Could checking candidates’ social media accounts lead to discrimination?

If there is one subject that many HR training clients of Employee Management Ltd (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk) may have taken a particular interest in over the last few months, it is whether the vetting of social media should be a part of their recruitment processes – or whether doing so would instead lead to discrimination against potential employees.

A few months ago, a new debate on UK employees’ relationship with social media was triggered by the new youth police and crime commissioner at Kent police, Paris Brown being pressured to resign from her post just a week after she was hired. This came after it was found that the 17-year-old had made racist and homophobic tweets prior to landing the job – with police admitting that they had not vetted social media in the process of recruiting her.

The argument potentially in favour of vetting the social media profiles of candidates includes the importance of recruiting someone who has the right attitude and shares the employer’s values. This is not, however, something that can be solely done via social media, with many clients of HR support services instead using situational judgement questionnaires, based on the behaviours of their highest-performing existing employees, to identify people’s values and how they apply in a professional setting.

The possibility also exists of simply tailoring interview questions to tease out potentially controversial issues, like those surrounding the Paris Brown appointment, rather than tracking through Facebook and Twitter accounts. Many of a company’s leading, high-performing employees who best espouse their firm’s desired values can be excellent judges of who adopts the right approach and possesses the right attitude.

Then, there are the discrimination risks to consider for those HR services clients who are seriously considering monitoring social media usage as part of the recruitment process. Doing so raises the possibility of age discrimination against younger people, for example, given that those aged over 50 are likely to have a much less pronounced social media presence, meaning less potential for the availability of negative information than is the case for those in their 20s.

On social media sites, it is easy for recruiters to find such information as age, marital status and whether the potential employee has children – all information that has no rightful part in recruitment. However, once it is available, it is also difficult to defend whether such information had an influence on a selection decision.

Notwithstanding these concerns, it is, of course, the choice of the employer whether to monitor prospective employees’ activities on social media. However, the recognition of the privacy issues involved as well as the need to protect the recruiter’s reputation has led to many firms introducing a clear social media policy to their employment documentation, linked to a disciplinary process.

Employee Management Ltd (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk) assists employers by providing extensive and informed employment law advice, including on the formation of the right social media policy. Contact us now to find out more.

Editor’s Note: Employee Management Ltd (http://www.employeemanagement.co.uk) are represented by the search engine advertising and digital marketing specialists Jumping Spider Media. Email: info@jumpingspidermedia.co.uk or call: +44 (0)20 3070 1959 / +34 952 783 637.