Rocky Mountain Tracking

Daily GPS News

Freedom from GPS Fleet Tracking

February 7th, 2013

The introduction or discussion of GPS fleet tracking has been met with varying responses from employers and employees. As specific industries and government-funded departments have decided to implement this new technology, opinions ranging from causes to freedoms to taxpayers’ money continue to abound—and to clash.

Some people, simply by personality, negatively react to the idea of accountability and control inherent within the establishment of GPS fleet tracking; however, the new technology seems to be spreading and attracting more supporters. Could a shift in thinking possibly help those in opposition see such changes as bringing more freedom instead of less?

Opportunity to Build Trust

Employees who accept the ramifications of GPS fleet tracking and function within the guidelines of the company can actually become highly trusted. Building trust in the employer-employee relationship has become increasingly difficult as employees in all industries have become less location-based. Even cubicles may become a thing of the past as employers continue to discover the increased productivity among satellite employees. As employees demonstrate their trustworthiness through the data collected by GPS fleet tracking systems, employers in general may become more comfortable with entrusting company equipment and responsibilities to off-site employees who have proved to be dependable.

Ability to Respond to Accusations

GPS fleet tracking being installed on municipal vehicles in Berkley Heights, New Jersey is actually viewed by some as a protection for employees. According to the Township Administrator, GPS fleet tracking will give an opportunity for employee’s uses of taxpayer-funded vehicles to be explained. When residents become suspicious about where they see the vehicles, they can voice their complaints and receive straight answers. Employees that are sent on special, work-related missions won’t have to worry about false accusations arising as they accomplish their work.

Automatic Record Keeping

As GPS tracking expands, company-owned vehicles can essentially keep their own records. While this obviously saves time in calculating miles and provides accountability for vehicle use, it also eliminates the concern for human error or intentional deception. As advocates of GPS fleet tracking have pointed out, the company who owns the vehicle has the right to know exactly how the vehicle is being used. In the long run, this automatic record can provide the employees with the freedom to use the vehicle in all the ways needed to get their jobs done.

Is It Legal To Monitor Employees With GPS Tracking Devices?

November 25th, 2012

Here at RMT, we’ve reported many stories about employers using GPS tracking technology. Some use the tracking devices to make sure their services are delivered as efficiently as possible. Other employers use the technology to ensure their employees are accurately reporting their working hours. In general, it is legal for employers to track company-owned vehicles. However, due to the privacy concerns introduced by GPS tracking and the newness of the technology, it is important that employers seek legal counsel before implementing GPS tracking policies.

Privacy laws vary from state to state. It is essential to contact a local legal expert about the specific privacy laws in your area. GPS tracking has stirred up a lot of controversy in regard to privacy rights. Some policy-makers are already working on legislation that would protect employees from being tracked at work. For example, New Hampshire had drafted HB 445, which would prohibit employers from tracking employees with electronic tracking devices without a court order or consent of the employee. Generally speaking, you should always protect yourself from lawsuits by getting written consent of your employees before tracking them.

There are many great reasons to track company vehicles, but know that it can have a negative impact on employee morale. Make your monitoring policies as transparent as possible, so employees know when and why they are being monitored. It is important that it is clear to employees that there is no expectation of privacy within company vehicles. If you choose to track employees, it is important that you implement this policy company-wide to avoid discrimination lawsuits. Again, the most important thing is to consult a legal expert and stay updated on employee privacy rights. This is the best way to protect yourself and your employees.

Emphasizing the Positive Side of GPS Monitoring

October 14th, 2012

JEA, the electric and water company that serves the city of Jacksonville, Florida, has joined the ranks of companies that now use GPS monitoring to keep constant eyes on its equipment. Like similar businesses and local government agencies all over the country, JEA has decided that the many benefits provided by monitoring are worth the expense of fitting multiple vehicles and expensive pieces of equipment with devices.

