Employers looking at Facebook

[DeadPoolX]

I don't know if you guys have heard of this, but apparently it's become somewhat common for employers to review an employee's (or potential employee's) Facebook page. I'm not sure what employers base their decision on with Facebook ("He's part of the Ninja Penguin group." "Ninja Penguins! We can't have someone like that working here!"), but it seems quite a few do.

One case that sticks in my mind was a teacher (I forget which grade) whose FB photo showed her holding a gun. School officials and parents complained. She wasn't fired, but she was severely reprimanded and temporarily suspended from her teaching duties.

Perhaps there are ways someone's personal time can affect their work persona (i.e. getting drunk or taking illegal substances), but Facebook seems innocuous. So she had a gun in her photo. Big deal. Maybe she's a hunter or maybe she just wanted a humorous picture for her friends. Simply because she's holding a gun does in no way mean she's going to teach her students about firearms or go shoot up the school (both of which worried school administrators).

Going beyond someone's photo on FB, I have to wonder how employers even see anyone's information. Unless you're an idiot and allow everyone on FB to see your info, those who can view it are within a relatively small group.

My FB account is set to "private" and only allows my Friends to see it. No one else can (not even "Friends of Friends") and there's no way to add me unless someone sends me a PM or e-mail's me first, in which case I have to approve them. I'm not going to allow an employer (or even a co-worker) to see my info or what I say. The potential for disaster is too high and I'd like to keep my personal life and work life separate.

Can anyone shed a little light on this? How can FB work against you if your employer (or potential employer) can't see your information or whatever you type when amongst your Friends?

[MusicallyInspired]

That's retarded. An employer has no business nosing into a potential employee's personal life apart from what that person wishes to share with the employer. Especially if they haven't even been hired yet. And as far as the teacher thing goes....that's just idiocy at its peak (the fact that she got suspended and reprimanded at all).

[Jules]

Unfortunately, business or no business, they will do it and use it to their advantage. Here at work, everyone is supposed to be created equal - but we're not. We all do the same exact job, every single day but others get special treatment because they've got a huge brown spot on their nose.

My supervisor requested to be friends on FB but I declined. I never became buddy buddy to him and if this is his way of doing so, then it won't work. I will never ever allow him to see my personal photos - even though there are no "bad" ones, so to speak. And it doesn't help that his profile photo is of him without his shirt on! Ick. Something awkward about it.

However, I do have a few co-workers as friends, but not all.

[BBP]

I think a Dutch guy has recently been fired because he called his job and said he was sick, and then wrote on his Hyves (that's a Dutch MySpace thing) that he had arranged a day off by pretending to be sick.
If you decide to join one of those sites and want everybody to see it, fine. But you can expect your employer to be eager to find out about you. After all he pays you. And if you put any info on the web for the world to see of which you can expect that it will bounce back twice as hard, then that's your decision and don't whine if your employer sees it.

Was that a US teacher? Over here owning guns is against the law unless you're part of a shooting club or a hunter, and a picture of a teacher holding a gun would definitely be a person setting a real bad example for his or her students.

[DeadPoolX]

I think a Dutch guy has recently been fired because he called his job and said he was sick, and then wrote on his Hyves (that's a Dutch MySpace thing) that he had arranged a day off by pretending to be sick.
If you decide to join one of those sites and want everybody to see it, fine. But you can expect your employer to be eager to find out about you. After all he pays you. And if you put any info on the web for the world to see of which you can expect that it will bounce back twice as hard, then that's your decision and don't whine if your employer sees it.

I agree that you need to be careful when posting on social networks. If you're going to call in sick, don't brag about it online -- especially if your REAL NAME is attached to the account. It's just dumb to do something like that.

I see an employer checking in on my personal life as an invasion of personal privacy. When at work, an employer has every right to check and recheck an employee. The employee is in a business environment and "on the clock" (for lack of a better term).

However, the employer has no right to base any work-related decision upon my personal life. Once I step foot out of the office, my work life is severed and my personal life begins (the reverse is true as well). To make a decision based on what FB groups one might belong to, their personal photo, where they hang out or even how they communicate with their friends is ludicrous. It doesn't directly involve work.

