Fcra-compliant Social Media Background Checks

Social Media Check – FCRA Compliant

Social media background investigations should be used prior to hiring an applicant and throughout the course of employment. It is vital to protect your reputation, workplace safety and information security. With a combination of software automation and experienced social media analysts, we can identify a candidate’s potentially problematic online activity and provide you with an FCRA Compliant report to use in your hiring decisions.

Social Media Hiring Reports – (To request a social media hiring report, click Here.)

Why is a social media hiring report important? (Social media check/FCRA Compliant) A social media hiring report can protect and manage your company’s reputation and mitigate risk by enhancing workplace safety and your company’s information security.

Statistics show that social media checks as part of the background investigation process are becoming a more common approach in the business environment. For example, 70% of employers use social media to screen candidates, 51% of employers use social media sites to research current employees, and 34% of employers have found content online that caused them to reprimand or fire an employee.

Social media background investigations should be used prior to hiring an applicant and throughout the course of employment.  It is vital to protect your reputation, workplace safety and information security. With a combination of software automation and experienced social media analysts, we can identify a candidate’s potentially problematic online activity and provide you with an FCRA-compliant report to use in your hiring decisions.

Problematic Behavior Revealed

Sample Social Media Hiring Reports:

Offensive Content Disclaimer: Some may find these fictional examples to be explicit and/or generally offensive. The purpose of these examples is to demonstrate the type of content that may be flagged in a Social Media Hiring Report. 

Click Link Below to View:

• Hudson Doe: Flagged Content – Intolerance/Violence
• Tina Doe: Flagged Content – Illicit Drugs/Underage Drinking/Violence
• Peter Doe: Flagged Content – Intolerance/Marijuana

Although you may think you know who works for you or are confident about your job candidate, there have been numerous instances of workplace violence that could have been thwarted had someone bothered to look at the threats and weapons they posted to their social media account. Ongoing social media investigations can mitigate risk and reduce the likelihood of costly post-incident litigation.

To a lesser extreme, even posts exhibiting racial discrimination, hate speech, sexually explicit material, illegal activity, or disparaging remarks about the employer should not be tolerated. It is the employers’ job to keep employees safe from extremist views that could be offensive or even dangerous.  Not only do social media investigations protect employees, but it can also help protect the employer from EEOC discrimination claims based on protected status including retaliation, race (including harassment) sex (including pregnancy-related discrimination and sexual harassment), disability, age, national origin, religion and color.

How to conduct social media investigations legally?

Only launch social media investigations after proper consent forms are obtained and personally identifiable information is established. Proprietary software is used to find user-generated information posted on accounts and profiles. Human analysts confirm accuracy of identity and review for red flag behavior. Any federal or state protected class information is redacted in compliance with HR laws. The reports can only be used for permissible employment purposes as defined by the FCRA and notices that comply with the FCRA and state law must be provided to the employee or applicant if adverse action will be taken.

For more information about FCRA-Compliant Social Media Checks, email sales@allianceriskgroup.com or call 800-579-2911.

Why Choose Alliance Risk Group for your Background Investigations?

The Alliance Risk Group Background Investigation team are FCRA compliance experts. We inspire confidence by providing actionable intelligence, detailed timely communication and on-time performance. Alliance Risk Group is a SHRM Recertification Provider recognized to offer Professional Development Credits (PDCs) for the SHRM-CP® or SHRM-SCP®. Mario Pecoraro is a thought-leader, author of two books and has published many articles and blogs. He is an industry expert who has been featured in national print and broadcast media. Learn more here: https://allianceriskgroup.com/about-2/thought-leadership/