a primer on employment law and practices in the United States

There will be several posts in this sticky thread.

The first post is meant to answer a very common question:

Would my current employer find out that I am looking for another job?

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In the US, any prospective employer who wishes to contact your current employer for a reference check must first inform you in writing of the plan to do so, and obtain a written authorization from you. Prospective employers must give you a separate written notice of the plan to conduct a background check on you - this announcement cannot be buried amidst other info but must be presented as a separate document.

Hence, unless you yourself agree, in writing, to a prospective employer's calling your current employer, such calls cannot be legally made. Usually, prospective employers request authorization to call the current employer later in the hiring process, often after they have made a conditional offer of employment.

To sum up, just because you list your current employer on job applications when applying for employment elsewhere does NOT mean that your employer will be called and thus learn of your job search efforts.

Here are some common sense tips to avoid letting on more than you want to:

1) If you have a LinkedIn profile and want to look for a job while being on your current job, it is advisable to turn off notifications of updates to your network - if you have your current manager(s) among your LinkedIn contacts and all of a sudden there is a flurry of updates, such activity may be a giveaway. So if you do not want to let your current employer know about your job search until you have accepted an offer elsewhere, turn off LinkedIn notifications.

2) Do not conduct job search using your company's email account or phone number.

3) If you must schedule a phone screen during your working hours, either step outside to talk to the interviewer or book a conference room or telephone booth for yourself, to keep your business private.