What's your legal liability for LinkedIn recommendations?
Building a professional online resume is always a good way to connect with current and prospective employers. For those looking for employment, showcasing your talents on LinkedIn can be beneficial to your career. But when it comes to recommendations, some companies feel it is best for employees and governance professionals to avoid providing recommendations for people they currently work with – especially on LinkedIn.
Endorsing a person on social networks like LinkedIn can have legal implications and may put your credibility at risk. For example, when an employee or colleague jumps ship, the referral stays on his or her LinkedIn page and endorses that individual’s actions, no matter where he or she may move on to. And this is where the problem lies.
‘A lot of companies have a policy where you don’t give referrals,’ says Nancy Calderon, chief administrative officer and US national partner in charge of operations at KPMG, an audit, tax and advisory service.
Many companies have employees that are prohibited from providing referrals or endorsements of other workers because this can lead to serious reputational risk for the company.
At the recent Global Institute of Women Corporate directors, one of the panels discussed this very issue, the key message included why an employee or a legal professional should not give recommendations:
- It is a violation of the company’s existing policy (social media included)
- Positive referrals can be used by your competitors when employees leave and this can harm your firm’s reputation
- If the employee engages in wrongful behavior and your recommendations are still sitting on his/her LinkedIn page, the media, regulators and others can easily access this information.
If your company does not have a policy about referrals there is no reason why you should not endorse someone you’ve worked closely with over the years. But before you do, however, think about the legal and practical problems that can surface from publicly posted endorsements and recommendations. The safer and more practical thing to do is make recommendations based on facts you personally know about the individual or business. Concentrate on the areas where you have personal knowledge concerning the person’s qualifications.
So what are your thoughts on LinkedIn recommendations?
