Monday, March 17, 2008

New Technological Advancements: HR Practices changing. . . Discrimination?

I came across two articles:

This one is from Financial Week

This one is from Daily News


These articles discuss how employers are starting to use Technology and social networks such as Facebook to deploy their hiring practices in order take up minorities, homosexuals, and other members of protected classes. Generally, the articles agree that while these practices are being done, there is no official "law" that states that companies are risking an unnecessary liability in an ambiguous are of HR until the Supreme Court can have word on it.

What do you guys think about this? I mean, people do put out public information for everyone to see, however it is another thing to state that employers conduct searches to PRE-SCREEN job applicants before an interview. This is the same reason we have stopped sending pictures (the little passport style ones) alongside resumes because it gives employers an edge to screen out, for example, those applicants who are members of a protected class.

At the very least, companies should at least put a disclaimer that the individual may be background checked on any public information available at their disposal.

Is this stretching the limit? Or, is it a fair practice to allow this? I am curious to hear some of your opinions.

2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

In my opinion employers have the right to screen whatever information you make available to them. Like you said, "people do put out public information for everyone to see." If you put it out there, you should be aware that it really is out there. (In the case of facebook, if you have your profile blocked- that's another story. Employers should not get creepy by asking or paying young adults to "stalk" for them). I think it is fine to pre-screen a candidate before an interview. Isn't that the whole point of resumes? You send them to companies you are interested in and they "screen" you to see if you would be a good fit for the position and for the company. This benefits both the employer and the candidate. Do you really want to waste your time interviewing for a position when the employer could tell just by reading your resume that you would not be a good fit? I do think it would be polite for companies to have a disclaimer, but I do not believe they should be obligated to do so. If the information about you is made public, you no longer have the right to privacy with that information. Am I right?

9:09 PM  
Blogger Kyle said...

I absolutely agree. Companies have every right to research any possible candidate they are interviewing. People can not be upset that something they made public comes back and keeps them from getting a job. If someone puts information on facebook or any other social site and does not block the information it is not the companies fault. With how technology is used today companies should not need a disclaimer. The experiment done in class should prove this. Look at the information professor Prenkert in a very short time about all of us just using google and facebook. Most companies are going to the exact samething. While yes it is looking into someones private life, once you make it available on the internet it is no longer private and companies have every right to see it. This is just my opinion, based on stories of friends losing jobs due to pictures of their activies found on facebook.

12:31 PM  

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