The tracking of employees through GPS technology has caught on in recent years. Unfortunately, in some cases, the ethics involved in this practice are lagging behind the advancement of the technology itself.
A New York State employee was recently fired after his private car was secretly equipped with GPS 24/7 tracking capabilities. This meant that the employee was being tracked during his private, non-working time. See the full story here:
NY State employee fired after being tracked by GPS during private, non-working hours
GPS tracking has many benefits for both employee and employer, when used properly and fairly. In most instances, employees WANT to be able to track where they have been and what they have done. There are also useful applications in the area of billing, such as when a customer disputes a bill for hourly work.
Companies should unveil their GPS programs in an open manner – employees, employers, and customers should all be made aware of the particular system in place and how it works. After all, the main benefit of using a GPS system is to encourage accountability amongst all parties – not to catch people in the act of doing something wrong.
For companies looking to implement a new GPS tracking system for their mobile employees, here’s a good tip: any reputable GPS employee time tracking system will automatically come with the ability to be turned off during non-working hours.
