GPS at work - a way to make sure employees are doing their job

Goofing Off? GPS Knows Where
BY CHRIS SEPER
c.2004 Newhouse News Service

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Customers and nosy neighbors sometimes accuse house painters at Neubert Painting Contractors in Cleveland of leaving work earlier than they should.

It used to be the workers' words against their accusers'. But now the company trusts a printout. Global positioning transmitters in all the company's trucks log how long the vehicles are at a location.

"When I tell them I have this documented, it sort of takes the wind out of their sails," company President John Neubert said.

Global positioning systems don't just tell you where you're going anymore. Businesses are starting to use information compiled by the technology to boost efficiency. GPS can warn businesses when employees are speeding, time how long vehicles sit at one location and tell whether it's time to change the oil.

"People have to manage their mobile work force better," said David Lowman, chief financial officer at SageQuest, a Beachwood, Ohio, startup that sells GPS services to company fleets.

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http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/seper122204.html

A chip in the ass?

Just kidding ;)

I repeat - Not.

Then the govt will use it on all it's vehicles (like they do smart cards in buildings and such to track who comes and goes and what they purchase in some cases) and then they will require all their contractors to do the same to insure better service(like they did with smart cards).

This will trickle down to sub-contractors and suppliers. Then the states will be promised more highway funding to get it on all cars so they can better study loads on roads, it will help track people who kidnap kids ("if we had only had a black box required on vehicles we could have saved X").

Slowly it will become the norm. It will creep in with little protest - and may be aided by a terror attack or two which could have been prevented had we all used them...

until older cars are outlawed as instruments of terrorism

even if there weren't any cops or cameras to do the catching.

a great example of using this technology was accomplished in MI

GPS was put on snow plows and the transponders also transmitted plow state (up or down). a central computer was then able to determine what roads had and hadn't been plowed. when this data was overlaid with the EMS dispatch system, it allowed ambulances to be routed the shortest distance to emergencies over plowed roads.

I'd get a chip in my shoulder for sure.

To keep track of their technicians in the field. One tech putting a phone line in my home told me that they have to make more "circuit checks" on polls than ever just to keep from getting overloaded with work they can't complete in 8 hours. Their overtime was cut and more work is demanded of them while they take forced pay and benefit cuts to keep their jobs.

They began field-testing the GPS technology on their Installation & Repair vehicles about five years ago. Some employees were fired with GPS as a basis even though they acknowledged it was not perfected yet.

Link: http://www.verizonit.com/news/workforce.htm

that they've had the GPS systems in their trucks for a few years. It sends a signal to their boss if they don't leave the main building within 15 minutes of their shift starting. It keeps track of everything they do all day long.
Then, just last summer, I was told by a painting tradesman that his employer had the same thing in their cell phones.

Thank Clinton for signing that piece of legislation. Every new cell phone manufactured has a mandatory GPS tracking chip in it. It has been done under the rubrik of allowing emergency services to track you in case you're stranded or have an accident. Another reason not to have a cell phone.

All of those fine OnStar equipped vehicles also work off of GPS tracking.

We just came back from California and my wife freaked when we arrived in LA, she popped on her cellphone and the time had adjusted for Pacific time from it's normal Central time. I explained the cellphone had "checked in" (we use U.S. Cellular...all these companies are the same) and it knew she was somewhere in the Pacific Time Zone and adjusted her phone accordingly. I went further to say this is how the phone knows when you're in a local cell or roaming and how the company makes money when it charges you extra fees based on distance. She was freaked at how instrusive these things are, but that's part of "living in the modern world".

As a business owner, I have no problems with companies that supply their employees (especially sales people) with devices to keep track of them when they're on the road on company time. I've worked in too many situations where people, when given to do 4 hours to do a one hour job or real work will choose the 4 hours every time. Sometime's knowing someone is watching isn't a bad thing.

There needs to be laws that protect the confidentiality of a "leasor" or someone who buys a service, such as a cellphone and those who agree to use them, and other company "perks" as a condition of their job.

As an employer, I have a right to know where my vehicles and employees are during the time they are being paid by me.

I have caught employees telling me they are on their way to a job when I'm on the road behind them watching them turn into their own street.

If they are driving too fast, they are taking risks with my insurance premiums and the wear and tear on my equipment.

We treat our employees well and we pay them well - I don't see the problem with this type of tracking.

How much control do you expect out of your employees? You said something about speeding. Does that mean they drive only the posted speed limit? That will be hazardous on any major road in the U.S.

What about private use of it? Many people don't "own" their own cars. The bank does. Does that let THEM chip out cars so we can borrow? What about the breathalyzer in cars? What about not letting us turn off our GPS in our cell phones "for out own safety?"

I hope that rapture fundies don't interpret our agreement on an issue as a sign of the last days :)

You make some very excellent points

Thanks, your humor made my evening.

GPS and all that other tracking stuff can be used for good or ill. On its face, it all sounds so...logical. But I have a paranoid brain and it's easy to see it go bad very quickly.

Aside from entertainment and information, I'm counting on DU to keep me informed on how to disable any garbage like this.

Many people don't "own" their own cars. The bank does. Does that let THEM chip out cars so we can borrow?

I think some lending and leasing companies already require it or give a discount if you agree to it. If not now, soon. It makes it much easier for the repo guy to find the car. They can also include cell phone technology and a connection with the car's systems so that they can remotely disable the car so you can't move it.