If you read about this new development within JEA, you will notice that all of the advantages listed are very positive. For example, the primary emphasis is on the safety of employees, as GPS can be used to quickly locate workers who encounter dangerous conditions while working on utilities in the field. It also makes finding broken down vehicles much more convenient.

But you won’t find much discussion of what many companies consider one of the greatest benefits of GPS: accountability for employees that might be tempted to misuse company property or conduct personal activity while on the clock. If the boss is watching your truck’s movements on a screen, you are far less likely to make a detour to the grocery store while on a job. The equipment installed by JEA also tracks whether a vehicle’s engine is running or not—useful for finding out whether a worker habitually leaves his engine running and the air conditioning on during long service visits. Finally, when GPS monitoring logs accurate mileage, supervisors can use that data to corroborate reimbursement requests that drivers turn in.

JEA, perhaps in an effort to present its best face to the public, doesn’t make much of these “bad behavior” deterrents, although it does mention them in passing. Instead, it wants customers to take away the assurance that the company is working hard to protect its assets and its employees. The GPS monitoring equipment prevents anyone from opening the doors of service vehicles without a specially designed key fob carried by employees. Also, while GPS-fitted equipment is being repaired, JEA can retain the ability to see exactly where it is at any given time.

JEA customers should be happy about the utility company’s use of GPS tracking equipment. It reflects a wise investment that will reduce waste, protect expensive machines, and help employees remember to follow their better judgment because their supervisors are always watching.

GPS Tracking Of Louisiana State Employees Catches Some Cheating On Payroll

September 25th, 2012

One of the many great applications of GPS tracking device, is the ability of employers to monitor employees on the road. Of course, you want to trust that your employees are honestly reporting when they arrive and leave work, but too many stories like this are cropping up around the country not to take precautions. For more than a year, Louisiana State Alcohol and Tobacco Department employees have been monitored with GPS tracking devices. After reviewing the tracking data, consequences were given to agents whose GPS data didn’t match their reported work log. So far, one employee has resigned as a result of the investigation, and at least two will be receiving pay cuts.

“You’re always going to have a couple of bad apples,” explained Troy Herbert, Louisiana State Alcohol and Tobacco Control Commissioner. “I don’t think it’s widespread. I think it’s contained to a handful of agents.” His job is to oversee the regulation of Louisiana’s alcoholic beverage and tobacco industries. The employees are regularly out in the field monitoring bars and restaurants. When he first became the state’s commissioner, agents were spending four days a week in the office. He immediately pushed employees out in the field to actually monitor the state’s bars and restaurants.

Herbert has been working to keep the department’s budget under control for years. In 2011, he announces plans to get rid of six positions. He also installed a time clock for the department and stopped paying employees for their commute to and from work. Noting the difficulty of monitoring employees across the state, he also decided to attach GPS tracking devices to employee vehicles. All employees were notified that their vehicles would be monitored with tracking devices.

After reviewing the GPS tracking data, Herbert confronted several employees about discrepancies found. Some of the agents had believable reasons for their vehicles not being where they reported, such as sharing a ride with another agent. Others were not as acceptable, like staying home and monitoring bars via police scanner. Thus far, only three agents have received punishment, but more may be coming as investigations continue.

Busted…by GPS

August 30th, 2012

You’ve probably read a lot of articles recently about companies, fleets, and local governments adopting GPS monitors to keep track of what their employees are doing on the job. These have held promise to be particularly useful in fields where employees spend much of the day driving around, not confined to an office. In the past, supervisors had little opportunity to check up on these employees during the day to make sure they were actually doing what they said they were doing. Along came GPS, and relieved employers everywhere anticipated the accountability they had long desired. So, how is it working, now that they have been using GPS monitors for a while?

A story from Louisiana falls solidly into the “success” category. The Alcohol and Tobacco Control department was an obvious candidate for tracking—workers spend most of their time visiting the state’s bars, restaurants, and stores to make sure that they are following government regulations in selling controlled substances. After about a year, the department’s Commissioner has acted on the information provided by the GPS devices, and a few employees didn’t like the results very much.

