TRENTON — The days of employers forcing workers to grant them access to their Facebook accounts may be numbered.
The state Senate today passed a bill (A2878) that would fine companies $1,000 if they request or demand access to workers’ or potential employees’ accounts on social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.
Workers would also get the option to sue for money lost if they fail to get hired or lost their jobs or promotions because of the employer’s prying. Companies that violate the law a second time would face a $2,500 fine. Only law enforcement agencies would be exempt.
“…I have been reading more and more about how businesses and corporations, and schools as a matter of fact, are requiring your facebook information,” said Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), a sponsor of the bipartisan measure. “They’re not entitled to that. You’re entitled to some privacy.”
Maryland and Illinois both have recently enacted laws on the books that apply to employers.
“It is illegal to invade someone’s house for personal properties and open another person’s mail. So, what gives an employer the right to forcibly access such a broad scope of personal information against an applicant’s will?” said another sponsor, state Sen. Diane Allen (R-Burlington).
The Senate also passed a bill (A2879) that would ban colleges and universities from requiring prospective and current students to turn over their usernames and passwords. The students could sue, but the bill does not include a fine against the colleges.
While both bills passed in 38-0 votes, they have their critics.
Stefanie Riehl, assistant vice president for the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, said her organization does not oppose banning employers from requiring employees to give up their usernames and passwords. But she said the bill is too vague and should not allow employees to sue.
“Even if a claim against an employer is without merit and the employer has done nothing wrong, they’re still going to have to spend time and money defending against it,” she said.
Riehl said the bill’s language is so broad that simply asking someone an employer is interviewing for a position about their social media experience could lead to a violation.
“If I’m interviewing someone right out of college because I have, say, an entry level PR or marketing job, and ask ‘What experience do you have with social media?’ it could come up that the person has a personal account, and that could be asking,” she said.
Christopher Mills, a labor attorney, said the legislation is essentially “fixing a problem that doesn’t exist.”
While employers may occasionally ask employees for their social networking information, he said the practice is far from widespread and usually frowned upon in the business community.
“Most attorneys who represent sophisticated employers and are talking about what their clients are doing are saying they’re not doing this,” said Mills, who said he advises his own clients against it. “I couldn’t speak for the extraordinarily unsophisticated small employer, because those are the folks who typically don’t consult lawyers before they do something.”
Sweeney, however, said the bill is worth passing even if the practice is uncommon.
“If it’s one person, it’s one person too much,” he said.
The bill that applies to college students advances to Gov. Chris Christie, while the one that applies to employers needs a another Assembly vote because it was changed slightly since the lower house first passed it.
To read more, visit: http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/10/senate_bills_bans_employers_fr.html
