Should a List<T> be private?

I need your opinion on this because I have read a lot of different things on the subject. If you have a List<T> or any kind of list within a class declaration do you make it private and then add or remove items using specific methods or do you make it public?

Your views would be much appreciated with any disadvantages/advantages of each option.

To give an example let's say we have a class Employer with private fields name and List<Employees>. My question is if we should make the employees list private or public and what the advantages/disadvantages be on either case.