Of the approximately 40 employees being tracked, three of them are under the spotlight. One of those no longer has a job with the department, and the other two have been demoted. It seems they have been cutting corners and shortening their work days while they were away from the office, and one worker apparently decided that on Wednesdays, he didn’t need to go to work at all.

Keep in mind that these employees knew that GPS monitors were in use the whole time. If this is how they treated their jobs when they knew they were being watched, how did they treat them in the past? We can only wonder. In any case, Louisiana residents seem to be relieved that the new technology is putting an end to this waste of taxpayer funds.

Of course, supervisors do have to deal with possible wrong messages that GPS monitoring can send: Employees claimed to have carpooled when the data showed their company car parked at home all day, and there could be other explanations for not using their car throughout the workday. Supervisors have to be very careful when firing or demoting employees based on GPS data, or they could face complex lawsuits.

Employers: Use Caution When Implementing Employee Tracking

June 26th, 2012

Increasingly, employers are turning to GPS tracking to monitor employees and their use of vehicles within the company’s fleet. If you own your own fleet, have had the misfortune of suspecting an employee of vehicle or time misuse, and are entertaining the thought of installing a GPS tracking device on each of your vehicles, you must proceed with caution and follow some simple rules to ensure you are conducting the GPS surveillance legally.

An attorney with Fisher & Phillips, Bradford LeHew, feels that two recent cases speak to the issue of privacy best: US v. Jones and Cunningham v. New York State Department of Labor, both of which we’ve reported on here at RMT.

The Cases

The Jones case raised the issue of privacy in your own personal vehicle with respect to the Fourth Amendment’s protection from unreasonable search and seizure. The justices agreed that relying on the GPS data violated Jones’ Fourth Amendment right and that the government “physically occupied private property for the purpose of obtaining information.” Justice Sotomayor said, “GPS Monitoring generates a precise, comprehensive record of a person’s public movements that reflects a wealth of detail about her familial, political, professional, religious, and sexual associations.” The justices agreed that the act of GPS monitoring of suspected criminals is sort of like having a police car tail you. Sotomayor added, “because GPS monitoring is cheap in comparison to conventional surveillance techniques and by design, proceeds surreptitiously, it evades the ordinary checks that constrain abusive law enforcement practices: limited police resources and community hostility.”

In Cunningham v. NY State Department of Labor, an appeals court in New York decided in favor of the state, saying that the state was indeed able to install a GPS tracking device on the personal vehicle of an employee suspected of misusing his time on the clock (keeping inaccurate time sheets and taking time off of work without receiving proper authorization to do so.) The state tried to conduct the usual surveillance where an investigator follows him throughout the day, but after some time with no results, they obtained permission to use a GPS device. The device was placed on Cunningham’s car, the falsified time sheets were confirmed, and although the state attorney general’s office granted the placement of the devices, Cunningham sued, claiming this act was illegal. The court felt otherwise: a 3-2 ruling was handed down, stating that the use of the devices was, in fact, reasonable. Why did the court side with the state? Three main reasons: there was an attempt made to monitor the suspect by tailing him first, and the attempt failed; Cunningham was made fully aware the state was onto him, meaning the collection of data during work hours should have come as no surprise; and the device was not constantly collecting data.

How Do Employer-Owned Vehicles Compare?

LeHew said, not much different, using a package delivery company as an example. The company had GPS tracking devices on some of its fleet to study the efficiency of the delivery routes, perfectly legal as the employee’s affected were notified of the prescence of the devices. LeHew said company vehicles should be thought of in the same way as company-owned e-mail, phone, and computers: there is no expectation of privacy when it comes to these things. In his mind, LeHew feels employers should be able to assure employees are doing what they are supposed to do, where and when they are supposed to do them. If that means GPS monitoring, so be it.

