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Does a company have the right to monitor whether their employees are job-seeking?
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Does a company have the right to monitor whether their employees are job-seeking?

My husband posted a resume on Monster and the very next day the VP came out to meet with him. He said that HR had called to his attention this resume posting and he asked my husband to not quit and please stay. Since then the VP has shown up to meet with a couple other employees and my husband wonders if they also posted their resume on Monster. Employment is at-will, does a company have a right to monitor whether their employees post their resumes online? It spooked my husband that they would do such a thing. My husband posted the resume at home so it wasn't done on company time or with a company computer.


    




Soula3
Rating
HR has access to monster to look for candidates..they can also search to see if anyone has posted their resumes online.

all they have to do is a keyword search for his company. alot of companies have found out that people are looking.

you can block your company from viewing your resume if you set it up that way.


TyranusXX
Well they have a right to view the website as much as any company does...why would they be restricted from viewing the website?


saved_by_grace
Sure they can. It is public record if someone post a resume to a company online.


Barry C
of course they "have the right" - they are using monster to look for employees, and your husband came up in a search because he is qualified.

the only solution is for the company to not look for new hires on line, but if they did that then your husband would get no value from posting his resume would he?

edit - I jsut read the posts above me - very enlighteneing as tro what people think about this - not nearly as common sense as I would have guessed!

as a hiring manager I will keep that in mind that there are lots of folks who don't understand the process at all, even when using such a site.

I once did some consulting for simplyhired, but I had no idea about this!


Skimmy
Rating
They have every right to monitor public documents. That was irresponsible of your husband to apply in such a manner.


Pfo
Rating
Yes, they have a right to do this and I would argue they have a responsibility to keep employees happy, therefore they should know if one is planning on leaving. When an employee leaves a company, it can hurt that company. My dad lost his job once for posting his resume on monster, simply for entertaining the notion of leaving.


Docar
Rating
If HR is looking to hire people and see your husbands resume on the internet this is not monitoring. You husband, by posting his resume in the "public realm'' has allowed anyone to see it. Including his present employer.


Cat Loves Her Sabres
I think if he posted his resume then it's publicly available information. If the company chooses to search for its own employees' postings within that publicly available information, there's nothing that can be done about it.


zanthus300
Rating
Companies look at resumes all the time. Monster is a public place...Your husband was kind of foolish to post a resume with his NAME.....don't you think!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Completely stupid actually. The VP just did a search for some criteria, and bingo, your husband pops right up!!!


I_Have_all_the_answers...
Yes they can, and most large corporations do that..


PoohBearPenguin
Rating
Monster has an option that attempts to hide your resume from your current employer. I don't know how well it works, though. It might block the HR guy from finding your husband's resume while looking for recruits on behalf of the company, but if he's just browsing for specific names, all bets are off.

That said, posting a resume on Monster is the same as posting a blog entry, a comment here, or creating a MySpace site. It's now public information, and therefore available for anyone to find.

From the company's point of view, they're just trying to retain talented employees. Your husband has done nothing wrong by posting the resume from his personal machine and not during work hours. Just remember - At Will employment works both ways. The company could have just asked your husband to leave, arguing that if he's posting resumes, he's already planning to leave anyway.


iiidontknowdoyou
Rating
Well your husband posted his resume on a public site, so ANYONE can see it, including other people that work where he does. So, yes, what the VP did, he had every right to do. Doesn't mean they were monitoring him, they could have been on there looking for employees and just happened to see your husband on there!


aabc44
Rating
I wouldn't call it a right, but if HR accidentally (or intentionally) stumble upon an employee's resume, definitely they shouldn't talk them into staying (or fire them).
What an employee does in his free time and with his career is non of the employer's business. Especially when it's at-will employment.
Some of us just like to test the waters and see how marketable we are every once in while. Doesn't necessarily mean that we'll quir and get another job.
But I would see your husband's situation as flattering (asking him not to leave).


dynam1c
Rating
YES...the way you have described it is completely allowed...now they are not allowed to invade your privacy or require you to tell them if your looking however if you post a resume in public domain it is public information...any company include your husband's can search for employees on Monster...and if i saw a number of people in my own company...especially if they are critical assets i would certainly talk to them to see if i could retain the employee i need. FYI if you want your information more private you should search for a reputable job hunting firm...Head hunters do a great job of finding employment opportunities and since their doing the search for you...your name's not out there except in place you'd like them to send it. just food for thought


wendy c
Rating
Your HUSBAND is not being monitored. They are not wiretapping his phone, or hacking into his at-home computer or email.
There is nothing creepy or unethical in your husband's company to be looking at public websites, for any reason at all. They happened to see his resume.. did he not post it for persons to see? It would be completely different, if your husband had privately emailed his resume to another company, and they "got ahold" of it.
I am sure many companies have automatic "scans" for employment sites, that will pick up persons who are qualified for their needs and in your area. They were not looking for your husband.. he just happened to come up, and they recognized it.
Sorry, your use of the idea "being monitored" does not fit the facts.


Rachel *
ethically, i would think not. it IS pretty creepy though. is it possible that the company was looking to hire, and was looking for certain qualifications, and just happened to stumble across his resume? it seems like he's valued. maybe that's the case. if they fired him cuz he had a resume on there, that'd be serious.
also, tell your husband to consider putting a different contact number and email and stuff that his company doesn't have to avoid being spotted easily. i mean, if he doesn't have a REALLY distinctive name, i highly doubt their going to comb through resumes.
hope i could help....


Tundra21999
Rating
they can monitor if you want to call it that..You have a right to seek better employment..Just not on Company time or equipment


Ryker
Rating
Only if they are doing it on their present employer's time. if it were to happen to me I would want to know why my employee had itchy feet.


Dana L
working hr are there are search engines available to you. i fhis company is also searching for employees they may have come across him as a canaidate.. it all depends on the mission statement you signed once your employment began


Sophie H
Rating
yes. i believe so.
this is not my opinion but..
if you are currently working for a person or company,
they have the right to know that you are looking for another job.
OR a "replacement" job if you are unhappy working for your company.

hope this helped.


AJ
Rating
It wasn't done on company time or with a company computer, but it was posted publically on the internet. They are just looking out for the company using public information. There's nothing against it, even though it is a bit creepy.

Tell your husband not to post job seeking information publically if he doesn't want anyone - including his current company - to know. He should be targeting specific companies and applying directly to them anyways, not putting it all out there in the public eye.


Joseph T
If you post your resume online, companies will see it, which may include your husband's current employer.

It is really tough to apply online when you do it covertly so your boss will not know your activity. The best way is to contact your prospect directly, but this is not always guaranteed to work when it comes to getting a chance of being noticed. Next alternative is to do it old ways: use newspaper classified ads.


BELLE
Rating
never heard of such a thing happening


tickled blue
Absolutely the do. You are posting resumes online during their work time and even if on break, you are still using their comupters/internet service to post resumes.


RAJA RATNA SEKHAR
Rating
Dear,
Now a days all the company haveing interconcted with eachother because of safety. For example finace instutions haveing civil line for check the crditer eleblitey like the have lines with others now days this is not avoitable .company have a right to monit their employees.but with imformation we can move anywhere.
Thanks.


nursebekki82
Rating
It's ethically wrong, but what the boss did wasn't legally wrong.


Elizabeth
no ideed


uivlis_89
no


James L
Rating
i do not belive so


sleepy but can't sleep
Rating
if you are using their computers yes





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