69 The Alabama Lawyer 131 (2008). Want to Know Your Employees Better? Log On to a Social Network But, Be Warned, You May Not Like What You See.

• Author: BY TARI D. WILLIAMS and ABIGAIL LOUNSBURY MORROW

The Alabama Lawyer

2008.

69 The Alabama Lawyer 131 (2008).

Want to Know Your Employees Better? Log On to a Social Network But, Be Warned, You May Not Like What You See

Want to Know Your Employees Better? Log On to a Social Network But, Be Warned, You May Not Like What You SeeBY TARI D. WILLIAMS and ABIGAIL LOUNSBURY MORROW It's a new day and age from when you were in law school, whether you graduated 40 years ago or a few months ago. The reason? Technology. It seems new innovations and new information are constantly available. The Internet has opened a portal for exchanging ideas in a way never before seen.

The effects of a digital revolution have already made their way into the daily practice of law - electronic filings, e-mail, new discovery rules - but a new trend has many legal employers exploring their potential and current employees' lives outside the office. In 2006, an ExecuNet survey of 100 executive recruiters revealed 77 percent of the recruiters used sites such as Google and Yahoo! to check a job seeker's background.(fn1) Of those using Internet resources to research a job candidate, 35 percent of the recruiters eliminated a candidate from consideration based on the online information.(fn2)

In addition to third-party information from Google and Yahoo!, job candidates are also likely to have their own Web page on social networking sites. Social networking sites (a.k.a. MySpace.com, Friendster.com, Facebook.com and Xanga.com, to name a few) have given employers full disclosure straight from the candidates' mouths.

As with every new technological territory comes new questions. Can employers use these sites to gain insight on their potential hires? To monitor the behavior of current employees? What are the issues to be considered? The answers are that some law firms, judges and corporations do factor in what a candidate posts about himself or herself into the job search. As the information is, after all, on the World Wide Web, there's not a strong argument for privacy, but areas and issues of concern do exist.

This article will briefly highlight the trends in Alabama that social networks are playing in employment decisions and offer tips and advice as to matters to be considered for employers and employees.

Social Networks: A Primer

Social networks are an open forum in which individuals post messages, thoughts and pictures about themselves and their lives in order to make friends with other people of similar interests. It's a visual track of the long-known phenomena of six degrees of separation. Once you have a page established, you can track visitors and add friends. You can post pictures of accomplishments as you define them - be it your law school graduation or the killer keg stand you recently completed at an after-game party. Social network pages can also reveal an individual's biases and sometimes just too much information.(fn3)

Here in lies the rub (apologizes to Shakespeare) - should any of this information be considered as part of a job applicant's application package? Some Alabama firms and other legal employers are debating whether to take a gander at social networking pages as part of the employment process.

Social networks do give more information than would likely come out during a quick introductory interview. The qualms some employers have about relying on the information are that life outside of the office is just that - life outside of work. However, particularly in the legal field where reputation and appearance are held in high esteem, what the individual felt the need to post to the whole wide world could be viewed as an indication of his or her maturity. As Joey Ritchey, a member of Sirote Permutt's hiring committee, noted, all attorneys at the firm are reminded that their reputation as a part of the firm travels within them - be it online or out on the town.

"We remind our associates that they carry the firm name with them wherever they go. Just as they are carrying the identity of being a lawyer, they are also being associated with our firm," Ritchey said,

Sirote Permutt seems to be among the majority of Alabama firms who are considering using social networks as an additional check of an interviewee, but have not done so to date. Ritchey said the firm is struggling with the question of how much weight the pages should have.

"Something posted that's silly or stupid should not be the only judge of a candidate's worth, but the decision to post it does reflect on the candidate's immaturity," he said.

Ritchey's sentiment is becoming more widely accepted by potential employers who are often stunned to read of their potential hire's big night on the town, complete with a drink-by-drink replay and full account of sexual exploits - all on the World Wide Web.(fn4)

The Employer's Exposure to Liability

Aside from the more obvious potential blunders a candidate can post on his or her site, there are other concerns for employers who decide to incorporate these pages into the candidate's hiring process. Since the sites were designed as social launching points, information that otherwise would likely not arise in a job interview can be known. Sites often require about participants' sexuality. Some participants post pictures of themselves. Some participants post their birthdates. Some participants post information about their religion. Employers, therefore, should consider the benefit of seeing a candidate in his or her natural environment, i.e. his or her Web page, against the potential of a discrimination claim based on knowledge by the employer of these protected statuses.(fn5) Of course, an argument exists that the candidate...