What Employers Can Do

The first step, according to LeHew, is a clearly stated policy on such a practice, especially assuring each employee knows the company might at some point track their location using a GPS device. This policy should specify instances GPS monitoring might be used to benefit the employer. The policy should serve the best interest of the employer while still preserving the privacy rights of the employee when they are not at work.

It is possible to deactivate the tracking device, and employees can be trained accordingly in this practice. Assure managers are made aware this type of monitoring must not be overused. The best way, LeHew said, to assure employees aren’t conducting personal business during company time: requiring employees to submit mileage logs that can be compared with the car’s odometer. Remember to exhaust all possibilities prior to using a GPS tracking device.

GPS Keeps Track of Time

June 15th, 2012

In these difficult economic times, it is important for companies to streamline their fleets and micromanage every mile and every minute. Econz Wireless has just released a new GPS tracking device in South Africa that will help do just that. They call it the Timecard GPS Lite, and it helps track people and assets without the need for time sheets and mileage reports.

Back to Basics

The Timecard GPS Lite monitors the location, speed, and mileage of a company’s employees while they are in transit through a handheld wireless device that uses not only satellite data but also terrestrial mapping. The system can be used with any standard cell phone as well as specialized phones such as Blackberry, Nokia, Sonim, Apple iOS, and Tablets. Data is sent every 300 feet, 45-degree angle, or 60 seconds, depending on which comes first when the device is in motion. Because the GPS data is stored in the firmware of the handset, it is not lost when the signal fails; in fact, once the connection is again established, the data is immediately forwarded. Data is stored for six months, and a company can access its data 24-7.

Special Features

Econz offers it customers special features that go above and beyond the typical GPS technology used for fleet management. Bread Crumb Trails record data based on speed and direction, leaving a virtual trail that can be easily retraced if necessary. The Speed Trigger feature allows a company to establish speed limit rules for its drivers and then notifies the administrator if a rule has been broken. The administrator can, in turn, send an email and/or text message letting the driver know of his infraction. The Idle Time Trigger works in the same manner, notifying management when the Timecard GPS Lite transmitter has remained motionless for an extended period of time. The device can even instruct the driver to call the office to discuss the issue. Using the Smart Fence feature, a company can establish a zone, as small as a specific building or as large as a state, and then request notification when the person or asset has entered that zone.

Econz Wireless offers a practical and affordable solution to help companies better manage their employees and their assets, reducing costs and improving efficiency. For less than $10 a month per device with $10 setup fee per device, a company can have the best of GPS technology at its fingertips.

GPS Tracking Reveals Bad Behavior of Charlotte County Employees

April 28th, 2012

Last year, Charlotte County launched an investigation into exactly how accurate their employee’s self-reporting was with disturbing results. The investigation was in response to a county employee’s arrest in June of 2011. Stephen Archer, a mosquito sprayer for the county was pulled over in Sarasota County, more than 45 miles from Charlotte, for speeding in his employer’s vehicle. The officers found two opened beer bottles in the bed of the truck. The county-owned truck was impounded and Archer was arrested for drunk driving. Although he quit before he could be fired for the incident, the employee’s behavior was enough to raise concerns about how the other mosquito sprayers were managing their responsibilities.

The county attached GPS tracking devices to their vehicles and monitored their employee’s movements over a 10-day period. In that time, two employees managed to spend more than 20 hours running personal errands, or otherwise non-work-related activities. The employees, who were paid between $15 and $25 per hour, also lied about their whereabouts on their time sheets. The GPS tracking data showed more than 32 unauthorized trips over the 10-day period, including trips to their own homes, private homes, and 12 recorded trips to North Port.

On June 15, 2011, one of the employees took a four hour trip, apparently to nowhere. The GPS tracking records appear to show mindless driving, but it is impossible to know the exact reason behind the long, unauthorized trip. The employees were officially fired on August 16, 2011 for lying on their time sheets and receiving payment for time not worked. Prior to this investigation, Charlotte County employed eight part-time mosquito sprayers. They are now down to five. GPS fleet tracking is a great way to monitor employee activity. In an ideal world, employers could trust the honor system, but as investigations like this reveal, reality is often far from ideal.

