Please advise on the use of social media e.g. Facebook in relation to recruitment and in relation to dismissal where a staff member is making inappropriate comments about the organisation/ specific personnel.

In relation to recruitment, there is no formal legal provision preventing an employer from looking at any publicly available material before offering an individual a job, including social media.

However, employers should weigh the benefit of obtaining any information from these sites against its aim of conducting and carrying out a systematic, fair and objective recruitment and selection procedure. For instance, if you find information on these sites which makes you want to reject a candidate, consider how this fits with your fair and objective procedure.

Remember also that you should avoid considering information, which could be discriminatory, during the recruitment and selection process.