Using social networks in recruitment process could amount to workplace discrimination, warns Acas
02nd September 2011
Employers have been warned that they could face accusations of workplace discrimination if they monitor potential employees' social network pages as part of the recruitment process.
The workplace dispute resolution service Acas has launched a new guide advising organisations on how to manage their policy towards the increasingly common use of online social networks by staff.
It acknowledges that many organisations will check candidates' profiles on sites such as Facebook as part of the screening process when looking to fill a vacant post.
However, if they use personal information gleaned from such sources to rule out a candidate, they could face being taken to an employment tribunal on grounds of discrimination, Acas warned.
"Laws protecting people from discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, disability, race, marriage, religion and belief, and sexual orientation start at the recruitment stage," said the organisation.
"Employers could face employment tribunal hearings if they refused to interview someone as a result of a judgement they made based on a social networking profile."
Recruiting or assessing potential recruits using social media could also lead to social exclusion, Acas said, as it could prevent those who do not have access to such facilities being considered for a role.
Social media can also cause problems for employers through its use by existing staff, with organisations keen to stop employees using too much of the working day on personal-interest internet sites, as well as having concerns on how comments or media posted on such sites could reflect on the company.
However, Acas warned against monitoring staffs' use of the internet without first making it clear to them what they are scrutinising and why.
"Heavy-handed monitoring can cause bad feeling and be time consuming," said Acas chief executive John Taylor.
"A manager wouldn't follow an employee down the pub to check on what he or she said to friends about their day at work. Just because they can do something like this online, doesn't mean they should."
A study conducted last year by MyJobGroup.co.uk, calculated that misuse of the internet and social media by employees is estimated to cost the UK economy up to £14 billion a year.
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