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By now, we’ve all heard the cautionary tales about posting unsavory photos or explosive rants online because they could come back to hurt you — professionally as well as personally.

And with good reason: Companies are increasingly using the Internet to vet potential employees and check up on existing ones. Fifty-five percent of respondents to a 2009 CareerBuilders survey said they used social media in the recruiting process, up from 22 percent in 2008. And Time magazine recently reported that 70 percent of U.S. human resources officers said they rejected job applicants for inappropriate material in online social networking profiles.

But companies need to use some degree of caution. The Internet gives employers a much better view into the private lives of workers but that doesn’t mean they can use all of what they find without impunity.

“All it takes to dig up information is a Google search. And virtually all employers are at least using Google. Recruiters use electronic bulletin boards and social networking sites, too. But all of this can potentially raise legal issues,” said Martha J. Zackin, of counsel at Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC.

This might come as a surprise to some employers, Zackin and others said, as some managers are more informed than others about the potential limits regarding their use of what they find online. Some managers have been better educated on the subtleties, nuances and areas of gray than others, Zackin said.

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Boston Business Journal - by Mary K. Pratt Special to the Journal

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