Hiring managers are increasingly turning to social media to help with the research and recruitment process. Services like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter make it easy for people to put their best foot forward before even having submitted a resume or a cover letter, as recruiters scour social networks. In fact, a 2013 survey from the Society for Human Resource Management found that 77 percent of SHRM members use social media to recruit candidates, which is up from 56 percent in 2011.
However, if you rely too much on social media to find new talent, you may be exposing your company to legal risks and scrutiny from the EEOC, according to a recent report by Michael Bologna at Bloomberg BNA.
Bologna notes that employers who use social media channels may be accessing protected class information that they could use to inappropriately disqualify candidates. This could wind up subjecting them to civil rights complaints under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
What’s more, by focusing on social media, hiring managers may create barriers to the recruitment process, with the idea being that a lack of access to social media, computers and the Internet could make it harder for people to compete for jobs.
The EEOC is not issuing guidance on social media usage in recruitment. However, to offset potential risks, a good approach for companies is to erect a firewall between hiring managers and recruiters and to have a designated person in HR who is trained in the legal ramifications of using information about candidates that has been obtained via social networks. Hiring managers themselves should not use social media for screening, noted Bologna.
In terms of hiring, social media really shines when companies use it to define and display their corporate culture, notes a recent report at the Undercover Recruiter. Your employees can refer to their own networks as they reach out to interested candidates, for example, and you will gain greater access to both passive and active job seekers.
It’s important to not rely entirely on social media to get out the word, however tempting and cost-effective it might seem. Companies shouldn’t put their vacancy ads on Twitter alone, for example, as they are only limiting their exposure.
When you do use social media, remember that you should only focus on publicly available information and not demand access to applicants’ social media account passwords to learn more about them. Such a request is a violation of the law in 12 states and may run afoul of the Stored Communications Act nationwide.
It’s clear that new software and technology, such as those used to underpin social media, can be quite disruptive to the way we do business. While social media is a great way for companies to discover promising new candidates to hire and can help extend their brand among networks of friends, it’s a good idea to be cautious and only use information that you are sure you are legally allowed to use.