GPS Provides a Smart Way to Track Labor Force

April 12th, 2012

GPS technology helps employers track their labor force in today’s global business world. Companies today hire people from all around America and the world. Some work from an office, but many don’t. You’ve seen people at the airport work while drinking coffee, waiting for their airplane – maybe you’ve done that once or twice? Contractors work from everywhere. And what about drivers or sales persons? But what’s the best way to keep track of their hours? And even better, where they are while they’re working?

GPS is the Answer
No doubt—GPS is the answer. Some companies have invested in hardware, which is special equipment that tracks work hours and pay. The problem is that this hardware can be expensive and there’s no way to fit it in your pocket. And because workers are all over the place, it’s hard for employers to know where their workers are when they’re working.

TimeMD is a company that provides an answer. In a smart way, too. Erik Rowland is TimeMD’s president. He believes that it’s essential for all companies to be able to know exactly where all their employees are at any given time while they’re working. This helps to keep the costs down and profits up. With TimeMD’s GPS platform, companies know where their employees are when they punch in. How do they do it? The answer is smart phones.

A Smart Way to Do It
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, as of February 2012, almost half of adults with cell phones in America use smartphones. Today, three out of five adults that use a cell phone have a smartphone. Smart phones, like the iPhone, come with GPS capability. TimeMD’s president believes that if this trend continues, in the future there might be no more need for hardware—only software. Why? Because of the popularity of smartphones.

The system is easy. TimeMD provides the software, and they work with companies so that their platform can be tailored to their needs. Then, once the system is carried out, employees can punch in using their smartphone, and their employer knows where they are too—thanks to GPS.

Some might object to being tracked. That’s why GPS time tracking is voluntary. Once an employee says it’s OK, then there is no problem. Besides, the software only tracks the time and place, while personal information and data aren’t sent. TimeMD is an example of a company that is using GPS to help businesses take care of their most important asset: their people.

The Legality of Tracking with GPS

March 6th, 2012

It seems that everyone is using GPS tracking technology these days for more than just getting around. GPS data has been used in cases involving spouses suspected of cheating, teens driving the family car, and employees driving company cars. Now, the legality of an employer tracking an employee through a GPS device, placed without consent on the employee’s private vehicle, is under consideration.

The Case in Question
An employee was fired from the New York State Department of Labor after twenty years when GPS data proved that the man was not always where he claimed to be or for the time he recorded. Over his two decades of employment, he had been disciplined multiple times for misconduct. Again in 2008, he was suspected of filing false work records, so his employer had him tailed.

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) agency placed a GPS tracking device on the employee’s vehicle without his knowledge and tracked him for a month. The OIG then extracted the data relevant to the workday and found significant discrepancies in the man’s work log and his actual whereabouts. He was brought up on thirteen charges of misconduct, eleven of which were sustained by the GPS data. The man appealed the charges and claimed that his privacy had been invaded and that an illegal search and seizure had taken place. The case went to court.

The Court’s Decision
The court ruled in favor of the state and recommended dismissal of the employee. Two dissenters argued that an illegal search and seizure had indeed taken place since the man in question was tracked even during his off-duty hours, though that data was not brought into evidence. The final brief stated that “to establish a pattern of serious misconduct (i.e., repeatedly submitting false time records and not a mere isolated incident), it was necessary to obtain pertinent and credible information over a period of time. Obtaining such information for one month was not unreasonable in the context of a noncriminal proceeding involving a high-level state employee with a history of discipline problems who had recently thwarted efforts to follow him in his nonwork-related ventures during work hours.”

With the outcry over police using GPS tracking devices without a warrant being heard by the Supreme Court, employers would be wise to seek legal advice before pursuing the use of GPS technology when tracking an employee suspected of misconduct.