GPS and worker monitoring, country by country
Same Europe, different rules. You send a crew to install, clean or guard in another country and assume the rules on GPS and worker monitoring are the ones from home. They are not. Every state has its own, and they apply where the work happens: a company with a site abroad follows the local rules, even if the crew is only there on a posting. Choose the destination and we tell you what it takes to be compliant: the obligations, the procedure, who to contact and the template to download.
Mappa: simple-world-map di Fritz Lekschas, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Frequently asked questions
Can I use GPS to keep an eye on my crew while they work?
GPS at work is legal almost everywhere in Europe, on one condition: it has to organise and prove the work, not watch the person. The how is what counts. Recording location at clock-in, when someone opens and closes a job, is a very different thing from following them in real time all day. The first is usually fine when the paperwork is in order; the second almost never is.
Do my own country's rules apply, or the country where I send the team?
The country where the work happens. If your company is based in Ireland but the job site is in France, you follow the French rules, even if the crew is there for a two-week stint. That's why this page asks you to pick the destination first: the obligations shift from one state to the next, and what's enough at home can fall short across the border.
Do I need the worker's consent?
Consent is rarely the right route, which catches a lot of people out. In an employment relationship consent is treated as not freely given, because the person who refuses fears the fallout, so regulators prefer other grounds: the company's legitimate interest or a contractual duty, paired with a clear privacy notice. In several countries you also need a step with the union or a workplace agreement before you switch anything on.
Can I track location in real time, all day long?
That's the exact thing that triggers the fines. Continuous tracking is considered disproportionate almost everywhere: you record far more than you need to pay the hours or prove a job. The practical rule is to collect the minimum, the location at the moment that matters, not a thread that trails the person from morning to night.
What's the risk if I switch a system on without being compliant?
It depends on the country, but GDPR fines climb to numbers no small business wants to see, and in some states there are labour-law consequences on top. The real problem, though, often isn't the fine: it's that data collected the wrong way becomes useless exactly when you need it, in a dispute or in front of a client who's contesting the bill. Each country sheet shows the real maximum penalty and the cases on record.
Is GeoTapp a surveillance system?
No, and it was built specifically not to be. The tool records location only at clock-in, when someone opens or closes a job, never continuously, and it produces the privacy notice for them to sign. It's there to prove what was done and where, not to watch people. That's the difference between proof of work and a leash.