I would love to be able to tell my clients that the Internet and social media has created a very complex set of legal issues that requires them to hire me in order to help develop all new handbook policies, change the way they conduct background checks on applicants, and monitor their employees. However, unfortunately
Employers Requiring Employees To Provide Facebook Passwords
There are 
more reports of employers requiring applicants and employees to provide their passwords to their Facebook pages so that the employers can get a more accurate view of the employee’s character. I wrote about this issue a couple of years ago regarding the City of Bozeman requiring passwords from applicants. Apart from being
Top iPad Apps For Human Resources
Apple is announcing the iPad 3 today, and given that it’s probably going to dominate the news cycle, I decided I should join in the hype. Don’t get me wrong, the iPad is great, and I use mine very day. People use iPads to fly airplanes, play instruments, avoid getting lost by using
Use of Ships To Skirt California Laws?
The Wall Street Journal is reporting about the plans of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs who would 
like to anchor a ship 12 miles off the San Francisco coast in order to skirt U.S. Immigration laws. They project that the ships could hold 1,000 people at a cost for a room roughly equivalent (if not cheaper) to an
Oral Arguments In Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court
What can I say, technology is awesome. The oral arguments in Brinker v. Superior Court that took place on November 8 are already on Youtube:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=IJBnSaUt0_M%3Frel%3D0
The Supreme Court has 90 days from oral argument to issue its decision.
Is The Jury Still Out On Social Media Background Checks?
Mat Honan at Gizmodo wrote recently about a new company that helps employers search applicant’s “internet background” to assist in the hiring process. As Mat rightly points out, much of the concern over this “new technology” is overblown, and as he puts it, "[e]mployers would have to be stupid not to Google job candidates."
UFC’s Social Networking Policy – Something All Employers Should Consider
I like the UFC’s approach to social media, but is this a model a lot of employers could use in their workplace? Absolutely. Unless you find yourself with the few who are still wondering what Twitter is, it is obvious that social networking is here to stay and companies need to figure out a way
New Law Makes It Illegal To Impersonate Others On Social Networking Sites
Among the seven hundred or so new laws that took effect on January 1, 2011 is SB 1411 that makes it a misdemeanor for anyone to impersonate another on the internet “for the purposes of harming, intimidating, threatening, or defrauding another person.” The bill, which was signed into law by Governor Schwarzenegger, adds section 528.5
Waitress fired for Facebook post
This week the internet is buzzing about a waitress who was fired for making disparaging comments on Facebook about a customer. It was inevitable, and if employers have not realized it yet, this story should bring the point home that social networking is yet another issue employers need to take a proactive step in
Understanding Privacy Settings For Facebook
Yes, you are still reading the California Employment Law Report and not a tech blog. But since social networking, privacy and how these issues are permeating the workplace, I wanted to pass this New York Times article along to readers that describes all of the different privacy settings in Facebook.
If you think employers are