Social Networking Sites Search

The Individuals in search of employment in the Untied States, require signing a consent form that gives permission to the employers to conduct a background check for credit and criminal records of the individual by making use of a consumer reporting agency.
 

In the recent years, the rise in the popularity of the social networking sites among individuals has prompted many companies to make use of these social networking sites for screening purposes. However many HR professionals have reservations about using these social networking sites for employee screening purposes as they feel that this practice has the potential to expose their companies to extra liabilities. This is because the profiles on the social networking sites have too much personal information about the persons that use these and the laws haven’t yet caught up with the advances of the Internet. 
 

Some of the important questions facing before the HR professionals right now are if these ‘public profiles’ can be actually considered as a true representation of the candidates or not because it is not only difficult to ascertain that the profile actually belongs to the candidate whose background check is being done, it is also quite difficult to guarantee that the profile is a genuine one.  This is because it is quite easy for anyone to create a profile on these social networking sites for another by simply using his or her photo.

Social Networking Sites and Background Checks

Under the federal laws, employers can use social networking sites for a background check but they need to consider several issues before doing so. These are:
 

1. Employers require conducting the screening process by themselves. Using the reports from the consumer reporting agencies for conducting background checks would require the employer to follow the norms of the FCRA. According to the norms of the FCRA the employers would have to send a “Pre Adverse Action” Letter as well as an “Adverse Action” Letter to the candidates before taking any adverse action decision that has the capacity to negatively impact their job prospect.
 

2. Before using the information contained in a public profile of a candidate for the purpose of employment screening, the employer needs to acquaint himself/herself with the conditions and terms of the particular social networking website.
 

3. The company can face liability charges if the employer uses unlawful measures to get access to the contents of the public profiles of the candidates.
 

4. Using subterfuge can get the company into serious trouble.
 

5. If the employer makes use of an alias or provides inaccurate information to gain access to the social networking sites then it could severely impact a court’s decision against their favor.
6. The employer also has to make sure that it doesn't use the information contained in a public profile of a candidate for discriminatory purposes that violates the local, state or federal laws. For instance if a background check done by using the social networking sites reveals that the candidate is gay and the employer uses this information to not select that candidate for the job, the company can face a discrimination lawsuit.

Precautions to be Taken

Thus while using the Internet for background checks, employers must ensure that they do not break the privacy laws or using the information in a discriminatory way, and ensure that they acquire accurate information without any subterfuge. In addition the employers also need to ensure that they do not break any local or state laws while conducting their background checks through the social networking websites.