Managing a team spread across multiple locations comes with its own set of challenges. Knowing exactly when and where your employees are is key to ensuring your business runs smoothly.
All businesses can benefit from having insight into the whereabouts of their teams, but for some industries like construction, transportation, hospitality, and retail, having peace of mind that everybody is where they need to be is absolutely crucial to making sure your business is successful.
In this article, we’ll look at the different options and software for tracking employees’ locations, as well as legal considerations and best practices of location tracking.
How to track employee location
When it comes to employee tracking, employers have many different options to choose from. The best tool for your business depends mostly on your industry and on your business needs. The reason to track your employees will be very different if you are managing a construction project with contractors spread across multiple sites than your reasons to track your team working in retail across a chain of stores.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for business owners who need to track the location of their employees. The right approach depends on the industry, the size of your team, and whether your employees work in fixed locations, remotely, or in the field. For tracking, you have apps, software, or tracking devices to choose from, or a combination of all three.
Employee tracking apps
One of the most popular solutions for tracking your teams’ location is via an app installed on their smartphones. These apps use GPS and geofencing to confirm that staff are in authorized work zones when they clock in and clock out.
Employee tracking apps are one of the most cost-effective solutions for SMBs, since they don’t require extra hardware to be purchased. Your team may object to downloading a tracking app to their personal devices, but besides this method being the easiest and most cost-effective solution, it is also the least intrusive. One of the main reasons your team may not want the app running on their smartphones is the belief that apps using location data drain their battery very quickly.
Factorial’s time tracking has geofencing features that only uses and records location data at the moment of clocking in and out. Thanks to this the app not only uses less battery, it also provides your team more privacy while also giving you peace of mind that they are where they need to be.
💡 Want to see Factorial in action? Get your free demo!
Employee tracking devices
Some industries require actual physical devices to track employee locations. This can include GPS trackers installed on vehicles, RFID badges for facilities that need higher security, or even wearable trackers for staff working hazardous environments. Unlike apps, tracking devices provide reliable data even when an employee’s smartphone isn’t connected to the internet, properly charged, or not set up to allow location sharing.
Employee tracking devices are better suited for work that requires a higher amount of security and protection. This method of tracking takes more work to set up and also has a higher price.
Employee monitoring software
This method of tracking is for remote and desk-based work and focuses not on location tracking, but productivity monitoring. While the location tracking of your team confirms where they are, monitoring software focuses on what they do during work hours. This type of tracking is most commonly used in remote settings where productivity is harder to measure than physical presence.
Employee monitoring software usually involves activity tracking to log which apps and websites employees visit during work hours, sometimes including periodic screenshots and screen recordings to verify active work.
Although businesses have all of the methods above to choose from, the most popular choice for SMBs is still employee tracking apps. They’re easy to implement, cost effective, and don’t require purchasing special hardware. What makes them especially valuable to growing businesses is how platforms like Factorial take location-based time tracking and integrate it into a broader business management platform. This means timesheets are filled automatically when your team clocks in and out with all the details you need to easily process payroll. Automation like this saves you hours of work each week.
Benefits of Tracking Employee Location
When running a business, the key to success is eliminating as much guesswork as possible. Tracking your team isn’t about mistrusting them, it’s about needing reliable data to manage labor costs, bill your clients accurately, and keep payroll simple.
Accurate Job Costing
When juggling multiple projects, you need to know how many hours of work went into each one. Without GPS time tracking, job costing becomes guesswork.
Perhaps you quoted 200 hours of labor to your client, but when the project is completed, how do you know if those are the hours your team put in or if you went 30% over? With accurate clock-ins thanks to location tracking, you will know exactly how many hours of work went into each project. Not only will this help you bill clients appropriately, it will also help you plan and quote on future projects.
Business owners often find that this is the single biggest reason they need tracking. It’s impossible to improve estimates and pricing without it. When billing time and materials, you have to be able to show clients exactly when and where the work was done.
Managing Multiple Jobs at Once
Besides being able to create better estimates and more accurate quotes, tracking location will also save you time on admin work.
In small firms, it’s common for crews to visit two or three job sites in a single day. When managing them, you need a simple way to track the work done. What time did they start on job one, when did they leave, and how many hours did they spend on job two? Without software to help you, admin will be a waste of time chasing timesheets, calling foremen, or piecing together invoices from memory.
