City workers in Michigan are being monitored by the GPS on city vehicles.

This news report outlines how cities around the United States are installing GPS trackers on city-owned vehicles.  This is a really good idea that will benefit the city and make sure that workers are not abusing their morning, afternoon, and lunch breaks.  Taxpayers need to know where and how their money is being used and need to have the reassurance that workers are doing their jobs.  What are your comments?

It can be argued that the city is within its limits in tracking its workers. On the other side of the spectrum, this can be seen as a violation of privacy acts and contribute to making workers feel stressed.  The everlasting knowing that your every move is being observed and logged into a system might not sit well with some as they already have amounts of pressure to do their job. This is an argument of how far can a job go into monitoring their workers, on in this case the vehicles that are driven.

A solid structure must be put into place when something like GPS tracking/monitoring is being introduced to the workforce.  It is natural for workers to feel uncomfortable, but it is essential to lay out how far the monitoring will be done.  In this case, a simple GPS tracking device can help prevent theft and track the location of the vehicles at all times.  There is nothing more than the article states will be tracked, so as long as the vehicles are accounted for and are not being used for personal errands during work time, there shouldn’t be much of a concern in regard to privacy violations.

Transparency is the best thing that a company can give its workers, it will open the lines of communication and lessen the worries and questions of being tracked. It can also be explained as a safety measure that will help when the vehicles are in high crime areas.