Articles

Gut Concerns and Password Protection
by Dr. Lynne Curry

Question:
We have a sales position open in our firm and several of our clients want us to hire a dear friend of theirs because they want him to handle their account. They think the world of this man. After my partner and I interviewed him, my partner gave him a tentative thumbs up but I had a bad gut feeling. The only way I can explain it is to say I had the same sensation you get when you drink something that initially tastes good but has a bad aftertaste.

I started to call around and discovered that people either really like this guy or won’t answer any questions about him. When I attempted to probe those who hesitated, they asked me to keep confidential their reluctance to say anything. Should I hire this man to make my clients happy and let everyone know it’s tentative? Do I have to keep confidential what I learned from the references? Is intuition a legal reason not to hire someone? I have to decide if it’s worth it to tick off clients when all I have is a gut feeling.

Answer:
When you make a hiring decision and want it to work out well, you need to fully commit to your new employee. After all, you spend time orienting the new employee, give him a key to the office and introduce him to clients and co-workers as one of your team. If you make this commitment harboring serious doubts, you set in motion a queasy employer/employee relationship likely to fail.

When you call individuals to reference check an applicant and they request confidentiality, you need to honor their request. To do anything less, jeopardizes individuals honest enough to help you out. If you feel you may need to say something later to your clients, make enough calls so you can summarize your research to without revealing specific identities. If you make at least ten calls you can say, "You raved about this man and I can see why you like him. Unfortunately, I got mixed results from doing the other reference checks."

According to attorney Joan Rohlf, "There is nothing illegal about using intuition. However, I’ve learned most interviewers develop intuitive hunches based on subtle objective indicators. I’d urge this employer to see if he can uncover what those were."

Attorney Helena Hall agrees with Rohlf. "There is no legal prohibition against intuition. However, if a hiring decision gets legally challenged, an employer needs to present facts along with his hunch. My guess—if this employer keeps checking, he’ll get those facts." In fact, you have -- the reluctance of many to answer questions speaks volumes.

Finally, realize that if you hire this man, you may pay the consequences along with the salary. When you hire someone because someone else expects you to, you substitute their judgment for yours. If you decide you don’t trust this man, don’t hire him. Sometimes you need to do the right thing, even when you can’t explain "why."

Question:
Can my supervisor come into my office, sit down at my computer and try to open documents I’ve password protected? I ask because I can’t afford to buy a computer and I’ve got, like most employees, personal documents on my computer. I work for a nosy supervisor and twice this week I’ve returned early from lunch break and found him at my computer. I’ve looked in my "list files" and can tell he’s tried to open some of my private documents. If I want to keep something safe from him, can I just password protect it? Then, what do I do if he tries to break the password?

Answer:
Password protecting a document you’ve written during work hours on a company computer resembles installing a padlock on your office door or desk drawers. By placing the padlock, you assert a right to privacy. You may not, however, have that right. If your employer saws through the padlock, because you don’t pay the rent on your office nor did you buy the desk, he may be within his rights.

According to attorney Aleta Pillick, the answer to the password question depends on who owns the equipment; whether you developed the document during work or personal time; whether the document contains purely personal or business-related information; and whether your employer has any policy related to your use of business equipment for personal matters. "Generally," says Pillick, "if an employee stores a document on equipment maintained by the employer, the employee’s attaching a password to it is window-dressing and not a legally effective attempt to assert privacy rights. Just as most employers retain the right to read all email on a business computer, most employers retain the right to read all documents stored on their office equipment. If employees want to keep documents private, they shouldn’t leave them at the office nor use company equipment to write them."