Location Tracking

Charity21 · ‎November 30, 2020

Why do the guys from my company have to set their location to always be on even when they are not using the Tsheets app? We want to track their location while they are using the app, but they should have the option of allowing location only to be on when in the app. Unfortunately the majority of our guys are finding out that the app is forcing them to always have on location in order for Tsheets to run. Is there an easy fix to this?

Charies_M · ‎November 30, 2020

I'm here to shed some light on the location tracking feature in TSheets, Charity21.

TSheets is designed to be able to access your location even when the TSheets app is not used or open for tracking purposes. This will let the employer know when an employee entered or exited a geofence in real-time.

Find out more about GPS tracking and Geofencing in TSheets through the following articles:

For additional information about managing TSheets, feel free to visit these resources:

Keep me posted for additional questions or other concerns. I'd be more than happy to help. Wishing you the best of luck.

View solution in original post

Jen_D · ‎November 30, 2020

It's nice to see you here, @Charity21,

The location tracking for TSheets is using Geofencing and GPS. They are working as one to provide accurate geographic data when using the app.

To shed some more information, Geofencing is a location-based service. It works using a combination of GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi or cellular data to trigger a pre-programmed action.

Signals are communicated to the app when a mobile device or RFID tag enters or exits a virtual boundary set up around a pre-defined geographical location, known as geofence.

Since it works collaboratively, there isn't a way to turn of Geofencing in TSheets. See this article to learn more about this feature: GPS tracking and geofencing FAQs for employers

If you have anymore questions, please let me know in the comment. I'll be more than happy to help you with TSheets and QuickBooks related concerns. Have a great week ahead.

View solution in original post

Kiala_S · ‎December 02, 2020

Good morning @Charity21, let me add a little more information here for some clarity.

In TSheets we have GPS that is used for tracking during the day, while the employees are clocked in. Once they are clocked out, we no longer store any of those GPS points. Additionally, there's a Geofencing option that helps employees clock into their job based on their location. When they arrive at the job site, the geofence picks up on their location and prompts them to clock in, while also capturing the time they entered the geofence. This is really helpful when employees forget to clock in and don't notice until later. The app will show them the time they entered the geofence so that their time is accurate and they don't have to guess.

The geofencing feature can be limited within Company Settings in your account.

Login to your TSheets account as the administrator.
Go to Company Settings on the left menu.
Click on Notifications.
Underneath Geofencing, choose the days and time range you want.

This will allow you to unselect Saturday and Sunday, for example, if your employees don't work on the weekend. You can turn all of the days of the week off if you no longer wish to use geofencing.

It's worth mentioning that you can also opt out of location services being required. This would impact the number of GPS points pulled but would give employees more control over when the app sees their location, whether it's being logged or not.

Go to Company Settings.
Go to the Location tab.
Set Location to Optional.

Please post any additional questions here if you need anything else clarified. I'm more than happy to help. :)

View solution in original post

Charies_M · ‎November 30, 2020

I'm here to shed some light on the location tracking feature in TSheets, Charity21.

TSheets is designed to be able to access your location even when the TSheets app is not used or open for tracking purposes. This will let the employer know when an employee entered or exited a geofence in real-time.

Find out more about GPS tracking and Geofencing in TSheets through the following articles:

For additional information about managing TSheets, feel free to visit these resources:

Keep me posted for additional questions or other concerns. I'd be more than happy to help. Wishing you the best of luck.

Charity21 · ‎November 30, 2020

Thanks! I am a bit confused yet on if there are two separate things or only one. It says GPS tracking and Geofencing. Are GPS tracking and Geofencing one and the same, or can you keep on GPS tracking and shut disable Geofencing part of it? We would love to disable the Geofencing part while still tracking the guys while they are using Tsheets.

Jen_D · ‎November 30, 2020

It's nice to see you here, @Charity21,

The location tracking for TSheets is using Geofencing and GPS. They are working as one to provide accurate geographic data when using the app.

To shed some more information, Geofencing is a location-based service. It works using a combination of GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi or cellular data to trigger a pre-programmed action.

Signals are communicated to the app when a mobile device or RFID tag enters or exits a virtual boundary set up around a pre-defined geographical location, known as geofence.

Since it works collaboratively, there isn't a way to turn of Geofencing in TSheets. See this article to learn more about this feature: GPS tracking and geofencing FAQs for employers

If you have anymore questions, please let me know in the comment. I'll be more than happy to help you with TSheets and QuickBooks related concerns. Have a great week ahead.

TJ369 · ‎December 01, 2020

Is it legal to track an employee when they are not on the clock? Theoretically the employer could set up a geofence anywhere to track employees where they are not on company time.

Charity21 · ‎December 02, 2020

Thanks for the explanation. I am no longer confused, just a bit frustrated is all. It would be lovely if the geofencing part could be a separate option that was done away with or at least shut off when the guys clock out. Employees are suspicious of leaving it on, which I don't blame them a bit for. I was under the impression that Tsheets would ONLY need location settings of a phone on when one was on the Tsheets app, not all the time. I myself personally hate the idea of data being collected when I am not at work, whether the employer can see it or not. It feels like a breach of the employee's personal space. I can see the "benefits" of certain aspects, but at the expense of personal liberties to the employees. I am not a fan.

Kiala_S · ‎December 02, 2020

Good morning @Charity21, let me add a little more information here for some clarity.

In TSheets we have GPS that is used for tracking during the day, while the employees are clocked in. Once they are clocked out, we no longer store any of those GPS points. Additionally, there's a Geofencing option that helps employees clock into their job based on their location. When they arrive at the job site, the geofence picks up on their location and prompts them to clock in, while also capturing the time they entered the geofence. This is really helpful when employees forget to clock in and don't notice until later. The app will show them the time they entered the geofence so that their time is accurate and they don't have to guess.

The geofencing feature can be limited within Company Settings in your account.

Login to your TSheets account as the administrator.
Go to Company Settings on the left menu.
Click on Notifications.
Underneath Geofencing, choose the days and time range you want.

This will allow you to unselect Saturday and Sunday, for example, if your employees don't work on the weekend. You can turn all of the days of the week off if you no longer wish to use geofencing.

It's worth mentioning that you can also opt out of location services being required. This would impact the number of GPS points pulled but would give employees more control over when the app sees their location, whether it's being logged or not.

Go to Company Settings.
Go to the Location tab.
Set Location to Optional.

Please post any additional questions here if you need anything else clarified. I'm more than happy to help. :)

donpaton · ‎November 08, 2021

My staff are not able to start the timesheets each day as the Location field is set as Required. But I have turned Off the location tracking feature in Company settings, set each employee's location tracking to comply with the Company settings for that feature. Still only one person is able to track their time in QB Time. Oddly enough, that person is the only one who can still track her time and her Location feature on the timesheet is still active?

ZackE · ‎November 08, 2021

Thanks for joining this thread, donpaton.

Since you've already turned off location tracking for your team members, but they're still being instructed by the platform that Location is a requirement, I'd recommend getting in touch with our Customer Care team. They'll be able to pull up your account in a secure environment, conduct further research with you, and create an investigation ticket if necessary.

You can reach them using any of the options available on our Contact page. Also be sure to review their support hours so you'll know when agents are available.

I'll be here to help if there's any additional questions. Have a great day!

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