The Essential Guide to Social Media Background Screening for Employers
The guide offers strategies for the appropriate use of social media profiles, which include crafting explicit policies that guide the use of social media in employment decisions.
Purcellville, VA (PRWEB) December 03, 2014
Proforma Screening Solutions, a unit of the Lowers Risk Group, has published a new whitepaper that describes pitfalls and best practices for using social media background checks in making employment decisions. The key point is that using the information in social media profiles is subject to the same regulatory requirements as other kinds of information. Employers who fail to comply with these requirements in taking adverse action against an employee or applicant are at risk of discrimination charges.
The Essential Guide to Social Media Background Screening for Employers outlines recent research confirming anecdotal evidence that employers do access and use social media information in the employment process. Doing so exposes employers to the risk of violating or appearing to violate the privacy or protected class rights of an applicant or employee. It is difficult to mitigate this risk because if private or protected information is available in a social profile, the employer cannot easily prove that he or she did not see it or use it in an employment decision.
The guide offers strategies for the appropriate use of social media profiles, which include crafting explicit policies that guide the use of social media in employment decisions and utilizing the services of a professional background screening agency to perform the social profile research.
David Lowers, President of Proforma Screening Solutions, remarks, “Professional background screening companies are highly experienced in regulatory compliance. Even when using social profiles they are trained to ensure that information is used only to improve hiring success in a fair and relevant way, minimizing the exposure of employers to legal risks.”
The guide is available to download at http://www.proformascreening.com/lp/social-media-screening/
About Proforma Screening Solutions
Proforma Screening Solutions is a pioneering firm in the development of cost-effective employment screening technology and services to help employers make better hiring decisions. Proforma provides useful information from public (and private) data sources at an affordable price. As a unit of the Lowers Risk Group, Proforma Screening Solutions has access to a full range of risk mitigation practices to offer clients a single point for total enterprise risk management.