Oregon passes social media law
Oregon recently passed a law that will significantly affect hiring processes and employee management. State legislators approved Oregon State Bill (S.B.) 344 on June 3. The law outlaws employers from soliciting social media information from potential hires, current workers and college applicants.
The legislation specified that students cannot be punished or excluded from extracurricular activities if they refuse to hand over their passwords to school administrators. The bill initially began as a worker protection measure, but soon included students as well.
The portion of the bill that focused on hiring practices rules that it is unlawful for employers to request a candidate's "username and password or other means of authentication" associated with social media accounts.
Supervisors may no longer ask for a current or potential employee to add the employer to a contact list on any online forum. The law also bans requests that an employee access their own social media account in front of a supervisor, which previously allowed managers entrance to the accounts without requesting a password.
The bipartisan bill was sponsored by two democrats and two republicans. Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber is expected to sign the bill in the next few weeks.
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