Employers have placed tracking devices on vehicles used by their employees for good reason: to ensure that employees are where they are supposed to be during working time. However, based on a recently enacted law in New Jersey, private sector employers must warn employees before they utilize a tracking device in a vehicle used by an employee. The employer's failure to disclose this information comes at a notable cost.
Understandably, vehicle tracking devices help to provide information that employees are performing their duties as intended. Employers who use tracking devices and who are subject to this new NJ law must provide written warnings to their current employees and to new employees as they are hired. Those employers should also keep records to verify that appropriate written warnings were provided to covered employees.
An employer who knowingly uses a tracking device in a vehicle used by an employee without providing written notice to the employee is subject to a civil penalty of not more than $1,000 for the first violation and not more than $2,500 for each subsequent violation.
There is an exception for private sector employers if the tracking device is used solely to document employee expense reimbursement. In addition, the law recognizes situations in which federal law controls over the new statute, acknowledging that nothing in the new law supersedes regulations governing interstate commerce including, but not limited to, the use of electronic communications devices as mandated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
The law goes into effect on April 18, 2022. Employers who are subject to the law should ensure that they provide proper timely warnings, and that they retain documentation of warnings they provide.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
