The Implications of GPS Employee Tracking

by Sarah DuPre Marketing Manager

GPS Employee Tracking: Legal Implications

It was once a commonly accepted truism that employees who spent a lot of time on the road enjoyed more workplace freedom than on site workers. However, that reality is changing as global positioning technologies become less expensive and easier to implement in cell phones and company vehicles.

This gives employers powerful new tools that allow them to keep track of the whereabouts of their employees. As this new technology gains traction and becomes more popular, there is a rising concern about employee privacy.

Is It Legal?

Employees argue that GPS tracking is a violation of their privacy and represents and offense to the dignity of the individual.

Employers argue that deploying GPS employee tracking technology to gather the necessary data to more efficiently utilize its workforce is a reasonable expectation inherent in the job. For example, fleet management companies make the case that it’s more efficient and cost-effective to know how to locate their mechanics at any given time, provide more precise billing estimates to clients, and knowing exactly where employees are given the ability to quickly deployed them when and where they’re needed.

It seems that the courts are siding with businesses in ruling that the use of GPS employee tracking technology is reasonable. The courts justify their position by pointing out that workplace surveillance as it exists today is common and completely legal. And if the employees workplace happens to be in a vehicle or at another location, then employers have the same right to keep track of them as if they were back at the home office, so long as the data being gathered is only being done so during normal working hours.

Is Tracking Beneficial to Employers?

Employers cite many tangible and intangible benefits of GPS tracking of their employees. For example, they claim that the following advantages are achieved with the implementation of GPS employee tracking devices:

Improved productivity
Increased competitiveness
Identification of slack times to allow for staff reductions when business is slow
Reduced costs by knowing exactly how many employees are required for a given task

ViewGPS recently revealed how its GPS fleet tracking device reduced fuel costs. It mentions how drivers tend to follow this legal speed limit more closely, maintenance data is tracked more accurately to avoid expensive breakdowns, and improve driver training and running reduces idle time.

When businesses can point to significant savings in their operational costs, its easy to justify the use of GPS employee tracking technology to improve profits and increase the bottom line.