Company wants to monitor me at work...need help

Doom

Hi,
My company is trying to roll out a gps enabled device for us to use at work, they are disguising this as a tool to make my job easier...bullsh!t.
Now, I have nothing to hide, I do my job well, in fact better than most of other lads. Its just I don't agree with this type of technology and the amount of data it gathers.
Is there any ways of getting the company to 'feck off'..... anyone know a good valid reason I can use?
Thanks.

seamus

GPS devices in work vehicles are fairly common and getting more common. In general if the company wants to do this, you have no grounds on which to refuse.

However, what the company does with this information and controls access to the information is quite important. For example, if you use the vehicle for your own personal use, it must be fitted with a method of disabling the device when you clock off work so that your privacy is not being compromised. Likewise the company can only use the data specifically for defined business purposes. So they wouldn't be permitted to use the data to monitor what you do on your break, because that's not relevant.

Doom

Its more of a handheld device, now they have not been forthcoming about what info it gathers.
It also will be a major change to my existing work practices, i.e. I am required to log work data within 5 days, now it will be required immediately.

Also this device will need to be sync'd to my work laptop which sometimes is at my own house (part of my job allows some work from home) , they have not asked permission to allow it in my home.

Watch Ryder

I've had this way back. All works vans at a firm I worked for had them fitted. These were tracking devices not GPS. Sometimes we'd have the job finished and try knocking off early but the shylock of a boss we had would call up the chargehand and order him (and us) to turn around and head back to the worksite to twiddle our thumbs until five o' clock so he could extract his 'pound of flesh'!

He'd pour over his little screen in the office watching us on his monitor map of the town we were in etc.

I realized early on what a foul thing it can be abused for by unscrupulous bosses.

Doom

Watch Ryder wrote: »

I've had this way back. All works vans at a firm I worked for had them fitted. These were tracking devices not GPS. Sometimes we'd have the job finished and try knocking off early but the shylock of a boss we had would call up the chargehand and order him (and us) to turn around and head back to the worksite to twiddle our thumbs until five o' clock so he could extract his 'pound of flesh'!

He'd pour over his little screen in the office watching us on his monitor map of the town we were in etc.

I realized early on what a foul thing it can be abused for by unscrupulous bosses.

This is will not apply to me, I'm on a flexible system. But I can see the management hovering over the red dots on the PC screen.
I think its a way for bad managers to cover there own arses instead of actually managing their workers and dealing with problem people, not treating everyone as a potential dosser!

Khannie

Doom wrote: »

they have not been forthcoming about what info it gathers.

They need to be. I can dig out legislation on that if you want. They're entitled to monitor you, but they need to say what information they're gathering and how they're using the information.