Originally Posted by Xochiquetzal:
Originally Posted by Enthusiastic Contrafibularities:
Originally Posted by Xochiquetzal:
Originally Posted by Enthusiastic Contrafibularities:
Originally Posted by Sprout:
Originally Posted by moonie:
Originally Posted by Saint:
Life ... its a learning experience that can be harsh.
I wish her well and hope this is a wake up call
She will probably be a Commissioner in ten years time 
One hopes that they'll go into her background a bit more than what they appear to have done here then
This begs the question that if at interview you are asked "At any point have you posted remarks on Facebook or Twitter that would be considered inappropriate or prejudiced in a anyway" and you answer no, should the employer be allowed to have access to your account to verify your response?
Otherwise I cannot see how an employer can be any more thorough.
Given the amount of correspondence some people make, I can see why employers would not want to have to make these kinds of searches.
Making a declaration before employment is the usual way these things are done, the penalty if found to be untrue is discipline or dismissal.
Are we expecting the Police to trawl through individuals social network accounts during the employment process?
Frankly, yes. It is done routinely these days in HR departments in many places pre-employment. This was a high-profile appointment and they had a duty of care to ensure she was the right person for the 'job'.
Seriously?, are you telling me HR department now request access to individuals social network accounts to verify that they do not post inappropriate comments?
I do find that hard to believe because as has been said, there are data protection issues. Unless the individual hands over access rights, Facebook for example will not grant access to any UK authority or business. Now I know that to be fact as it is something I learnt just this week.
If the comments are posted in such a way that they're available for public consumption on FB or Twitter, as in this case then yes EC. Those are the checks than can easily be made. I personally know the daughter of a friend of mine who got caught out in this way.
Ah yes, the public comments. But I guess there are those comments just in the private circles too. I still think that the amount of effort that it could take to "screen" potential employees is prohibitive to employers.
If someone makes 20 posts per day, multiplied out that can become a massive amount of information to wade through. That's if they just use say Facebook, but if they use Twitter as well - 
Do you just screen the employee that is the preferred candidate? If so, there could be an added delay to the start date along with the added costs of screening the social network posts. What if they have been making similar comments over emails to friends. Well one might say that they are not in the public domain, but they could be if one of your so called friends decides to leak a few emails !!!
To me, making a declaration pre employment is a reasonable way to do things. This young girl has clearly been stupid and it in some ways goes along with her age and probably her peer group. But she has been found out and is now out of a job. As far as I'm concerned that's the declaration working, her position was untenable. I don't think a big deal should be made of this - we have the right result.
Don't cha love debates Xochi? 
You certainly got my brains working overtime.
I know, I'll get me coat 
