Client Alert - Employment Law Update
Illinois Amends Law Banning Employers from Requesting Facebook, Twitter, or Other Social Media Passwords
Effective January 1, 2014, an employer may now obtain log-in information for professional social networking accounts.
Under the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act (the Act) described in an earlier Client Alert, employers were not permitted "to request or require any employee or prospective employee to provide any password or other related account information in order to gain access to the employee's or prospective employee’s account or profile on a social networking website or to demand access in any manner to an employee's or prospective employee’s account or profile on a social networking website."
However, the Act has now been amended to allow employers to request such information if the password, account, or information sought by the employer is related to a professional, and not a personal account. As such, the previous restrictions do not apply to an employer's duty to monitor or retain professionally-related employee communications, or to screen prospective employees as required by Illinois insurance laws or federal law.
A professional account is defined as "an account, service, or profile created, maintained, used, or accessed by a current or prospective employee for business purposes of the employer." In contrast, a personal account is a social networking account, service, or profile used by a current or prospective employee for exclusively personal matters unrelated to any business purpose of an employer.
If you have any questions about how this legislative enactment will affect your business or have questions about your employment policies and practices in general, please contact Mr. Gonzalez at 312-558-9779 or at egonzalez@elvisgonzalezltd.com.