Special thanks to co-authors, Brad Newman and Julia Wilson.

Amid recent hype around ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (AI), many are eager to harness the technology’s increasingly sophisticated potential.

However, findings from Baker McKenzie’s 2022 North America AI survey indicate that business leaders may currently underappreciate AI-related risks to their organization. Only 4% of

As layoffs hit the headlines in the post-pandemic world it raises the question as to what is next when it comes to managing work forces. In this episode of TMT Talk, Susan EandiKim Sartin and Jonathan Isaacs discuss key factors of workforce reduction, developing restructuring plans, cost-cutting measures to consider and opportunistic hiring

With special thanks to our data privacy colleagues Jonathan Tam and Helena Engfeldt for their contributions.

It’s increasingly common for employers to use social media during the hiring process. The temptation is obvious — there’s a wealth of potentially useful information about applicants available online. It’s not unreasonable to wish to use social media to understand a prospective employee’s professional qualifications and skills to determine whether they fit with the criteria for the position. It’s no wonder that a recent survey from The Harris Poll finds that seventy-one percent of US hiring decision-makers agree that looking at candidates’ social media profiles is an effective way to screen applicants. Furthermore, 70% believe employers should screen all applicants’ social media profiles, while the majority (67%) say they use social networking sites to research potential job candidates.

Despite the potential benefits, this sleuthing causes significant heart burn for employment and privacy lawyers and HR professionals. While social media can be a fruitful way to find and recruit candidates, a minefield of legal risks appear when companies use social media during the screening process.

Potential Risks

  • Discrimination! Federal, state and local anti-discrimination laws prohibit discrimination in hiring based on a prospective employee’s protected class. The danger of researching applicants using social media is that you may become aware that the applicant belongs to a protected category – something that through the general application process you otherwise would be unaware of. And, you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. If a recruiter or hiring manager has accessed this data, it is difficult to prove that they were not influenced by it in their hiring decision.

Continue Reading Guardrails For Using Social Media During The Hiring Process

On October 12, 2017, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a landmark new law barring California employers — and their agents — from inquiring about applicants’ previous salaries and benefits.

The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2018.

Here are 3 steps to take now to prepare:

  1. Remove all salary questions from hiring forms (including

Do your job applications ask applicants about their criminal history? If so, you could be violating various state laws that prevent employers from inquiring into applicants’ criminal history at the initial stages of the hiring process.

These laws, commonly referred to as “ban-the-box” laws, have recently seen a rapid increase in support across the United States. The increase is largely attributable to the grassroots efforts of numerous organizations that aim to remove hiring barriers for individuals with criminal records. Employers who are caught unaware, or do not comply with these laws, risk exposure to fines and penalties, and being a target for individual and class-action lawsuits.Continue Reading Asking Applicants About Criminal History—What You Need to Know