Having an overview of how much time crews spent on individual projects means you will spot inefficiencies, allowing you to adjust schedules and make sure jobs are staffed correctly. Without having to do guesswork regarding the exact hours your team worked, you will also be able to bill clients properly, maintaining a culture of honesty. If a client were to dispute the hours billed, you will have data to back up the invoice.
Removing the headache from payroll
For most small- to medium-sized businesses, payroll is one of the biggest recurring headaches. For a professional work environment, you want your team to feel confident that they will always receive their pay correctly and on time. And for yourself and your office team, you want to remove the administrative burden of chasing missing timesheets and double-checking the hours logged. Location tracking helps by producing those timesheets for you with all the details you need for simplified payroll accurately.
Instead of relying on memory with workers forgetting to log their hours properly, then having to double-check with foremen to make sure the hours worked are accurate, location tracking ensures that every clock-in and clock-out is tied to a GPS location. Fewer errors means less room or need for disputes. Your team sees that their hours are logged automatically and fairly, which builds trust. When your workforce doesn’t have to worry about payroll mistakes, they can focus on their job instead of second-guessing whether their pay will be short at the end of the week.
From the employer’s perspective, tracking isn’t about squeezing labor costs, but about running a business in a way that feels reliable and fair to everyone involved. Tracking prevents awkward situations where payroll accuracy is questioned, for example in the case of an employee who worked across three job sites in one day. Without GPS logs, it would be easy for hours to be lost due to incorrect clock-ins, creating unnecessary tension on payday. With location tracking, employees know every hour is counted.
Tracking Employee Location: Best Practices
Introducing employee location tracking can feel like a big shift for both your admin team and your employees. Despite your best intentions, it’s easy to make mistakes and it’s important to maintain transparency and establish trust in order to keep your team happy. The way you introduce this tech in your organization is just as important as the tool you choose. Follow these best practices to get it right.
Choosing the Right App
Not every business needs the same features. The “best” app depends on what you’re solving for.
- If you run crews across multiple sites, geofencing ensures clock-ins happen only where work is scheduled.
- If you manage retail or hospitality teams, look for integrations that will help you stay on top of scheduling issues.
- If you have hybrid or remote staff, check that home and office locations can be set up as valid worksites.
Best practice: prioritize apps that integrate with your payroll or HR system. Saving hours of admin work each month is where you really see the return on investment.
Deciding on Devices
Should employees use their own phones, or should you issue company phones?
- Personal phones keep costs low, but some staff may feel uneasy mixing work tracking with their private devices.
- Company phones solve privacy concerns and keep everything standardized, but add upfront cost.
Many SMBs strike a balance between company phones for field crews who move job to job, and personal devices for fixed-location staff.
Some industries already require their field workers to carry company devices in order to fulfill their tasks. Installing a tracking app on these devices should be the easiest solution.
Communicating Clearly With Employees
The most important aspect is how you communicate changes to your team. Employees don’t like to feel like they are seen as untrustworthy by their managers. Make it a priority to explain what’s tracked, why it matters, and how it benefits everyone in the organization.
- Be transparent: make it clear tracking only applies during work hours and only at clock-in/out.
- Explain the benefit: explain that payroll will be more accurate, disputes will disappear, and employees will always have proof of their work.
- Update policies: add a simple written policy or handbook update so employees know what to expect.
- Listen to concerns: if someone is worried about privacy or technical issues, address it directly. Be transparent and don’t be afraid to have these conversations.
When employees understand the system is there to protect their hours as much as the company’s costs, they’re much more likely to support it.
Rolling It Out Smoothly
Any new system has a learning curve. The key is patience and consistency.
- Try the app with a small crew before rolling out company-wide.
- Give short, practical training on how to clock in and out.
- Treat early errors as learning opportunities, not violations.
- Use app data as a guide, but confirm with foremen, invoices, or job reports when something looks off.
Employees can tell whether a boss is using the tool responsibly. Handle the rollout with fairness, and adoption will follow.
Tying It Into Payroll and Job Costing
Tracking only delivers value if it’s connected to payroll and job costing. Automated timesheets eliminate admin headaches, but they also show you whether projects are truly profitable.
- Review hours per site to see if jobs are on budget.
- Compare tracked hours to your estimates to sharpen future bids.
- Use verified logs to protect billing if a client questions time spent on a job.