As far as the speed goes, I understand reasonable speed to keep up with traffic. We aren't monsters, we are reasonable business owners trying to do what we can to increase production and reduce our liability. If we can't afford to stay in business, we put people out of work. I think our techs would much rather deal with GPS than be unemployed.

The amount of regulation on our industry has increased, our insurance premiums are outrageous and I still say if I am paying someone for their time, I have a right to know that they are where they are supposed to be.

Is this any different than having a supervisor in a manufacturing plant walking the floor to make sure things are going as they should? Attorney's having to account for all of their time thru billable hours? Absolutely not. Just because my employees are on the road doesn't me they are immune from supervision.

I've worked for bosses who wanted everything regulated. So, now imagine an insurance company boss who realizes that your accident occurred while speeding (four mph over the limit). Do you think he'll want to deny the claim as your fault? I sure as heck do.

There is a point where being unemployed is more viable than being controlled. I don't know what that point is, but be aware if you keep tracking everything we do, you add obligation on YOU. If you monitor us and know where we are and what we are doing, then you are obliged to do something about it if we aren't doing our job. That includes bosses.

I think that if you are feeling the need to track your employees every single movement, then you're not hiring the right employees. Perhaps you need to look into your screening process a bit more, or really examine whether or not your employees are happy working for you. I'm not trying to dis you, but I've found that if one's employees are goofing off on the job, there's a reason for it, usually dissatisfaction with their job, station or pay.

Frankly, both from the point of view of an employer and employee, I find the notion of GPS monitoring of employees to be repulsive, and rather fascist in nature. And believe me, if an employee wants to shirk on the job, they're going to find ways to do it, GPS or no.

all their trucks, and not only do they keep track of "rest time", they also record speeds, so if a trucker fails to take his mandatory rest or if he speeds, he's TOAST..

They did this as a safety issue to reduce their cost of insurance..Dennis HATED it at first, but now he likes it because he's not as tired on long hauls..

The truckers realized that , the company had huge investments in their equipment, and in the employees too, so they just follow the rules..

As a reward, the company has NOT increased the amount that the employees have to pay towards their medical insurance. Supposedly, they saved enough money on their liability insurance, to make up the difference for them..

to improve the service at the local Wendy's drive-thru, I'm all for it.

...those things are only accurate to within a few hundred yards, right?

I think they're accurate to within a meter or less. There used to be a built-in fudge factor that made them somewhat inaccurate, but never off by hundreds of yards. The fudge factor was so that only the U.S. military could get exact info. It was a changing thing, but it changed in an algorithmic way, so there were companies which built equipment to go along with GPS which would de-fudge the GPS's readings. A few years ago (I think during Clinton's term), the U.S. stopped "inaccuratizing" the readings.

GPS-enabled cell phones with location services can track what road you're on, when you're approaching the intersection where you're supposed to turn, and make announcements like "Get in the left turn lane now and turn left on Reed Ave. at this intersection." They can also make announcements like "Ooops, you just passed your turn. You are now off-course."

GPS are accurate to around 50' depending on conditions. That can be as accurate as 10'.

I know a couple of verizon techs, and they get fired if they're caught jamming or covering their gps units.



As far as private cars go, most new cars, especially GM have little black boxes that log starts, stops, hard acceleration, and hard breaking airbag speed, etc. No location, but a time stamp.

They have been subpoenaed and used in several court cases involving accidents.

but for putting on a GPS antenna.

foil will effectively block and gps signals.

"I have no idea why it didnt tell you where I was"

It's here, right now!

For the corporate fleet it's probably going to become essential. Big rigs all have tracking devices already.

My freeper brother, who currently hauls lettuce from California to Spokane, says the trackers have helped them save 20 gallons of diesel each way. They run 50 trucks in lettuce service, they make one round trip every three days (it takes him a day and a half for each leg) and they're hauling lettuce every day. That's around a quarter-million gallons of fuel saved per year (240,000, to be exact) just on this route, and you know how the Bush boy feels about people shorting his buddies in the oil industry a half-million dollars a year.

I wouldn't want one in my private automobile.

Look, Oregon is doing it now, it will be good for the environment, and it's one more reason we must oust the Bushites before they use it to enslave us. They will use it sell more oil instead of for the good of the earth.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001972174_mileagetax05m.html

He doesn't mind. It's the company's car (he works for a small family-owned company) and it would be a dent in thier finances if something happened to it. They're cooler about it than most of the places mentioned, he's allowed to use it to do the occasional errand on shift and he won't get fired for speeding unless it's flagrant. They just check to be sure he isn't taking the car places in his off hours or going someplace far from where he should be during his shift without noting why on the paperwork.

Pay your employees an honest salary, don't treat them like shit, and you might just be able to operate without spending 40% of your time micromanaging them :eyes:

I worked in the casino industry as a dealer for a few years and was under constant surveillance. I understand the need for it because casinos have what everyone else wants...money. After a while you don't even think about the cameras watching your every move. I think employers do have a right to monitor what their employees do while on company time, but I also believe that employees should be treated as though they have the best interests of their employer in mind while working. Rather than assume everyone needs to be monitored, it should be used as a tool to monitor situations where one is suspected of not doing his/her job. The whole "assumed innocent" idea.

Geico or some other major insurer will offer a "good driver" discount for keeping a GPS in the car. Other insurers will follow. Non-GPS policies will become prohibitively expensive. Game over.

to run two sets of books anymore. And parking under a bridge doesn't cut it either.