Should employers be able to check your facebook page?

Nekohime · 2010-08-26T22:43:35+00:00

We've all heard or read about stories where an employer fires or refuses to hire an employee because of something they saw on the employee's facebook or other social networking page. On one hand, what an employee does off-the-job should not be taken into account as long as he or she does the job properly, but on the other hand, there may be serious issues that may be uncovered by looking at the employee's social networking pages. I'm more in the first camp; what you do outside of your job is your business, and I don't care if you're a freaking KKK wizard as long as that shit stays off the job. (But if you're a Klansman I don't think you'd be working for me, a brown woman, anyway.) Apparently, the German government agrees with me and has passed a law limiting what companies can or cannot use against their employees. from http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,713240,00.html Spoiler:According to reports in the Monday editions of the Die Welt and SÃ¼ddeutsche Zeitung newspapers, Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière has drafted a new law on data privacy for employees which will radically restrict the information bosses can legally collect. The draft law, which is the result of months of negotiations between the different parties in Germany's coalition government, is set to be approved by the German cabinet on Wednesday, according to the SÃ¼ddeutsche Zeitung. Although the new law will reportedly prevent potential bosses from checking out a candidate's Facebook page, it will allow them to look at sites that are expressly intended to help people sell themselves to future employers, such as the business-oriented social networking site LinkedIn. Information about the candidate that is generally available on the Internet is also fair game. In other words, employers are allowed to google potential hires. Companies may not be allowed to use information if it is too old or if the candidate has no control over it, however. Do you agree with the practice of checking on employees' facebook pages and/or googling them? Why or why not?

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spectre257

14 years ago

Xil wrote...

Indeed, as it has been said a number of times... I've always had the opinion that if you put ANYTHING on the internet, it's no longer within your control. Being it's really not.

If you don't want your employer to know about it, you either A: should not be doing it, or B: should not be telling anyone who will listen about it. It's really that simple.

The worst part is aside from it being no longer within your control, it will be on the internet forever.

Rusty Hammer

14 years ago

Make a second one with your alias/street name. that way you can put all your stupid shit for your friends to see, and keep your real name one for the public.

Xil Norse God of Sawdust

14 years ago

spectre257 wrote...

The worst part is aside from it being no longer within your control, it will be on the internet forever.

Anon never forgets.
Anon never forgives.

spectre257

14 years ago

Mr.Shaggnificent wrote...

Make a second one with your alias/street name. that way you can put all your stupid shit for your friends to see, and keep your real name one for the public.

Mate it's not hard to eventually link them if you know where and what to look for.

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