Are Your Posts Harming Your Employment?

You should presume that your current employer and prospective employers are following you into every site you go into on the internet; whether it be a chat room, group, blog, networking site, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. 

Many people do not realize the impact that their posts have on their future employability and employment. Specifically, a person may be denied employment because of what a prospective employer discovers on social media or an employee may be terminated due to comments and outside activities posted on public or private social media sites

Many employers have Social Media Policies setting forth what can or can’t be posted by its employees. All employees should review these policies in order to be in compliance. Failure to do so may be grounds for termination.

Employees and former employees must also be sure not to share confidential and/or propriety information and/or trade secrets on social media sites. Doing so can be grounds for termination or if already a former employee, grounds for a lawsuit.

An employer discovering an employee posing his/her involvement in illegal activity through a post on a social media site can also be grounds for termination.

Employees should assume that their employer or prospective employers are reviewing any posts that they put on social media and others posts that may be linked to them. If an employee would not say or engage in an activity in the workplace then he/she should not do so on social media.

Many employers and recruiters review social media to check out applicants. Employers look for, among others, provocative photos; bad mouthing of colleagues, former employers or friends; sharing of confidential information; misrepresentations made by the applicant on a resume or in an interview; illegal activities.

Employees should be mindful of what they are posting, their privacy settings and who they connect to in the workplace.

Comments and posts can follow employees and harm their employability.

Employers reviewing social media sites and making adverse employment decisions must be careful that doing so is not based on improper or illegal motives, as this may result in lawsuits against the company for their decision.