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Beginning next year, it will be illegal for employers in Oregon to require job applicants or employees to establish and maintain personal social media accounts.

The bill, which amended a state law that bans employers from accessing the personal social media accounts of job applicants and employees, was signed into law last month. Its scope is extremely limited—the amendment contemplates only those social media accounts used “exclusively” for personal purposes—and other states have, so far, not followed Oregon’s lead. So, as a practical matter, it seems unlikely that the law will have wide impact.

Still, as businesses routinely use social media to interact with customers, employees, and the public, Oregon’s law offers an opportunity to review what employers can, and can’t, do legally. I recently discussed these issues with Wendy Stryker, an employment lawyer with Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz in New York.

Adriana Gardella: Outside Oregon, can employers refuse to hire someone because they don’t have a personal social media account—or fire them if they refuse to set up or maintain one?

Wendy Stryker SYK +0.52%: Generally speaking, yes. Most states follow some form of at-will employment, which means employers can fire or refuse to hire someone for any reason or no reason—as long as the reason isn’t illegal, like whistleblowing or discrimination. While there could, conceivably, be circumstances where the lack of a personal social media account is a stand-in for membership in a protected class, for example members of a certain race or age group, it would more likely indicate a lack of a particular set of work skills or experience.

Gardella: Can you give an example?

Stryker: If your job requires you to be the administrator of your company’s Facebook page, you need to have a Facebook account. If you don’t, it could possibly mean you don’t have the skills of inclination to do the job. It’s also worth noting that, requiring someone to have a personal account is not the same as requiring them to use it.

Gardella: What types of laws have other states passed regarding employees’ social media accounts?

Source: forbes

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