Bosses checking workers’ Facebook pages could be fined in £17m privacy rules
NOSEY bosses face fines if they snoop on the Facebook pages of their job applicants, it has been warned.
Bosses have been warned not to check their employers social media accounts
Europe’s top national data watchdog said excessive monitoring of job applicants and employees on social media could fall foul of privacy laws.
Since social media has become widely-used, concerns are growing that the personal lives of employees are having a great influence on their job prospects.
Figures show 87 per cent of recruiters check potential candidates’ LinkedIn accounts, 43 per cent check Facebook, and 22 per cent check Twitter, according to Jobvite.
Nosey bosses face fines if they snoop on their workers social media accounts
urope’s top national data watchdog said excessive monitoring of job applicants and employees on social media could fall foul of privacy laws
But Article 29 guidance in the General Data Protection Regulations said “in-employment screening of employees’ social media profiles should not take place on a generalised basis”.
The advice warns against employers having the ability to “permanently screening employees by collecting information regarding their friends, opinions, beliefs, interests, habits, whereabouts, attitudes and behaviours”.
Applicants should also not be forced into accepting friend requests from their bosses or handing over passwords, guidance suggests.
It comes after the European Court of Human Rights said managers were allowed to monitor workers’ emails.
During this time workers have been fired for posting inappropriate Facebook status updates, while others have had their applications rejected.
Figures show 87 per cent of recruiters check potential candidates’ LinkedIn accounts
The guidance comes ahead of strict new data protection rules that come into force next year, which will introduce fines of up to £17million if broken.
The Tory government said it will adopt the General Data Protection Regulations, which come into force in May, even after Brexit in line with Europe.
Facebook introduce Facebook Stories
Applicants should also not be forced into accepting friend requests from their bosses
Although the guidance is not legally binding, it is widely used by authorities to apply the law.