A GPS time tracking app that checks the punch, not the person

The buyer’s guide to a GPS time tracking app

GPS time tracking solves one problem well: proving that a punch came from the place the work happens. It is most useful for teams with several sites and crews that move between jobs. This guide covers how it works, how accurate it is, which notice and reimbursement laws apply, and how to choose an app.

How GPS time tracking works

When an employee taps clock in, the phone reports its location. The app compares that location with the geofence, a virtual circle drawn around the site, and marks the punch as inside or outside. The same thing happens at clock-out. If you want the full background, our explainer on what a geofence is walks through it with diagrams.

Some apps read location all shift, as a breadcrumb trail. Workzenly records location with the clock-in and clock-out punch, which keeps the data small and the conversation with employees simple. If you need a route log, such as mileage for drivers, that is a different kind of tool.

How accurate is mobile time tracking with GPS?

Accurate enough for “was this person at the site,” not for “which room were they in.” According to GPS.gov, the US government’s GPS site, GPS-enabled smartphones are typically accurate to within a 4.9 meter (16 foot) radius under open sky, and accuracy worsens near buildings, bridges and trees. Indoors, phones lean on Wi-Fi and cell signals instead.

So treat a flagged punch as a question, not proof of anything.

Setting the geofence radius for each site

Android’s developer documentation recommends a minimum geofence radius of 100 to 150 meters (about 330 to 490 feet) for reliable results, because typical Wi-Fi location accuracy is about 50 meters. Start there and adjust by site:

• Small shop on a dense street. 150 m. Tall buildings bounce signals, so give it the full recommended minimum.
• Warehouse, plant or campus. Draw from the main entrance and size the circle to cover the parking lot employees actually use.
• Park, event, construction lot or rural site. 200 to 250 m or more. People clock in from the edge, and shuttle lots are often outside the obvious boundary.

After two weeks, look at where flagged punches cluster. If honest employees keep landing just outside the line, widen the fence.

Employee notice laws for employee GPS time tracking

There is no single federal rule for location at clock-in, but several states require notice before electronic monitoring. Treat location at the punch as monitoring and cover it in writing:

• New York. Civil Rights Law section 52-c, in effect since May 7, 2022, requires employers with a place of business in the state that monitor employee phone calls, email or internet use to give written or electronic notice at hiring, get an acknowledgment, and post the notice where employees can see it. The Attorney General enforces it, with civil penalties of up to $500 for a first offense, $1,000 for a second and $3,000 for each later one.
• Connecticut. General Statutes section 31-48d requires prior written notice of electronic monitoring of employees, which can be given by posting a notice. Public Act 26-73, effective October 1, 2026, revised the statute; check the Connecticut Department of Labor for the current requirements.
• Delaware. Title 19, section 705 of the Delaware Code requires notice before monitoring employee phone, email or internet use, either daily or as a one-time notice the employee acknowledges. The civil penalty is $100 per violation.

Even where no law requires it, give written notice. Say what is recorded (location at clock-in and clock-out), why, who sees it and how long you keep it. You can store the policy with the handbook in Workzenly so everyone can find it.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change, so check your state labor department or an employment lawyer for your situation.

Personal phones and reimbursement

Asking employees to clock in on their own phones can create a reimbursement duty. In California, Labor Code section 2802 requires employers to indemnify employees for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred in doing their jobs. In Cochran v. Schwan’s Home Service (2014), a California Court of Appeal held that when employees are required to use personal cell phones for work, the employer must reimburse a reasonable percentage of the bill, even if the employee has an unlimited plan. Illinois has a similar reimbursement law, and other states have their own rules.

Two fixes cover most teams: a modest monthly phone amount, sent as an expense claim and paid with the next paycheck, or a shared tablet at the site through the time clock kiosk so the personal phone is optional. Our GPS time clock app checklist covers the reimbursement question in more depth.

Writing the location policy before rollout

1. Decide when location is read. We suggest punches only, and that is how Workzenly works.
2. Say who sees it and who reviews a flagged punch, and by when.
3. Offer a no-phone option, such as a shared tablet, and settle phone reimbursement if your state requires it.
4. Give the notice in writing, collect acknowledgments where the law asks for them, and add the policy to your employee handbook.
5. Run one pay period, then review the flags and resize any geofence that catches too many honest punches.

One rule worth repeating: a punch outside the geofence does not change what you owe. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees are paid for all hours worked, wherever the punch came from. Use the flag to ask a question and fix the record, never to dock time that was worked. Our guide to time and attendance tracking covers record-keeping in more detail.

How to choose a GPS time clock app

Run one real week of punches through each GPS time clock app on your list, including a parking-lot punch. Then ask each vendor:

• Is location read only at the punch, or all shift? Can you see that setting in writing?
• Can you set a different radius per site, and add a site for an event or short job?
• What happens to a punch outside the geofence: blocked, or recorded and flagged? Blocking means lost time records.
• Is the original punch kept next to any correction, with who made it?
• Is there a no-phone option, like a shared tablet at the door?
• Do approved hours go straight into payroll, or are they exported and retyped?

For a neutral side-by-side, see our list of the best GPS time clock apps, and the timesheet templates if you want to compare totals by hand during the trial week. If you want to see your own sites in Workzenly, book a demo and we will draw a geofence around each one before the call.