Comments on: California protects workers’ social media

By: Tanya

Tanya — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:05:58 +0000

This really just blows me away. What you say in a public forum CAN come back to bite you in the butt so it is wise to be discressional, for sure. But the fact that a law has to be put in place to say that companies cannot ask for someone’s password to facebook, email, etc. is nuts because they should just not do it in the first place. When asking ‘the wrong’ questions when doing a reference check on someone can get you into trouble for invasion of privacy… surely logging into someone’s FB page with their personal password is too.

If I were in a job interview and this was asked of me

#1 I would probably decide that this is not the type of company I wish to work for because what will they ask for AFTER they hire me.

#2 I would also wonder if it was a trick question and if they were actually being serious. So, I’m applying for an HR position at your job and you want me to disclose my password to you… if I DO, will you wonder if I will wrongfully disclose personal employee info when I am working for you and therefore consider me a security risk and NOT hire me?

Anyways, good for some states recognizing this as a problem and taking steps to fix it:)

By: Another Evil HR Director

Another Evil HR Director — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 15:22:46 +0000

Maryland just recently passed such a law. I found it extremely intereseting, since the reason the law was passed here was because of several cases where state agencies were forcing applicants and employees to turn over passwords to social media accounts, not private employers. Just an intereseting note.

An excellent post, with excellent advice all in all. I can’t tell you how many times employees have come to me with a screen print of another employee’s FB post because they thought it improper! I don’t need (nor want) to monitor such things myself, your co-workers will do it for me.

By: Anon

Anon — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:00:53 +0000

My rules with Facebook are simple:

My profile is friends only.
I don’t friend coworkers.
I don’t mention my job.
I don’t list where I work.

Seems to be working for me so far.

By: Sally McKinney

Sally McKinney — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:43:12 +0000

My advice: if asked by a prospective employer in any state, just say “I don’t Facebook.”

By: Elizabeth West

Elizabeth West — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:40:31 +0000

Good advice. I think younger people especially, who grew up with social media and are used to sharing, really need to heed this. Also, stuff gets passed around on comedy blogs and in forums and gets so far out of context that it can make a person look really bad.