With LinkedIn being one of the most popular professional networking platforms, many employees wonder if their employer can see their LinkedIn activity, especially whether they have a premium account. This concern is understandable, as employees may want to keep certain career moves or job searches private from their current employer. On the other hand, employers may want insight into employees’ professional networks and ambitions. So what information can employers access when it comes to employees’ LinkedIn accounts?
What employers can see on employees’ public LinkedIn profiles
Unless an employee has changed their settings to private, employers can see all the information on an employee’s public LinkedIn profile. This includes:
- Name
- Photo
- Current job title and company
- Location
- Industry
- Past work experience and education
- Skills
- Accomplishments and recommendations
- Connections
- Groups
So if an employee’s profile is public, their employer has access to a significant amount of information about their background and professional connections. Employees should be aware of this and tailor their public profiles appropriately if they wish to keep some information private from their employer.
What employers can’t see
While public profiles provide abundant information, there are some things employers can’t see on an employee’s LinkedIn account:
- Private connections
- Full profiles of an employee’s connections
- Private group membership
- Job searches or browsing history
- Messages and inbox history
- Premium account status
Unless an employee provides their login credentials, employers have no visibility into their private connections, private group activities, messages, job search efforts, or browsing history. These aspects remain private and separate from an employee’s public profile.
Can employers see if employees have a premium account?
One key piece of private information is whether an employee has a Premium account. LinkedIn Premium provides users with additional features, insights, and exposure options not available to free members. This includes expanded profile views, unlimited searches, messaging capabilities, and unique networking and posting opportunities. But there is no indicator or mention of Premium status on a member’s public profile.
The only way employers could potentially know if an employee has Premium is if the employee explicitly told them. There is nothing on public profiles that would reveal or indicate Premium status. So employers do not have the ability to secretly uncover whether their employees have paid for Premium accounts.
How employers can see more LinkedIn activity
While Premium status remains private, employers do have options to gain more visibility into employees’ LinkedIn networks and activity:
- Ask employees to make their profiles and activity more visible internally
- Encourage employees to showcase LinkedIn connections and participation
- Request access to certain employee accounts and data
- Use their own LinkedIn Recruiter seat to search employees’ connections
However, employees would have to voluntarily agree to make their profiles and connections more transparent. Employers cannot force employees to relinquish privacy against their will.
Making employee profiles more visible internally
Employers can encourage employees to adjust their LinkedIn settings to be more visible internally within their company. This provides coworkers and management more insight into their profiles and networks. Employees can adjust visibility for:
- Photo and profile visibility
- Activity broadcasts
- Connections in common
- Showing coworkers in “People Also Viewed”
By making these adjustments, employees give their employer’s internal team more insight into their LinkedIn presence. It serves to strengthen company networking and connections.
Showcasing LinkedIn activity
Employers can also promote an open culture where employees showcase their LinkedIn participation. For example:
- Employees can proactively share when they expand their connections
- Employees can highlight when their profile or content receives significant views
- Employees can mention when they join key industry groups
- The company can recognize employees who improve their LinkedIn presence
This approach relies on employees voluntarily sharing their LinkedIn activity. But it allows employers to encourage and reward LinkedIn engagement without forcing profile access.
Requesting access to employee accounts
Employers could request access to employees’ LinkedIn accounts or profile data. However, employees would have to voluntarily provide their login credentials or authorize data sharing. Employers cannot force employees to provide access without their permission. But employers can make requests like:
- Asking to connect with employees on LinkedIn
- Requesting access to employee’s LinkedIn connections list
- Asking employees to share profile analytics or activity data
This gives the employer more insight at the employee’s discretion. But the employee has the right to refuse these requests and maintain their privacy.
Using a LinkedIn Recruiter seat
Employers with a LinkedIn Recruiter seat can search employees’ connections within the Recruiter platform. This allows them to browse and access the connections of their company’s employees. However, the employer would only see limited profile information for those connections unless they were directly connected themselves.
Downsides of employers seeing LinkedIn activity
While employers may want more visibility into employees’ LinkedIn networks, there are some potential downsides:
- Employees may resent or distrust increased surveillance of their professional lives
- It could discourage employees from expanding their external networks
- Employees may hesitate to join groups or discuss topics relevant to their work
- It could dissuade employees from seeking new job opportunities
- Employees may become more cautious and reserved on LinkedIn
If employees feel their employer is overmonitoring their LinkedIn activity, it could strain relations and stifle employees’ engagement. This risks undermining the networking and development benefits of LinkedIn for both employees and employers.
Best practices for employers
While LinkedIn Premium member status remains private, here are some best practices for employers seeking to gain value from employees’ LinkedIn presence:
- Respect employee privacy and let connections remain private
- Promote your company culture and employees on LinkedIn
- Encourage but don’t force employees to showcase activity
- Reward employees who expand networks and develop skills
- Lead by example with a strong company LinkedIn presence
- Focus on the positive benefits for recruitment, branding and partnerships
By promoting a collaborative and participatory approach focused on realizing the advantages of LinkedIn, employers and employees can both gain value. But forcing excessive transparency risks deteriorating trust and engagement.
Conclusion
In summary, employers cannot secretly uncover whether employees have paid for LinkedIn Premium accounts. Premium status remains private and does not appear on member profiles. The only way employers would know is if employees voluntarily shared that information.
Employers do have options to request or encourage greater visibility into employees’ LinkedIn activity. However, employees should not feel pressured or required to provide transparency against their will. The ideal approach focuses on workplace collaboration and culture to showcase employees’ networks authentically while respecting professional privacy.