Although on-line recruitment is still in its infancy, it is expected to account for a fifth of the British market by 2003. However, with legislation struggling to keep pace with this rapid growth rate, employers and employees have to be extra vigilant when using the net to fill vacancies or find a job. Employers must ensure that Internet abuse is dealt with in their disciplinary policies. In a recent case, an employee lost a claim for unfair dismissal after using the Internet at work for personal use. However, whether a dismissal is fair will depend on various factors, including whether proper procedures were followed.
Many employers now have separate policies for dealing with email.
Recruitment via the net is often less expensive than the traditional route and may cut the time taken to fill a vacancy by up to two months. However, while Internet recruitment might be cheaper and faster, care has to be taken when preparing adverts to ensure they are not discriminatory on the grounds of sex, race or disability. Employers also need to be wary of unscrupulous agencies which copy adverts from websites, place fictitious adverts on the Internet to gain access to CVs, and send these out indiscriminately to companies. Although none of this activity is new, the speed and immediacy of the Internet has prompted the government to consider legislation to deal with it. Under the proposed legislation, a genuine vacancy must exist, and can only be advertised on the net by an agency where relevant authority has been gained from the employer.