Now if the employer wishes to PAY their employees while they're not working, I'd agree that the employer can check in on their personal lives. If the employer wishes to divulge information about their own private lives, that's fine too. Until such occurs, the blending of personal and work ends at the start and end of the business day. Any employer that fails to realize this is bordering on the crime of stalking (or cyber-stalking).

Was that a US teacher? Over here owning guns is against the law unless you're part of a shooting club or a hunter, and a picture of a teacher holding a gun would definitely be a person setting a real bad example for his or her students.

Yeah, it's in the United States. Owning firearms is written into our constitution (the very famous and much discussed 2nd Amendment), so anyone can legally have a gun. For all I know, she might have been a hunter or as I said before, merely taking a funny photo for her friends.

[Rudy]

I have a bunch of former colleagues as friends on my Facebook account, and am therefore very carefull what i post. The annoying thing is that the person, who was involved in getting me fired a month ago, is always popping up on the right menubar: "Add as a friend?".
For some strange reason, i don't exactly wanna be friends with that dude

[Tawmis]

Quick solution to DPX's first post -

MAKE YOUR PAGE EFFIN PRIVATE.

Christ. That's all it takes. ONE click. So only FRIENDS can see your page. Anyone else gets a blank profile with generic information. Big whoop.

[DeadPoolX]

Quick solution to DPX's first post -

MAKE YOUR PAGE EFFIN PRIVATE.

Christ. That's all it takes. ONE click. So only FRIENDS can see your page. Anyone else gets a blank profile with generic information. Big whoop.

Yeah, I wrote the same thing in the last three paragraphs of my first post...

[Tawmis]

Quick solution to DPX's first post -

MAKE YOUR PAGE EFFIN PRIVATE.

Christ. That's all it takes. ONE click. So only FRIENDS can see your page. Anyone else gets a blank profile with generic information. Big whoop.

Yeah, I wrote the same thing in the last three paragraphs of my first post...

I know. I was just saying I am not sure why anyone wouldn't have their profile private in the first place? I got nothing to really hide - I am not involved in illegal arms deals and what not - but at the same time - while I work with a lot of wonderful people who I trust okay - I still don't want them seeing all my drunk pictures and comments. If I did, I'd invite them as a friend on facebook in the first place.

[BBP]

I don't think everybody realizes that putting something on the Internet for the world to see means your boss will watch it.
But you're right, there's definitely boundaries in how your employer should look out for you, and you should be able to keep private pics private.
Not sure if FaceBook would be the first site to point fingers at for possible privacy breech: the security cameras can do a lot of work too, and it's a lot easier to avoid putting sensitive information on FB than it is to avoid the cameras without getting noticed.

[Jules]

Well, the funny thing is I *thought* I had my page on private but it was not. I had a FB account way back when it was only for colleges. I remember we had to get enough signatures for FB to open accounts for our college. Since then, I hardly checked it and with the new features, I guess they made all accounts NOT set on private unless you went in there and changed it manually.

[Tawmis]

Yeah your account is definitely older - because it only shows your first name. Not even a last name, which all new accounts do.

[Maiandra]

Not sure if FaceBook would be the first site to point fingers at for possible privacy breech: the security cameras can do a lot of work too, and it's a lot easier to avoid putting sensitive information on FB than it is to avoid the cameras without getting noticed.

As far as I know, most security cameras are in "public" places, so people probably shouldn't be doing anything they'd be embarrassed to be caught at there anyway.

[BBP]

Not sure if FaceBook would be the first site to point fingers at for possible privacy breech: the security cameras can do a lot of work too, and it's a lot easier to avoid putting sensitive information on FB than it is to avoid the cameras without getting noticed.

As far as I know, most security cameras are in "public" places, so people probably shouldn't be doing anything they'd be embarrassed to be caught at there anyway.

Well it's what the managers at Lidl used to spy on their employees...

[Maiandra]

OK, that kind of camera is bad. Even if it is a working environment, watching someone that closely is a bit disturbing. They're not going to foster a very positive work environment that way.