The ability to monitor a vehicle’s location is becoming a standard feature of newer car models. Modern systems not only ensure that the vehicle can be found efficiently in the event of theft, but also that vehicle parameters – such as fuel level or tyre pressure – can be monitored on an ongoing basis. Unsurprisingly, this issue is also of interest to many employers, who, in order to optimise costs, increase operational efficiency or ensure the safety of their employees on the move, decide to install modern position monitoring systems in company vehicles.
However, the control of company cars also poses certain legal challenges, especially in terms of protecting employee privacy. How, then, can vehicles be monitored in a way that complies with the law and, at the same time, does not violate employees’ rights?
Monitoring the location of a company vehicle – essence and purpose
Monitoring of company vehicles with GPS systems is most often introduced in organisations to optimise routes, control expenses and ensure efficiency, transparency and safety of employees in the performance of their duties. Employers use such solutions to ensure that their resources are used for their intended purpose, which is justified from a business management perspective.
Controlling the location of company vehicles raises the question of the permissibility of interference in the employee’s sphere of privacy. According to Article 47 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland (Journal of Laws 1997 No. 78, item 483), every person is entitled to the protection of his or her private life. Therefore, it is the role of the employer to ensure that the extent of the employee’s monitoring does not violate his or her personal rights.
Vehicle monitoring during working hours – position of the European Court of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (hereinafter: ,,ECHR”), in its judgment of 13.12.2022 in case file 26968/16, addressed the issue of interference with an employee’s private life by recording the geolocation of the company vehicle he was travelling in.
The employee, a Portuguese national, was dismissed on the basis of data obtained by the employer from a GPS device placed in the company car. The employee disagreed with the national judgment upholding the dismissal and therefore brought a complaint before the ECtHR, alleging a violation of Article 8 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, drawn up in Rome on 4 November 1950, subsequently amended by Protocols Nos. 3, 5 and 8 and supplemented by Protocol No. 2 (Journal of Laws 1993, No. 61, item 284, as amended), which, like Article 47 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, refers to respect for the private and family life of every human being.
In the case presented, according to the employer’s policy, company vehicles were equipped with devices to control their location and employees were allowed to use their cars both during working hours and for private purposes. Following the employer’s discovery of tampering with the GPS device, which falsely recorded the employee’s working time while using the car for business purposes, the employee was terminated by disciplinary action.
Interestingly, the ECHR did not uphold the employee’s claims, finding that geolocation monitoring of a company vehicle used for business purposes was an interference with the employee’s right to respect for privacy, but one that was lawful, proportionate and justified and therefore not in breach of the fundamental rights under the Convention.
The Court also pointed out that the lawfulness of the control of the location of the official vehicle depends to a large extent on the employee being informed in advance in writing of that fact. Indeed, the control of the employee to such an extent pursues the legitimate interests of the employer, as it is aimed at verifying the use of the company car by the employee in the context of his professional duties.
Monitoring the location of a company vehicle used for private purposes
The situation becomes much more complex when an employee, with the employer’s consent, uses a company vehicle outside working hours for private purposes.
Unfortunately, there are no regulations or rulings that explicitly address the issue of turning off the GPS locator in a company vehicle after the employee has finished his/her work duties, which causes interpretation difficulties for both employers and employees.
However, the ECHR in the aforementioned judgment gives a slight hint to employers by claiming that geolocator data is only obtained and used legally insofar as it relates to the movement of the vehicle and the monitoring of the employee’s work activity (as in the case at hand) and not – for example – to control the employee’s productivity or private life. Construed in this way, the claim does not seem to unambiguously exclude the possibility of monitoring the location of a vehicle used by an employee in his or her private time, although it does give rise to some interpretative direction.
In our view, the monitoring of geolocation by employers should be limited to the employee’s work drives only. If the vehicle is used for private purposes, the employee should be free to do so without supervision by the employer, such as by being able to switch off the locator.
Summary
Controlling the location of company vehicles used for business travel is permissible as long as it is conducted in a proportionate, transparent and lawful manner. Employers should approach this issue with care in order to exercise their power to control and protect the employer’s interests on the one hand, and to respect the privacy of their employees on the other.
Our Labour Law Team will be happy to assist you in creating an appropriate policy on the monitoring of company vehicles.
Author:
Maria Aleksiejak, Lawyer