Employee time tracking with GPS
GPS time tracking your crew can actually live with.
Employees do not object to accurate timekeeping. They object to being followed. Most GPS time tracking blurs those two things together, asks for location permission set to Always, and then wonders why the rollout goes badly. Punchless is built the other way round: tracking runs during shift hours and stops when the shift ends, technicians can see their own data, and one tap pauses it entirely. The hours still build themselves.
What we collect, and what we do not
Written plainly so you can forward this page to the person who is going to ask.
During shift hours only
Tracking starts when the shift starts and stops when it ends. Evenings, weekends and days off produce no location data at all, because nothing is running.
Job site crossings, not a continuous trail
The record that matters is arriving at and leaving a registered job site, with low-frequency sampling in between. The purpose is attributing hours to jobs, not reconstructing someone's movements.
A pause button that actually stops it
One tap suspends tracking during the workday. It is there because there are legitimate reasons someone needs privacy for twenty minutes, and a system with no allowance for that gets defeated in less dignified ways.
Technicians see their own data
Every worker can review their own entries and the GPS events behind them. A record someone can inspect and dispute is a fundamentally different thing from one held over them.
Nothing off the clock, ever
Some tools in this category request location while workers are off the clock in order to detect geofence entry. We do not, and if we did, we would say so on this page.
Retention you can point at
Location detail is retained for 12 months and then aged out. Approved timecards persist as payroll records, which is what your obligations actually require.
How GPS tracking usually gets introduced
- Installed with little explanation
- Location permission set to Always, including off shift
- Workers cannot see what is recorded about them
- Reminder notifications through the day
- Crew assumes the worst, because nobody told them otherwise
How it should be introduced
- Explained before it is installed, in writing
- Runs during shift hours, stops when the shift ends
- Technicians review their own records
- No notifications, because nothing is asked of them
- The visible change is that timesheets disappear
Rolling it out without losing people
01
Tell the crew before you install anything
Say what is collected, when it runs, when it stops, who can see it and what it will not be used for. Doing this after installation costs you far more trust than doing it before ever saves you time.
02
Put it in writing
A short written policy in the handbook does two jobs at once. It satisfies notice requirements in the states that have them, and it means the answer to a suspicious question is a document rather than a conversation.
03
Lead with what they get
For a technician the change is that they stop filling in timesheets, stop being chased on Friday and stop losing minutes they actually worked. That is a real benefit and it is the honest headline.
04
Start with one crew
Run a single crew for a pay period. It surfaces the site-specific problems, tight geofences on dense streets, dead zones, shared phones, while the stakes are still low.
05
Keep approval human
Automatic entries are drafts a manager reviews. Workers should know that a person, not a sensor, decides what they are paid, and that every override is logged.
The legal questions people actually ask
Is it legal to GPS track employees?
On company-owned devices and vehicles during working hours, generally yes across the United States. The complications are personal devices, off-hours tracking and a handful of state notice requirements. Our state-by-state page links the actual statutes.
Does New Jersey really require written notice?
Yes. New Jersey requires written notice before using a tracking device in a vehicle, regardless of who owns it. It is the clearest affirmative obligation in this area and it is frequently missed.
What about personal phones?
If workers use their own devices, consent and clear disclosure matter much more, and so does limiting collection to working hours. This is exactly the fact pattern that generates complaints.
Can employees refuse?
That depends on your state, your policies and whether the device is theirs. It is a question for your employment counsel, and worth resolving before rollout rather than during it.
Is any of this legal advice?
No. We build software. We maintain the state-by-state reference because our customers kept asking and most of what circulates online is wrong, but it is a starting point for a conversation with your own lawyer.
Common questions
Is GPS employee tracking legal?+
On company-owned devices and vehicles, during working hours, it is broadly lawful across the United States, but the details vary by state and the exceptions matter. New Jersey requires written notice before using a tracking device in a vehicle regardless of ownership. Personal devices and any tracking outside working hours raise significantly harder questions. We maintain a state-by-state reference with links to the actual statutes, and it is not legal advice.
Does Punchless track employees outside working hours?+
No. Tracking runs during shift hours and stops when the shift ends. Nothing is collected on evenings, weekends or days off. This is a deliberate design choice: it is the single biggest driver of crew resistance and it is not necessary to produce an accurate timecard.
Can employees turn off tracking?+
Yes, with a one-tap pause during the workday. We include it because there are legitimate reasons a person needs privacy for a short period, and because a system with no allowance for it simply gets defeated in worse ways, like leaving the phone in the truck. Paused periods are visible to a manager, so it is transparent rather than a loophole.
Can employees see their own GPS data?+
Yes. Every technician can review their own time entries and the location events behind them. We think this is close to non-negotiable for a tool like this. A record a worker can inspect and challenge is a different thing from one kept about them.
How much battery does GPS time tracking use?+
It depends on the design. Continuous high-accuracy polling is expensive. Punchless uses the phone's native geofencing with low-frequency sampling, and most technicians see roughly 8 to 15% of daily battery across a full shift, comparable to occasional map use. Test it on a real shift during the trial rather than taking any vendor's number, including ours.
Do I need a written GPS policy?+
You should have one regardless, and in some states you must. A short handbook section covering what is collected, when tracking runs, when it stops, who can see it and how long it is kept satisfies notice requirements where they exist and makes the rollout considerably easier everywhere else.
Next
Accurate hours without following anyone home.
30 days free, no credit card. Read the privacy terms before you invite your crew, not after.