Is It Legal to Track Employees With GPS? What New Jersey and New York Contractors Need to Know

GPS check-in is one of the simplest ways to know who's really on your job sites. It also raises a fair question from workers, union reps and your own office: is this legal, and what do we have to tell people?

There's no general federal law that bans employers from using location tracking for work. But some states require notice, and two that matter for a lot of contractors in our area are New Jersey and New York.

New Jersey: written notice before tracking a vehicle

Since April 18, 2022, New Jersey law (N.J.S.A. 34:6B-22) has said an employer may not knowingly use a tracking device in a vehicle used by an employee without first giving the employee written notice.

• It applies whether the vehicle is company-owned or the employee's own, as long as it's used for work.
• Penalties run up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $2,500 for each one after that.
• Devices used only to document expense reimbursement, like mileage, are excluded.
• The law doesn't spell out the wording of the notice, but it must be in writing. Telling someone verbally isn't enough.

The law is written around vehicles, and commentators differ on exactly how it applies to phone apps. The simple, safe answer: give written notice anyway.

New York: notice of electronic monitoring

Since May 7, 2022, New York Civil Rights Law Section 52-c has required private employers that monitor employees' phone, email or internet use to:

• give written notice at hire,
• get a written or electronic acknowledgment from new hires, and
• post a notice where employees can see it.

Penalties run up to $500 for a first offense, $1,000 for a second and $3,000 for each one after. The law is aimed at phone, email and internet monitoring, and doesn't clearly address location check-ins. Many employers include location in the notice anyway.

Other states

Connecticut and Delaware also have electronic monitoring notice laws, and rules change. If your crews work in other states, check each one.

Union crews

If your workforce is unionized, review your collective bargaining agreement and talk with the union before introducing new monitoring. It's better to bring them in early than to have a grievance later.

What good practice looks like

1. Tell workers in writing what you collect and when.
2. Get a signed or electronic acknowledgment at hire, and keep it on file.
3. Collect the minimum. Recording location at check-in and check-out answers "were they on site?" without following anyone around all day.
4. Never track off the clock.
5. Keep a record of every notice you give.

Sample notice language (have your attorney review it before you use it): "[Company] uses the CrewVerify app to verify attendance at job sites. When you check in or check out, the app records your phone's location and the time. While the check-in page is open on your phone, it also uses your location to show whether you're inside the job-site boundary, but that location isn't saved as a history. Location is not recorded at other times or when you are off the clock."

How CrewVerify handles location

CrewVerify records a worker's location, when available, with each check-in and check-out to assess whether the worker is within the job-site boundary. While the check-in page remains open, it also requests location updates to display on-site status, including before check-in and after check-out; those updates are held in page state rather than uploaded as a continuous location history. Location access depends on browser permission. If location is unavailable or outside the boundary, the event is recorded and flagged for review.

This is general information, not legal advice. Employment and privacy laws change and vary by state. Talk to an employment attorney about your situation. Start a free CrewVerify trial.