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19 November 2018
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Story Charlene Stanley
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Photo Charlene Stanley
“Don’t say anything online that you wouldn’t want plastered on a billboard with your face on it.”
This famous quote by international tech expert Erin Bury should be a guiding light when it comes to online habits in the workplace, according to Francois Cilliers, UFS Lecturer in Mercantile Law.
In his presentation Could Social Media be the Gateway to Employment Discrimination? he warned that employees have a responsibility not to bring their employers in disrepute through their comments on social media.
“Posts, updates, tweets, and comments are considered to be publications and can therefore never be seen as privileged information,” he explained.
Responsibility on employees and employers alike
He pointed out that employers also had a responsibility regarding the way in which they use the information about prospective employees obtained via social media.
“Nowadays, approximately 75% of companies hire through social media. In the US, recruiting companies spend hours researching candidates, making full use of what they can find on social media. It was found that 50–80% of employers frowned upon posts and pictures featuring drug and alcohol abuse, profanity, and bad grammar.”
He warned that employers needed to tread lightly, as a decision not to employ someone as a result of information on the prospective employee’s political views and sexual orientation could constitute unfair discrimination as set out in the Employment Equity Act.
“An employer who wishes to use a screening process (utilising social media) has to prove that the information and the process is objectively necessary and can be justified with reference to the inherent requirements of the job,” he explained.
“As technology and electronic systems advance, so too should the applicable labour laws.”
Cilliers’ presentation formed part of the Fifth Annual International Mercantile Law Conference recently hosted by the Faculty of Law on the Bloemfontein Campus.
Incorporating new technology in teaching and research
“This conference is an opportunity to share ideas on best practice in what is perceived as a ‘difficult’ field within Law,” said Prof John Mubangizi, Dean of the Faculty of Law, as he opened the proceedings. Topics in the discussion sessions ranged from Racism in the workplace and The underrepresentation of females in the judiciary, to Decriminalisation of cannabis: A recipe for healthy employer-employee relations?
“Conferences such as these help us to take advantage of the newest developments in technology to advance our teaching and research,” said Prof Mubangizi.
“To quote Einstein: ‘We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.’”
British Columbia University staff visit the UFS
2010-02-09
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Standing, from the left, are: Dr Dewald Steyn (Internal Medicine), Lyndsay O'Hara (UBC), Justin Lo Chang (UBC), Prof. Christo Heunis (Acting Director: Centre for Health Systems Research and Development), Prof. Lucius Botes (Dean: Faculty of Humanities), Dr Katinka de Wet (CHSR&D) and Dr Annie de la Querra (Registrar: Community Medicine).
Photo: Mangaliso Radebe |
Representatives from the Centre for International Health at the University of British Columbia (UBC) recently visited the Centre for Health Systems Research and Development (CHSR&D) in the Faculty of the Humanities. The University of the Free State and the UBC are working together on two research projects. The first project, for which funding has been approved, will measure a new Health Information System that is used in hospitals. The Department of Computer Science and Informatics is also part of this project. The second project will be aimed at capacity building in the Free State health-care sector around issues of occupational health. For this project the CHSR&D will work in close cooperation with the Faculty of Medicine, the Department of Computer Science and Informatics, the Free State Department of Health, and various hospitals. Pictured seated, from the left, are: Prof. Jerry Spiegel (Director: Centre for International Health, UBC), Lucky Nophale (Provincial Occupational Health Unit), Dr Kerry Uebel (Free State Department of Health) and Prof. Annalee Yassi (UBC). Standing, from the left, are: Dr Dewald Steyn (Internal Medicine), Lyndsay O'Hara (UBC), Justin Lo Chang (UBC), Prof. Christo Heunis (Acting Director: Centre for Health Systems Research and Development), Prof. Lucius Botes (Dean: Faculty of Humanities), Dr Katinka de Wet (CHSR&D) and Dr Annie de la Querra (Registrar: Community Medicine).