbags for turning people into subservient robots. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

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AcidBurn

What you are describing is illegal.

Siriously · 26-30, M

No it is not.

AcidBurn

It is. There is information on such sites that is off limits to hiring managers. Using that information to determine employment is illegal.

Siriously · 26-30, M

No it isn't, I've actually been in mock interviews with managers of big corporations like Tescos, Iceland etc. They are allowed to type your name and address, many people have lost jobs because of it..

Ssnsnsmssjsmsm

Not illegal in the least. Colleges do it as well.

AcidBurn

Employers who check applicants out online run a number of legal risks. First off, an employer who looks at an applicant’s Facebook page or other social media posts could well learn information that it isn’t entitled to have – or to consider during the hiring process. This can lead to discrimination claims. For example, your posts or page might reveal your ethnicity, disclose that you are pregnant, or espouse your political or religious views. This type of information is off limits in the hiring process, and an employer who discovers it online and uses it as a basis for hiring decisions could face a discrimination lawsuit.

The way around the law, because it is illegal, is to claim they have a different reason for not hiring you. Off-duty conduct laws also come into play a here.

Ssnsnsmssjsmsm

@NoOneYouKnow: Well, your quote shows that it can be considered indirectly illegal if a lawyer stretched your case to make it seem like discrimination. Directly, it isn't.

AcidBurn

@Killers: it is absolutely illegal to use certain information from ones personal life in a hiring decision. The hard part is proving that they used that information in the hiring process. Not all hiring managers are stupid enough to admit it.

Ssnsnsmssjsmsm

@NoOneYouKnow: You specified that it's only "certain" information in your reply. That's the thing, unless lawyers stretch the case to make it seem like the employers discriminated based on "certain" information (which I think is code for race, religion, etc.), you have no case. It is not directly illegal, unless it can be proved to be discriminatory.

AcidBurn

@Killers: whether or not something can be proven doesn't determine if the act is illegal.

Ssnsnsmssjsmsm

@NoOneYouKnow: Nothing you've cited so far has proven that the action itself is illegal. People are allowed to look up other people's online profiles, and if an employer does do this and they don't discriminate based on race, gender, etc. and only refuse to hire an employee because of questionable past actions, then it isn't illegal.

AcidBurn

@Killers: what I posted was a summary, not all applicable laws. You should also look into off-duty laws.

Ssnsnsmssjsmsm

@NoOneYouKnow: Unless an employer is using information they obtained to discriminate, they are allowed to perform a background check via a prospective or current employee's social media pages.

"...federal laws prohibits employers from discriminating against a prospective or current employee based on information on the employee's social networking site or personal blog relating to their race, color, national origin, gender, age, disability, and immigration or citizen status, employers can and do use information on such websites as a method of conducting background checks.

"An online profile can provide information on professional credentials, career objectives, maturity and judgment, abuse of drugs or alcohol, current employment status, and other red flags."

"Generally, an employer can fire you for having a personal website or blog that it deems inappropriate, with very limited exceptions. Even if you have a non-work related website that you don't access from your office, employers can fire you if they feel the content on your personal site or blog is offensive to them or to potential clients, or reflects badly on the company."

"[some states] have laws that prohibit employers from firing an employee for engaging in lawful conduct, or for using lawful products (ex: cigarettes) during off-duty hours. However, courts in these states will weigh the employee protections against an employer's business interests, and typically rule that those interests outweigh employee privacy concerns and permit the employer to be exempt from the law."

(Source: http://www.workplacefairness.org/social-network-computer-privacy-workplace)