When it comes to monitoring, GPS tracking employees laws is a tricky factor in the industries.
However, the question is: How to keep up with the fleet tracking legal boundaries?
GPS fleet tracking and the transportation industry are bonding strongly over the last years and their relationship is becoming unbreakable.
In fact, the trucking industry is starting to depend on technology and its creation of vehicle GPS trackers.
Why is that?
The reason for the increased usage of fleet tracking in transportation is due to the significant benefits business
From a technological aspect, the digital age is making possible to track every aspect of the businesses, including employee’s life – from their messages to driver’s location.
Regarding the advantages of monitoring, there are many legitimate reasons and GPS tracking employees laws.
Ultimately, fleet tracking leads to improved customer service and compliance with speed limits laws like SAFER, FMCSA or NHTSA.
With regards to this matter, I am going to discuss the steps to take in order to keep up with the legal boundaries when checking on employees.
Are Employers Respecting the GPS Tracking Employees Laws
Before you put a monitoring system at your company, it is crucial to prove that you have a legitimate reason for using it.
Whatever the reason is, it should be strong enough not to break the GPS tracking employees laws.
If you do not know the benefits of using GPS tracking features then you need to know that some of the advantages are the following:
GPS Tracking Prevents Vehicle Theft
Many transportation companies are involved in over the road trucking and consequently, their drivers are parking the trucks at different truck stops.
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Sometimes, it is not safe for the fleet because it is exposed to vehicle theft. By implementing GPS tracking employees laws you are preventing theft of your fleet.
Fleet Tracking Increases Productivity
Besides massively contributing to the above-mentioned parts of a trucking business, GPS devices also beneficial for other factors covering the trucking industry.
In addition to this, the GPS employees laws also refer to the following advantages affecting yours and other transportation businesses in general:
- Improving response time
- Lowering Insurance Costs
- Increasing efficiency of travel routes
- Ability to locate employees quickly
- Improving customer service
Applicable GPS Tracking Employees Laws
Likewise, there are other aspects of employees laws which apply to the federal, state as well as local laws. All of the laws apply to the privacy of the workplace.
In addition, there are key federal laws to comply with. As such are the following:
- Stored Communications Act – applying to stored communications
- Electronic Communication Privacy Act – applying to intercepting electronic communications in transit.
According to these laws, you are not allowed to look at another person’s private communications like email messages.
However, there is an exception that probably many are unfamiliar with.
Generally speaking, these GPS tracking employees laws allow companies to monitor the systems for business purposes.
For instance, a case in the Supreme Court states that a police officer’s privacy was offended. Namely, the officer sent the message to another employer-owned pager.
However, his policy states that the department has the right to monitor the communications on the equipment.
State Laws Influence
Regarding the GPS tracker, there are different employees laws varying from state to state.
For instance, there are states which allow companies to monitor the company-owned vehicles, mobile phones and other devices.
This approach is due to prevent theft and increase safety instead.
By the same token, if a company wants to track the private vehicles or devices of employees, they need to obtain the employee’s permission first.
Companies that consider implementing employee GPS tracking system need to provide advance notice policy to employees.
The notice allows companies determine the legal issues of high probability to arise.
Furthermore, it gives enough time to companies to answer the questions to employees which makes the laws relevant.
For instance, the criminal statute of Illinois forbids electronic device tracking of a person’s location unless it is done by law.
These laws also apply to other states including California, Connecticut, Delaware and Texas as well.
However, their GPS tracking employees laws can vary.
If you have doubts on this matter, you can talk to an employment attorney to ensure the rules to follow.
Commonsense Principles
In addition, there are the further questions that seek an answer to the employee’s privacy at the workplace.
To illustrate, “Does an employee have a legitimate expectation of privacy?”
If the vehicle or device belongs to the company, you have the right to use fleet management software.
According to the laws, a company has the right to track its property and equipment but it needs to have a policy.
But if the company is monitoring employees off the clock and their private equipment, the laws strictly prohibit these actions.
GPS Tracking Employees Laws in the United States
As shown above, all the states in the USA have their own GPS tracking employees laws.
The states in the USA have different rules, however, there is a majority of them approving GPS vehicle devices during business hours.
In addition, these laws state that if a company owns the vehicle they can track locations and movements.
This also includes the location of the vehicle operator or driver, or an employee using a company-owned vehicle
However, there are cases where employees feel affected by the GPS tracking employees laws.
Continually, tracking a vehicle that company does not own, or leasing it to another person, using a GPS tracker for business to track movements is illegal.
The Difference in GPS Tracking Employees Laws
Consequently, the fee varies from one state to another. For instance, in Texas, this kind of act is violating the law and is considered a misdemeanor.
