Is Social Media Screening Essential?

If your organization is conducting regular, third-party background checks for all potential new hires and regularly rescreening individuals in specific positions as needed, is adding social media screening to your existing process necessary? The simple, definitive answer is yes.

The truth is that millennials and gen-Z’ers are becoming a more significant and more dominant part of today’s workforce, and these folks live and breathe social media. They have created a substantial presence for themselves on social media to be connected to – everyone. For members of these generations, their online identity is something they’ve worked diligently to create and curate, making a perusal of their social media platforms an effective way to obtain critical information that’s relevant to safe and smart hiring decisions.

Social media is another tool employers and candidates can use to get the information they need to make good decisions. Additionally, millennials and gen-Z’ers are using social media outlets to find jobs. They’re undoubtedly checking out everything they can find about your organization on social media sources like LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Done correctly, and in conjunction with searches of traditional sources such as employment histories, criminal records, credit reports, and others, social media searches can effectively uncover potential red flags about job candidates. Done incorrectly, social media screens carry significant legal risks.

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A Brief Look at Legality

Social media screening is legal. Information on social media is generally public, and anyone can view it. Legal risk isn’t about the viewing of the info. It’s about the use of the info. For this reason, it’s critical that you always discuss your social media screening policy at length and regularly with your legal advisors and that any hiring decisions impacted by social media discoveries also be reviewed by your legal team before taking action.

The issue that gets employers tangled up is primarily discrimination. Employers are not allowed to discriminate based on religion, sexual identity, race, age, ethnicity, or other protected characteristics. Once you see something about an individual on social media, you can’t unsee it, and the person can claim that was the basis for an adverse hiring decision.

What do employers look for on your social media?
Make sure you’re using social media to connect with influencers, industry leaders, organizations, and publications in your field. Employers also want to see you participating in relevant online groups, and they care about the type of content you share and comment on.

Best Practices

To get the most value from social media screening and minimize the legal risks, your organization should implement the following best practices:

Get your legal team involved with every part of the process.
Have a clear, written background check policy explaining your stance on social media screening.
Clear documentation about how you obtained the information.
Documentation demonstrating how the info obtained is relevant to job performance.
Have your background check provider conduct the social media screen. This third party understands the position in question and will only include relevant findings in their report.

In the 21st century, small, large, and mid-sized business background checks must include a social media component. Talk to your background check provider today to get your process started.