KPA Blog

Posts Tagged ‘social media’

Unionized or Not, NLRB Rules Apply to Dealerships

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

On 8/25/11, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued the final rule that requires nearly all private-sector employers to post a notice notifying employees of their rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).  Agricultural, railroad, airline employers and the U.S. Postal Service are exempt at this time but auto, truck and equipment dealers must post the notice.  The deadline for posting the notice is November 14, 2011 however the NLRB hasn’t provided a final version of the required poster at this time although a draft is availalbe at https://www.nlrb.gov/
Remember that many  NLBR rules apply to non-unionized organizations with some exception for “very small business”- you should consult with your attorney or finance advisor to determine if your business is a “very small business”.

The NLRB (National Labor Relations Board) has been very active in 2010.  In May the NLRB issued a complaint against a Chicago area dealership for allegedly illegally firing an employee for critical comments regarding the dealership posted to Facebook. http://www.nlrb.gov/news/chicago-car-dealership-wrongfully-discharged-employee-facebook-posts-complaint-alleges.   Having a social media policy is a good idea, but given the current regulatory climate make sure that the policy has been reviewed and approved by an attorney who is very familiar with the NLRB position on social media usage as a protected activity.

 

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Posted in Employee Relations, HR: Industry Updates, Labor Unions | Leave a Comment »

Approach with caution- using the internet for recruiting

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

Since 75% of HR professionals admit to Googling, Twittering and Facebooking in their quest to find out the dirt on a candidate let’s consider what that really means.

  • Who did you really find? There are several Kathryn Carlsons out there working in HR, you  are going to have to dig a bit to make sure you really have found me.  All the other Kathryns seem very nice by the way but they aren’t me. Plus what you do find on me is nothing I wouldn’t have told you if you asked because I monitor my online profile very, very carefully and I never accept an inviation  to any site unless I know I can count on the person to provide truthful information about me.  Facebook- nothing there I’m ashamed of and you will have to hack in anyway because I only share my Facebook page with family and very good friends.   Want some  insight on who I am- the OPUS assessment I took before being hired at KPA provided more information that then any web search.  A web search only confirms that I have worked in various area of HR for a number of years, published a bit, write a blog on HR issues, and been quoted in some articles.
  • Did your candidate really post that information? I did a Google search yesterday and lo and behold there was a new link with my name – it was me, it was from a article that used some information I had published and it was all good, but I didn’t put it out there.  If it hadn’t been good or truthful I would have taken steps to remove it.
  • Texts, pictures, and videos may have been manipulated before posting or after posting. Not convinced? Call the Department of Agriculture and let them explain how they fired Shirley Sherrod because of a doctored clip and then they had to apologize and offer her a new job  and the President appologized personally and the NAACP apologized and on and on…just because nobody took 10 minutes to research if this was the full text of a speech or a clip used by a blogger for his own purposes.

By the way those Internet searches you are doing in your effort to be a good recruiter/hiring manager? They are bound to reveal information you wish you didn’t have and go to great pains to not collect on an employment application or during the interview…  if you really want to know information about race, religion, disability, sexual preference and where they take vacations and what their pet’s name is…go for it… and then explain why that information never factored in the hiring decision when you are sued for discrimination.

Bottom line- If you use the internet to research information consider it part of the background check and do it after you get a release from the applicant.  Publish a social media policy so employees understand the ground rules and know that you will be checking up.  Stop and think before you use any information you find.

Join the conversation:  Have you Googled yourself lately?

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Posted in HR: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »

75% of HR professionals research candidates online- so what?

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

The recent events around the firing (and then the apology and new job offer) of Shirley Sherrod because of a highly edited blog clip and the excellent and fascinating article in this week’s New York Time magazine that reports “ 75 percent of recruiters and HR professionals research candidates online – from blogs to Twitter to last night’s photos on Facebook. …70 percent say they’ve rejected candidates due to findings…”  has me thinking this has all gone way too far and way to fast.  So what  if 75% of us are playing with our new tools to dig out everything we can find on a candidate-I’m more interested in are we are we being thoughtful in our use.  Don’t get me wrong- I think we need to know lots and lots about those we hire and work with, I spent years in the background checking industry after all- but let’s consider if digging around on a Facebook page is really as good as doing a structured interview face to face.  Does checking out a Twitter feed really gives me insight into how the person does their job or at best give me a sense of could they write haiku?  With privacy controls that can limit information, knowing that what is on the web stays on the web for forever and a day, plus the ability to Google yourself and get ahead of what is out there about you- having bad information out there for recruiters and employers to find is really at best a cognitive ability test.

Join the conversation: Do you use social media to research candidates and check up on employees?

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Posted in HR: Industry Updates | Leave a Comment »