4 Key Considerations when Tracking Employees with GPS

Posted by sunainaram on May 31st, 2016

Those in the corporate sector would seek to agree that there are many loopholes in communication between the employee and employers. Some are a matter of fact by chance happenings others are deliberately mis-communicated. The most common error happening here is claiming for overtime wages where in reality there was no work done overtime. This could prove as a loss to the company who would suffer on productivity level in spite of shelling out more pennies. Hence, employers have sought better means to track employee location. More than simply tracking location the device helps in –

ü  Increasing efficiency

ü  Address safety concern

ü  Ensure compliance

ü  Protection of business property

ü  Customer service enhancement

The monitoring method as tracking employees with GPS can be done by implementation of the GPS devices on vehicles, cell phones, iPads, laptops, etc. The communication is meted out via satellite messages.

Many countries have banned the usage of tracking devices, in favor of employees, stating that it could be intruding on the privacy. Before installing the device, the following key considerations should be borne in mind –

1. Consent – if you are going to be installing the device in your fleet of vehicles to track employee location, make           sure that your driver or staff concerned is aware about it. Do not keep your employees in the dark.
2. Privacy – In addition to consent and notice, make sure the device so installed does not intrude with the privacy. A balance should be maintained between employees’ expectation of privacy and the employers’ usage of tracking device. Do not attach the device to any such company owned property which the employee may be carrying after his working hours are over, like his laptop, backpack, etc.
3. No tracking during non-working hours – While tracking employees with GPS make sure you give them their time off. Do not track them on holidays, weekly offs, non-working hours. It could amount to intrusion in private life, which could not go down well with the employees.
4. Dissemination of Information – The GPS monitoring device should be focused on employees’ job performance and the information should be disseminated only to the concerned authority who may have a legitimate reason for gaining access to such information. There should adequate measures to communicate the purpose behind tracking and why certain information is extracted and disseminated to the person in concern.

Make use of the GPS employee tracking device only to build a strong relationship. Do not do anything under cover as it may raise fumes against you. Make sure the device is in use only during the working hours of the employee!