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    As Social Recruiting Evolves so do Compliance Issues - Interesting topic follow this discussion

    compliance eeo ofccp social recruiting
    started 37 days ago by

    I read an article by Fay Hansen written for Workforce Management (http://www.workforce.com/section/06/feature/26/68/67/) . I'm wondering if anyone is currently running hardcore social recruiting programs? And, if you are, have you run into EEO issues yet? Is it coming?  Do you have a plan?

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is said to be heading towards a greater focus on enforcement and litigation as Jacqueline Berrien is confirmed as chair of the agency. Berrien is predicted to bring an enforcement mind-set to the the job. In fact, the US Dept. of Labor has already started hiring 250 new OFCCP compliance officers that will be kicking tires sooner than later. 

    While by no means does this article suggest that social recruiting is wrong, it does lead me to believe that a recruiting program heavily predicated on social recruiting could have significant compliance implications in the future unless applicant flow logs have been tailored to account social recruiting efforts. 

    Are other people thinking about this issue?  How are you preparing?

    Here is an excerpt of the article by Fay Hansen

    "Social networking sites are problematic because the population is limited and highly selective," Roe notes. "I anticipate more race and age claims over the next two years, and a significant portion will be from sourcing through social networking sites, where the users are generally white and age 20 to 40. We'll see lawsuits.

    "Employers don't want to pay recruiters, so they take the path of least resistance, but they have to look very carefully at the applicant pool and cast a much broader net. Recruiters are often swept up by the latest process. Minor decisions lead to major consequences."

    Using networks for recruiting is ripe with risk for future discrimination claims, says Pamela Devata, a partner at Seyfarth Shaw in Chicago.

    "Sourcing from professional network sites such as LinkedIn carries a risk that the method could be challenged on discrimination grounds," Devata says. "It represents a hiring pool that is not open to the general population. Using a limited network may have a disparate impact. If hiring through these networks can be challenged, it will be."

    Employers should consider the risk of litigation arising from disparate impact claims.

    "If the business practice is to use Twitter and the existing pool is 50 percent female and 20 percent minority, but you're down to zero for both groups because your digital network is heavily male and non-minority, then you must establish that there is a business necessity for the practice," says Paul Mollica, partner at Meites, Mulder, Mollica & Glink in Chicago. "The first company that gets sued for this will have to be very resourceful because it will be very difficult to establish a reason for relying exclusively on Twitter."

     

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    • 1 point 33 days ago

      What timing! I just got an email yesterday that Lisa is presenting a webinar on this such topic....Join Dr. Lisa Harpe of the Peopleclick Research Institute for a complimentary webcast...

      http://www.hr.com/SITEFORUM?&t=/Default/gateway&i=1116423256281&application=story&elementID=1255635945588

    • 1 point 34 days ago

      Lisa D. Grant Harpe, Ph.D. from the Peopleclick Research Institute

      Link to Ebook: http://www.peopleclick.com/resources/wpaper/Social_Networks_Employment_Law_eBook.pdf

    • 1 point 34 days ago

      Thanks for the presentation and link.  Attorney Mollica's assertion that "it will be very dificult to establish a reason for relying exclusively on Twitter" sounds ludicrous - who's going to rely on one social networking channel for sourcing?  To answer Joel's question, tracking non-applicants is usually done via a CRM database.  It allows you to store fields such as date sourced, URL, search string/method used, and how the prospect was dispositioned.  Having all this data on each person's CRM record is required, but to survive an audit, you'll also need to show you: 1) were consistent (wide range of methods used, how candidates were processed, etc.) and 2) acted on the data collected.  A major retailer suffered from this in a class action suit when it was shown they had plenty of data about how much they sourced from one protected class, but the hiring % from that protected class wasn't even close to the sourced %.

    • 1 point 37 days ago

      Here is a link to Dr. Grant's whitepaper on Social Media and recruiting. http://www.iowaabi.org/documents/filelibrary/events/social_media/Social_Networks_Employment_Law_eBoo_C3A386C1048E1.pdf

      Good stuff here for sure.  I am not aware of the book but, I am interested.  I took a quick look for it.  Please share where to find it if you don't mind.

      I have nothign against social recruiting - much to the contrary. I agree with Stephanie; there will likely only be some lawsuits here and there but, with the gov't scrutinizing employers and regulating EEOC more aggressively, there needs to be a way to track this information as more of us are going to be audited.  I am looking for information, suggestions, comments, etc on how companies are tracking this information.

       

       

    • 1 point 34 days ago

      Joel, I just posted the link I knew about but when I clicked on your link, it is the same ebook that I am referring to in my previous post. :-)

    • 1 point 37 days ago

      Based on Fay's article, if the internet is such an issue then it should be disciminatory to use monster or careerbuilder as well. Both of those are internet based. All application processes are online now as well. I don't know any company that still accepts paper resumes as an only means for an application process. I agree that everyone needs to apply the same rules and regulations to social networking and yes the primary issue here is the fact that we don't have any way to track it, outside of logging our sourcing efforts ourselves. But I don't foresee a major dump of law suits stemming just from someone hiring from a social media outlet. The law suits, if any, will come from companies mis-using the internet sources to discriminate based on what they find on the internet or who they search verses who they don't, so in that case NOT hiring someone because they are using social media. (Involving desperate treatment and desparate impact).

      Lisa D. Grant Harpe, Ph.D. from the Peopleclick Research Institute put together an ebook "Social Media and Employment Law". I highly recommend anyone taking a look at that book. It is a great source to reference when using social networks and to help anyone avoid potential legal issues.