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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.
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.
Map: simple-world-map by Fritz Lekschas, CC BY-SA 3.0
The rules that apply across the whole of Europe
Before looking at a single country it helps to know what never changes. The GDPR applies identically in every member state, and these six principles hold everywhere. National employment law sits on top, and that is the part that changes at every border.
- A legitimate purpose, declared up front
Organising work, protecting safety, documenting the job. Never 'checking up on the person': that is not an admissible purpose (Articles 5 and 6 GDPR). - Only the data you need, only when you need it
This is data minimisation (Article 5(1)(c)). Recording position at the start and end of a job documents it; recording every minute monitors the person, and it is the most frequent reason for fines in Europe. - Transparency before, not after
Workers must know in advance what is recorded, when, why and for how long (Articles 12 and 13). A generic notice, or one that does not match the real system, counts as no notice at all. - Retention for a defined period
Data is kept for the period necessary for the purpose, decided and written down in advance, not 'for as long as it is useful' (Article 5(1)(e)). - An impact assessment where the risk is high
Systematic monitoring of workers typically falls among the cases requiring a DPIA (Article 35), to be carried out before the system is switched on, not afterwards. - Data collected for one purpose is not reused for another
This is purpose limitation (Article 5(1)(b)). Positions collected to document work do not automatically become evidence in a disciplinary case.
Then there is Article 88 GDPR, which lets each state add its own rules on data processing in the employment relationship. That is why the country cards below exist: what changes is who has to authorise you, not the principle.
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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 can almost always be done properly, the second almost never. What "properly" means changes from country to country, though, and it is not only about documents: sometimes an agreement with the workers' representatives or a specific legal basis is needed. The page for your country, above, says what it really takes.
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.
Want a system that is already compliant?
GeoTapp records the location only at clock-in, not continuously, and generates the notice for workers to sign. Try it for free.