Balancing Control and Trust
Finally, remember that tracking works best when the whole team trusts it.
Always balance app data with real-world context. If GPS shows someone at the gas station next to the job site, check first. Don’t be too quick to accuse your team of breaching policy.
Legal & Compliance
One of the biggest questions business owners ask is: is it legal to track employee location? The answer is yes, as long as it’s done correctly. U.S. law generally allows employers to use GPS or geofencing for legitimate business purposes, but there are important conditions to follow:
- Transparency matters: Always inform employees in writing about what is tracked, when, and why. The safest approach is to include it in your employee handbook or agreements.
- Work hours only: Tracking outside of scheduled shifts raises serious privacy concerns. Best practice is to limit GPS data to clock-ins and clock-outs.
- Consent and acknowledgment: Have employees review and accept your geolocation policy before rollout.
- Data security: Limit access to managers who need it and make sure the information is stored securely.
- State-specific rules: Some states, like California, have stricter privacy protections. If you operate in multiple states, double-check local labor and data privacy laws to ensure compliance.
For business owners, the safest way to think about compliance is this: use location tracking as a tool for payroll accuracy and safety, not as a way to monitor personal lives. Keep it professional, fair, and limited to the workplace.
Best Platform to Track Employee Location: Factorial
When it comes to employee location tracking, small and mid-sized businesses need a tool that’s accurate, easy for your team to use, and integrated with the way you manage payroll and scheduling. That’s exactly what Factorial was designed to do.
How Factorial Works for You
Factorial is more than just a geofence-based time tracker, it’s a complete business management platform. Its location tracking is designed to make life easier for both owners and employees. Instead of tracking people all day, Factorial only records location when employees clock in or out, so privacy is protected. This means you still get precise timesheets, without employees feeling micromanaged.
With Factorial, you can set up geofences around worksites (from as little as 50 meters up to 1000 meters or about 150 feet to 0.6 miles) so staff can only clock in once they’re on site. If someone tries to start their shift outside the approved area, they’re blocked, helping eliminate time theft or “buddy punching.” For your business, this translates into easier payroll, accurate job costing, and fewer disputes.
Managers also get real-time alerts if there’s a location issue, along with reports that flag shifts performed outside the work zone. These reports can be downloaded and exported, making audits, payroll reviews, and client billing less of a hassle. Because Factorial integrates people, operations, and finance in one platform, you’re not just tracking locations. With Factorial, you’re streamlining the way your whole business runs.
Key Features for Location Tracking
- Mobile clock-in/out with geolocation enabled
- Customizable geofencing radius (50m – 1000m or 150 feet – 0.6 miles)
- Automatic timesheet generation with location verification
- Option to block off-site clock-ins
- Real-time alerts for managers about location issues
- Exportable reports with GPS data for payroll, compliance, or billing
- Full integration with scheduling, payroll, and HR
Try Factorial today and see how easy it is to keep your timesheets accurate, your projects on budget, and your team running smoothly.
FAQs
- How can I track my employees’ location?
The simplest way to track your employees’ location is through a geofencing app that employees can use to clock in and clock out. This is a useful way to track their hours tied to a location you set without constant monitoring.
- Can an employer track an employee’s location?
Yes, as long as the tracking is during work hours only and employees are informed.
- Can you track your employees?
Yes, you can. However, best practice is to track only the location they clock in and out from, not continuously throughout the day unless your business requires it.
- Can I still track employees who work in areas with poor or no internet connectivity?
Yes, tracking is possible with apps that log the data when offline and sync once internet connection is established again, that way data isn’t lost.
- Do GPS tracking apps securely store location data?
Yes, reputable apps encrypt and safely store data collected with access limited to managers who are authorized to handle such data with care. Always confirm your provider’s security standards.
- How do I ensure I am adhering to employee tracking regulations from state to state?
Regulations may vary, so always follow best practices when it comes to employee tracking. Notify employees and make sure they are aware of your organization’s policies. Review state labor and privacy laws and consult a lawyer to stay up-to-date with changes to regulations.
- What to do if my employees attempt to disable or modify their tracking device?
Treat it as a conversation first and ask why. Often, it’s about privacy concerns or lack of understanding the purpose of tracking.Remind your team that tracking protects payroll accuracy and fairness, and update workplace policy if needed.
