ALT-5 Employers Allowed Myspace Youtube Facebook Accounts Basis Hiring Firing – No
I do not believe that social networking sites are able to give employers the ability to hire from them.
It is understandable that with now applicants to new jobs that an employer may look for some candidates from the Internet. However, it does not mean that the employer should use only the information from social networking sites to assume the position of that person.
There are several problems with social networking sites; for starters, it can be very difficult to show sarcasm through social media. There is always room for interpretation on the Internet and does not always tell the whole story as there can be pieces missing. I have seen many people sacked due to misinterpretation of information on the Internet.
Where I work, they have just introduced a social media policy to protect themselves more than anyone. As a result, we can now be sacked and arrested for posting things, which could harm our business; we also are not allowed to post anything with the word KFC in it. I do believe that this is a highly unfair protocol that should not be implemented in any industry or establishment. It also reduces our freedom to speak if employers are able to fire you from the information that you disclose online.
Just to quickly point out it is also a breach of human rights, if we have to censor the information that we place in our 'area' of the Internet. We do have the right to a freedom of information, if we have to censor what we write it is in direct conflict with this law.
Unfortunately, there is little that can be done to stop this, if it is in the company policy to hire and fire from social networking sites, then there is little that can be done to fight this. There are always going to be appeal methods in your industry. Most companies if they offer a guideline for social media will state that ‘if it could be interpreted as slanderous to them’ which could now mean that if you do not get on with your manager this power could be abused.
You must remember that in any situation where this power is used against you, that you must be aware of the companies appeal methods. If you do feel threatened by protocols in your workplace, then state before a posting that this is your view not of your companies.
