The lawyer questioned the legality of checking teachers' social networks when hiring

The initiative of mandatory verification of teachers' social networks during employment raises serious legal issues and may contradict current legislation. Sofya Lukinova, head of the legal department of VMT Consult, told Izvestia on March 18.

"First of all, the current labor law does not provide for an independent basis for "checking social networks" as a mandatory procedure for employment. The Labor Code of the Russian Federation allows for an assessment of a candidate's business qualities, but it must be directly related to professional skills and not violate the right to privacy," the expert noted.

Lukinova stressed that special restrictions apply in the field of personal data protection. Even if the information is publicly available, this does not give the employer the right to freely collect and use it without following established procedures. Any data processing must have a legitimate basis and a clearly defined purpose.

The lawyer drew attention to the fact that the key condition is to obtain the candidate's consent. It should be informed, voluntary, and specific, indicating which data will be analyzed. At the same time, the applicant's refusal cannot automatically become a reason for refusal of employment.

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But the school claims that he refuses the extra workload.

"At the same time, even the presence of consent does not remove all risks. The employer is limited by the principle of proportionality: it is impossible to collect redundant data unrelated to the work function. For example, analyzing a candidate's personal life, views, or social circle may be considered illegal," Lukinova explained.

On the same day, the co-chairman of the All-Russian public movement "National Parent Committee" Yuri Obolonsky, in an interview with "Paragraph", said that he had suggested checking teachers' social networks when applying for a job. According to him, a clear understanding of who is teaching a child and what will contribute to the peace of mind of parents, and the teacher himself will be able to understand what requirements society imposes on his competencies.

Before that, on April 18, teachers in Russia were offered to pay salaries not lower than two average salaries. As Izvestia found out, such a bill will be submitted to the State Duma by deputies of the Communist Party faction together with Senator Ayrat Gibatdinov. According to him, even this average teacher's salary is the result of monstrous overloads, which, as a rule, consists of several rates.

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