HR World 11/13

You’ve got a vacancy to fill and think you’ve found the perfect candidate: professional, experienced and qualified. Then you look them up on Facebook, find a picture of them dancing naked on a table in a Las Vegas strip club and it’s back to the drawing board.

There’s no doubt that researching job applicants via their social media accounts can give employers a unique insight into what their potential hires are really like – but the practice could soon be banned Down Under due to privacy concerns, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

According to the Australian Law Reform Commission, which is currently investigating whether new laws are needed to protect people from serious invasions of privacy, demanding access to candidates’ Facebook pages and other social media accounts is ‘an area of growing concern’.

In the US, 13 states have already banned employers from asking applicants for their social media passwords, and more are considering legislation.

Nearly two in five companies (39 per cent) currently use social networking sites to assess job seekers, according to a survey by CareerBuilder, while 43 per cent of hiring managers who carry out this kind of research say they’ve found information leading them to reject a candidate.

The top social media gaffes include posting inappropriate photos or information; revelations about drinking or drug use; bad-mouthing previous employers; showing poor communication skills; making discriminatory remarks; and lying about qualifications.

Worker calls cops to report theft… of his strawberry jelly

A hungry employee in the US was so frustrated when his break-time snack went missing from his workplace refrigerator that he called the police.

The theft of the strawberry-flavoured Jell-O dessert took place at Wakefern Food Corporation warehouse in Beinigsville, Pennsylvania, according to public document website The Smoking Gun. As if the crime was not already shocking enough, the 39-year-old victim told officers from Upper Macungie Township Police Department that this was not the first time a sticky-fingered colleague had lifted food from the fridge.

A police spokesperson said the incident remained under ‘open investigation’ and we’re sure they’ll be doing everything they can to bring the perpetrator to justice… or maybe not.

Payout for police officer who pepper-sprayed protestors

A policeman who pepper-sprayed peaceful protestors in California has been awarded more than $38,000 in workers’ compensation for psychiatric suffering – more than any of his victims received in a lawsuit settlement, according to local newspaper The Davis Enterprise.

The incident took place on 18 November 2011 at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), during a protest against tuition fee rises. A video, which went viral, shows police pepper-spraying unresisting students and alumni at close range.

Campus police officer Lt. John Pike, who was eventually fired for his part in the proceedings, claimed compensation from the University of California for depression and anxiety caused by the deluge of angry and threatening messages he received following the incident.

Last year, UC Davis settled a civil lawsuit by agreeing to pay $30,000 each to 21 protestors who had been pepper-sprayed or arrested – more than $8,000 less than the payout received by Pike.

Davis lawyer Bernie Goldsmith told The Davis Enterprise that the settlement “sends a clear message to the next officer nervously facing off with a group of passive, unarmed students: Go on ahead. Brutalise them. Trample their rights. You will be well taken care of.”

However, UC Davis spokesperson Andy Fell said that the case had been “resolved in accordance with state law and processes on workers’ compensation.”

Would I lie to you? Here’s how to tell

Lying at work is commonplace, but while a bit of social fibbing may actually benefit an organisation, some lies can be extremely destructive – as many of those who have signed a dodgy contract, negotiated a dud deal or hired a dishonest candidate know only too well.

But according to American body language expert Dr Carol Kinsey Gorman, it is possible to beat the liars at their own game. In her latest book, The Truth About Lies in the Workplace: How to Spot Liars and What to Do about Them, Gorman identifies the most destructive kinds of deception – from blatant falsehoods to exaggeration and malicious gossip – and outlines 50 physical and vocal clues to help you spot that someone is lying.

One of Gorman’s top tips is to look for stress responses, such as freezing mid-activity or using pacifying gestures like rubbing hands together or fiddling with jewellery. Eye signals are another giveaway. Look for dilating pupils and changes in blink rate: blinking slows down when someone is telling a lie, then speeds up as much as eight times afterwards.

About the author

Rhianon Howells

The former editor of a leading trade magazine, Rhianon Howells has extensive experience of writing for both business and consumer titles, including The Guardian. In addition to writing about HR, she specialises in health, fitness, leisure and hospitality.