Dan Schwartz said getting access to accounts would make sense if an employee was under an investigation.
Should employers be able to get access to a worker's personal email or their social media account? That's the question at the center of a legislative proposal being discussed in Hartford, which begs the bigger question: do any employers actually do this?
The bill would make it illegal for employers to force workers or job applicants to share passwords to their personal online accounts.
It's an issue that's come up in other states like Montana and California, but in Connecticut, "we really haven't heard of this being done," said Dan Schwartz, a lawyer and author of the Connecticut Employment Law Blog. "I think, as a practical matter most employers avoid that. There's not a good business reason typically for violating your employee's privacy."
Schwartz said getting access to these accounts would make sense if an employee was under an investigation -- and the proposed law actually carves out an exception for that.
"But there may be other reasons why an employer would want this," Schwartz said. "Some are just curiosity. They want to know as much information about their applicants as possible and some think that information on the social media web sites, particularly those behind any privacy settings, may be helpful."
"We've heard of this happening, actually, maybe one time," said Eric Gjede, with the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. That said, he'd rather stop a problem before it starts. "Because of the prevalence of social media it's good to set those boundaries," he said.
Both the Connecticut Business and Industry Association and the state ACLU support the bill.
In testimony provided to the Labor and Public Relations Committee, David McGuire, staff attorney at the state ACLU, wrote: "Our office has been contacted by a person applying for a public safety job in Connecticut. The applicant was told he would be denied employment if he did not give his social media password."
The ACLU didn't specify if their office had been contacted by other employees or job applicants on this issue.
Schwartz said he thinks most employers can get whatever information they need through a normal vetting process, but said he's concerned one more rule could muddy the already really opaque field of employment law.
"I think in this instance, the legislation that's being proposed is a solution in search of a problem," Schwartz said. "Many of the ideas that it is trying to encapsulate are probably covered in some other areas. I worry about creating another layer of laws in an area that is filled with lots and lots of particulars."
