Jobs website 'a legal minefield'

Have you got a horrible boss? The InsideTrak website has caused a stir by encouraging current and past employees of more than 50,000 businesses across the country to post anonymous reviews of their workplace and culture. Picture: Warner Bros. Source: Supplied

A NEW Australian jobs website that allows employees to anonymously rate and review their employers is a "legal minefield'' that could land users with serious lawsuits, experts say.

InsideTrak.com.au invites current and past employees of more than 50,000 businesses across the country to rate them as employers out of five stars, from terrible to excellent, and post anonymous reviews of their workplace and culture.

Users can write up to 215 words describing the "pros'' and "cons'' of a workplace without having to prove they actually worked there, and reviews are published without moderation.

The website also actively encourages users to conceal their identity, with notices warning against listing exact job titles and cities "if you believe it will reveal your identity''.

Reviews are displayed alongside matching job ads for each business, which are automatically pulled from online feeds and Google listings.

Hundreds of businesses, including 71 in New South Wales, 67 in Victoria, 17 in South Australia, 43 in Queensland, 24 in Western Australia and one in Tasmania, have so far been anonymously rated as "poor'' or  "terrible''.

Among the negative reviews are:

*A coffee shop in Castle Hill, NSW, criticised for its "nastiness'' and described as ``the worst experience of my working history'';

*A retail store in Melbourne's Kensington described as "absolutely terrible'' and with "lousy management'';

*A South Melbourne craft shop slammed as "a very boring and monotonous workplace'';

*A Sydney shoe store in which the only "pro'' was "going home at the end of the day'';

*A New South Wales council described as "not a happy work environment'';

*A restaurant in Cleveland, Queensland described as "terrible'';

*An Adelaide internet provider decried for "bad management'';

*An Adelaide plumber described as being "in the dark ages'';

*A South Australian wine company criticised for having "plenty of ****s high up'' and "useless sales teams''.

Similar websites like TripAdvisor, which lists user reviews of hotels and restaurants, have faced legal action overseas for malicious and defamatory comments left by anonymous users.

InsideTrak CEO Mark Larsen, a former senior executive of recruitment website Monster.com, said the site was aimed at job seekers wanting to get the "inside story'' on a potential employer.

"We're providing a platform for people to get some insight about a workplace, take all of the opinions that you see and do with those what you will,'' he said.

Mr Larsen said while the reviews were not moderated before publication they were filtered for offensive language, and any posts "naming names'' or aimed at individuals would be removed.

"If someone notifies us that they believe a review is defamatory or offensive we will review that immediately, and if we agree we'll take it down,'' he said.

Internet law and defamation expert at the University of Queensland Peter Black said under Australian law anyone posting negative reviews on the site could be liable for defamation if their comments were aimed at an individual or company with 10 or fewer staff.

Mr Black said while sites like TripAdvisor are protected under American law, Australian-based websites like InsideTrak are at risk.

"Sites like this do have a high risk of being potentially liable for defamation when someone posts a comment, both the person who posted the comment would be liable and also the website itself,'' he said.

"Under Australian law there's no clear immunity for the website that would allow it to operate in that way.''

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