This guy was coming in early, and leaving early. So he was still most likely putting in his 8 hours a day. Unless there was something for which he was particularly needed to be on site for later in the day, what is the big deal? Did they check to see if there was a job related reason for which he was coming in early all those days, and had been given the afternoons off as comp time?

C'mon, like people get fired from the NY school system?! If he even smells like a union member they'll just reassign him somewhere else.

Even GPS can't overcome the raw power of the Teamsters Local.

Well if he got there early and left early then it really doesn't matter, he maybe didn't have much work to do.

$300 / day ... damn I want that!
with 20 working days / month = 6000 $ / month. yummy.
And by the way, what's wrong in coming 2 hours earlier to the job? That's supose to mean that he was working 2 hours extra.

Lol,yeah but the Pres is bashed for tracking terroists,nice one people.This one smells of aclu.
gotta have those civil liberties.

What they should do is credit the hours he came in early vs the times he left early. If he's still getting the job done, and is there for the required amount of time, I don't see a problem. If it's flat out abuse, punt him hard and far

Most jobs require you to work in teams to get things done. If you are there before everyone else, then odds are you aren't really doing anything productive. When it comes to unions and chronically subversive employees, you need to use any means necessary to build up a case to fire them. Good for them for using technology to get rid of a slacker.

Are employer legally allowed to track the employee without his consent? IF the whole point of employer provided (smart)phone is to track the employee, shouldn’t the employee be informed of it?

On a separate note, can employer track employee’s call record or turn on the mic as to listen in on face to face conversation? If yes, I guess we already live in a big brother state where the government and business are one.

Go to school, get a nice degree. Get some experience.
Thats roughly 72k a year. I'd consider that slightly below normal to normal for a senior management position in New York City.

ok, granted, capitalistic conditions do not match the criteria of communism however whereever I turn around on the internet I get to read about all "security" measures implemented in the US; and I have to admit these are better than in any totalitarian regime (yes, I'm from the east block).

Did you guys consider that you give up too much rights in favour of a dubious government? How much are you going to accept that?

As much as I like the concept of the US, health insurance system (blame Michael Moore :D ) and discriminatory entrance policy make me (and not only) stay away from the wonders of this beautiful contry.

Not everybody lives in the rich part of the world, you know... or do you consider all .com sites being not only property but also for exclusive use of US and similar?

I personally hate this strict 8 hours of work scheme. Simply because, it just doesn't help with your other life matters.

2 days ago, I had to get my air ticket and a bank draft. Due to this 8 hour restriction, I sacrificed my lunch hour and stepped off. Alas, stuck with a traffic jam. When I reach Bank and Ticket office, most of the staff out for lunch. So it took me 2 hours. Gladly, didn't get fired.

After reading this article, I should stay away from GPS phones. Back to nokia 11xx series :D

Instead of saying: "You're fired!" , they could say "Hey John, we noticed you've been leaving work early? Now now, you really shouldn't do that! If we notice you doing that again I'm afraid we'll have to take measures!"

This guy makes 72k annually, yet teachers complain they don't earn enough?... Anger Rising...

I think its something more than just arriving early and leaving early.

"his guy was coming in early, and leaving early. So he was still most likely putting in his 8 hours a day."

This would be fine except the fact that he was getting paid AFTER LEAVING WORK. It says he was leaving 3 hours before then end of the day...but he was probably getting paid for those 3 hours that spent at home. As well, he probably had numerous time cards saying he worked a 6am-5pm shift.

The short answer is yes. YOu are allowed to track your employee whereabouts, look at their phone records, and read their emails. You cannot listen to their phone calls without consent.

It really doesn't matter if he arrived early unless he had his supervisors consent. He is in all likelihood an hourly employee and therefore must keep accurate records of his comings and goings.

The interesting part is that he is a supervisor. So is he an hourly or salaried. A salaried employee gets paid no matter how many hours he works...

Well for all those who think coming in should offset the leaving early this is correct in one sense, but it does say two thing.

First, it says that he leaves early.
Second, "They became suspicious of Haplin's timesheets."
That alone at any company is terms of being fired. You come in early you mark it coming in early. It doesn’t say this but I hardly doubt that he put this on the time sheet. He is the one at fault and a company has the right to know where there employees are at all time in over 40 states when they are on the clock. This fellow thought he could pull a fast one but he is cought red handed.

Was he a solo worker, or part of a team? As a supervisor, could he delegate tasks, let his people work, then check out their progress the following morning? Was he available to be called, even when off the worksite? Were there times when shifting his work to early mornings was desireable? (Getting noisy work done before regular employees arrive, so as to not disturb them?)

