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The Employer Handbook Blog

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3 tips to guide a social-media check on your potential new hire

According to this recent SHRM survey, only 18% of companies have used social media to screen job candidates. Most cite the legal risks of screening candidates as the reason for not implementing a social-media background check. While a social-media background check may not be useful in certain instances, I can…

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Barbie Shagwell, whips, and other social-media hiring red flags

  Two weeks ago, I was in Las Vegas at the Advanced Employment Issues Symposium, presenting on using social media to make hiring decisions. If you would like to obtain a copy of my presentation, just head on over to our Facebook fan page, “like” us, and download it. After…

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Can you access an ex-employee’s Facebook posts if she sues?

What a whirlwind 12 months it’s been for Edith Employee! Or, should I say, Edith “former” Employee? Last year, she was an employee for ABC Company. This year, she is suing ABC for sexual harassment. Among other things, Edith claims damages for physical and psychological injuries, including the inability to…

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U.S. employees had a lot of discrimination claims is FY2011

How many claims were filed? And how much money did the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recover for individuals? Find out after the jump… * * * According to this November 15, 2011 press release from the EEOC, the number of discrimination claims are skyrocketing: The EEOC received a record…

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POLL: Would you fire this employee for her Facebook comments?

I read this on ZDnet yesterday: Administrative Law Judge Ellen Bass has ruled Jennifer O’Brien, a first-grade teacher at School 21 in Paterson, New Jersey, should lose her tenured job, because of a Facebook comment she made about her students. O’Brien has been on administrative leave since March, which is…

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This is what a social-media policy in a unionized workplace looks like

Do you have a unionized workforce? If you have a social-media policy, it should not expressly restrict employees’ rights to discuss terms and conditions of employment. Otherwise, you may be violating the National Labor Relations Act. And to those non-union employers who have social-media policies, don’t think for a second…