Employers collect so much data about the people that they hire, promote, and terminate — and yet, in many cases, we don’t get to see it. (States do have different laws, but there’s nothing on a federal level to my knowledge)
I was on the hiring side in the past, and I remember seeing notes from other department managers about each employee about everything from their qualifications to their interviewing style. Most times, it was professional — but other times, it was basically just a bunch of gossipy jerks looking for any reason to tear someone down behind their back. And the worst part is that the subjects behind these conversations are unaware; most times, all they get is a, “Thank you for your time, we have decided to move forward with another candidate” email.
Employers and HR personnel talk openly about internet stalking their candidates — from Facebook hunting to Google searching — and yet, we’re okay with this? We’re also okay with employers using chart metrics to determine hiring decisions while we don’t get to see where we line up on those charts? (Well, I know most people on this sub aren’t — but society in general seems to be meh about it)
I really don’t get it. We have so many laws in place to protect consumer data, and many more that are in the process of being passed. CCPA guidelines allow customers of California to have their data deleted on demand, but would-be employers can still see my shitty entry-level resume from 10 years ago. I also don’t get to see the letters of reference or recommendation that were written about me in many instances.
If someone used my social media platforms to decide not to move forward with me as a candidate, I want to know. If someone made a pros and cons list about me and stacked me against another candidate, I want to know. If someone decided to not hire me based on a past comment from a prior hiring manager, I also want to know. Maybe if we demanded more transparency, employers would stop treating their candidates as data points and replaceable commodities.
Personally, I don’t know a single person that has lived in a state with HR personnel transparency laws and taken advantage of it — but maybe we should be if we can? Maybe if more people requested their data, it would make employers think twice about how they acquired it. If it were up to me though, I’d want laws that A) made it commonplace for employees and candidates to access their personnel data, including letters of reference, B) made it difficult for employers to delete said data if employees asked for it (e.g., if someone leaves a note about a candidate smelling, they couldn’t just pretend it never happened if said candidate asked to see their file), C) allowed people to have certain personal records about themselves removed (I know this contradicts points B a bit, but it essentially puts the power of deletion in the person’s hands and not the employer), and D) required the automatic expungement of personnel data after a certain amount of time.