Some jobs fit into a rigid 9-5 pattern. Some don't. These few paragraphs on this one case don't provide enough enough to base an opinion on.

Badass, this is clearly the result of unions. A union is essentially a socialist creature that makes it almost impossible to fire an employee regardless of how poor of a worker they are. Socialism essentially protects the lazy and rewards the stupid. From what I understand, you folks in the eastern bloc have some firsthand experience with this. Do you really think they would have taken these measures if he was a model employee? Also, i don't know how you connect this instance to the government, over here private and public sectors are completely different arenas. And about public health care? why don't you go and get first hand accounts on the quality of service from a public healthcare system from someone who lives and has children in great britain or canada? You talk about the horrors of having big brother reaching into your life, try a nanny state trying to control the way you raise your children? Capitalism is a beautiful thing, if you work hard and play smart you have a shot at improving your standing. If you are stupid and lazy, then someone else is going to take your place as you slide down the totem pole of society.
"ok, granted, capitalistic conditions do not match the criteria of communism however whereever I turn around on the internet I get to read about all "security" measures implemented in the US; and I have to admit these are better than in any totalitarian regime (yes, I'm from the east block)."

Getting fired for taking a long lunch once in a while? I wouldn't worry about it.

US labor laws are complex, and vary by state. However, if you are an "exempt" employee, your employer cannot dock your pay based on how many or few hours you work in a day, as long as you show up during the day. If you are consistently not in the office, you may be fired for performance reasons, though. The flip-side is that you are not entitled to overtime pay if you are "exempt."

If you are not exempt, then you are entitled to a minimum 1.5x pay for overtime hours, some contracts give more. You are paid based on a time card. Unless you lie on the time card, you're probably not in trouble, but again, if your job needs you there at certain times, and you're habitually not there, you may be terminated.

In general, a well performing worker is a really valuable asset to a company; finding and training a replacement is very hard; you should not go to work worrying about whether you'll get fired or not every day.

For actual legal advice, though, please see a lawyer licensed in your locale.

I really dont understand what is going on with this NY School. The guy isnt a teacher - so he doesnt have to be there to teach anyone - in which case his hours can be more flexible. If the guy has come in at 6am, then he's doing the right thing by making up the time when he left early. To be honest, in Australia they encourage people to come in early when there's less traffic on the roads, and get their work done... Just sounds political to me, trying to sack this guy due to someone's nose being out of joint or something... How ridiculous.

Employers can place a million cameras on their property, track everything you do on their computers at the workplace and track exactly when you enter and leave the workplace. However they employ you they don't own you. When you leave work your employer does not have any right to spy on your life. That is called invasion of privacy and is against the implied constitutional right of privacy not to mention the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I especially like that they released to the public not only when he left work but also when he arrived home, how is that relevant? It's fine if they want to place restrictions on what you can do with company property but they have to tell you if they are using it to spy on your private not work related life.

"The department [of Education] is not expected to notify its employees of all the methods it may possibly use to uncover their misconduct". Does this include cameras in your home bathroom or bedroom or implanting GPS trackers under your skin? Call me a civil libertarian but I think he should sue the school/DOE for tracking him when not on the job and invading his privacy without even warning him their cell phone would be used to spy on him.

And to respond to Sacto's "i don't know how you connect this instance to the government, over here private and public sectors are completely different arenas." This guy was working for the Department of Education, a government agency. Also the government outsources/hires many private companies to do work for them while private companies lobby and bid for these contracts, the line between private and public is very blurry when it is there at all.

As u said it yourself, employers are permitted to know what ur doing at every second while your on the clock. So, technically, its not an invasion of privacy, since they tracked him leaving early. They probably didnt follow him all around, im sure they have better things to do. The problem is he lied on his timesheet. U cant simply say that u worked until so and so, and then sue the school when u realized that they tracked u outside of school grounds when u were supposed to be working.

This is another example of Big Brother resorting to technology to spy on its employees. I have heard of service vehicles being wired for GPS and bugged for sound. This is all used to keep track of its employes and to gather intellegence. Imagine yourself in a company vehicle and you know that GPS in installed in you vehicles but un-be-known to you, any verbal dialogue you engage in within that company vehicle is be recorded and transmitted wirelessly to those interested employer parties. Even talking on your cell phone to a family member within your vehicle (usually one way unless you are using your speaker phone option) can be evesdropped. Nextel phones can be modified to do just that. There are laws that protect honest/ethical employees against employers who abuse their power.