Status on 22 October 2026: Belgium has no specific law on geolocating workers. The GDPR applies, with the guidance and decisions of the Data Protection Authority (GBA).
Employee GPS tracking is legal in Belgium, under conditions.
According to the GBA, geolocation of workers can rest on the employer’s legitimate interest.
It needs a written policy, works council advice where there is one, and information to workers before it starts.
Tracking must be switched off outside working hours, and there must be no permanent tracking.
For field teams, that means location in the van during working hours, for clear purposes, and nothing after.
If you also register time, keep it separate from time tracking for field teams.
This article covers:
- what is allowed and what is not, in one table
- what the GBA expects before you switch GPS on
- the decisions that show where the line is
- why GPS and time registration stay apart
- how to roll it out without a surveillance fight
- the privacy settings to ask for
Is employee GPS tracking legal in Belgium? The table
The table is based on the GBA’s page on geolocation at work and its decisions.
Use it as a checklist for your policy.
| Situation | Allowed? | Condition or reason |
|---|---|---|
| Location of a work van during working hours, for dispatch, safety or protecting the vehicle | Yes | Written policy, prior information, a clear purpose |
| Checking how a worker performs their tasks | Only targeted | When there are signs of misuse by specific workers; reading the data permanently and systematically is disproportionate |
| Tracking outside working hours: private trips, commuting, breaks | No | The system must be switched off, also for theft prevention |
| A company car with private use | Only during working hours | Tracking switched off outside working hours |
| Checking speed limits with the GPS data | No | Not a purpose the GBA accepts |
| Permanent tracking of a worker | No | |
| Calculating working time from GPS | No, if another system exists | Use your time registration for hours |
| Following staff representatives during their mandate | No | Their trips for the mandate stay private |
| The vehicle of a worker free to organise their own trips | No | The GBA lists this as a use that is not allowed |
| Fingerprint time clocks | High risk | The GBA fined an employer EUR 45,000 in decision 114/2024 |
Note: Collective agreement 81 covers the monitoring of e-mail and internet use, not GPS. Do not cite it as the GPS rule.
The table gives the line. The next section gives the paperwork that keeps you on the right side of it.
What the GBA expects before you switch GPS on
Six things, in this order. Each one is something an inspector or a works council can ask to see.
- A written geolocation policy. The GBA says a mere mention of "GPS tracking" in the work rules, without the details of the monitoring, is generally not enough.
- Works council advice, where you have a works council.
- Information to workers before it starts. Who is tracked, why, how far, for how long, which data, and their rights.
- Tracking switched off outside working hours. A switch the worker controls is best practice.
- No permanent tracking.
- A retention period per type of data, written in the policy, with deletion when it ends.
The information list in point 3 comes from the GBA’s page.
It also names the right to see your own data and to complain to the GBA.
Tip: Write the policy per purpose. "Dispatch of urgent jobs" and "protecting the vehicle" need different data and different retention.
Decisions that show where the line is
The GBA has decided several cases on location and identification at work.
| Decision | What it was about | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 15/2023 | Geolocation of workers | A reprimand |
| 61/2025 | A geolocation system in a company car | A reprimand |
| 114/2024 | Fingerprint time clocks | A fine of EUR 45,000 |
The lesson for construction firms: a fingerprint reader stops buddy punching.
A personal badge or an app does the same job with far less risk.
Why GPS and time registration stay apart
GPS shows where a vehicle is. Time registration records who worked and for how long.
The GBA keeps them apart on purpose.
Location must not be used to calculate working time where another system already exists.
So register hours with a badge, an app or a check-in, and use location for what it is for.
The planned general time registration duty does not change that.
It is a preliminary draft bill, not voted and not published.
The draft imposes no tool and no time clock.
It asks for a system that records actual working time objectively and reliably.
GPS is not named in the sources on the draft.
The draft also lists exceptions, among them travelling staff, which may take some drivers and technicians out of scope.
Our article on the planned time registration duty in 2027 follows where it stands.
On construction sites, one location rule is a legal duty, not a choice.
Check in at Work applies to construction works on sites of at least EUR 500,000 excluding VAT.
Registering arrival there is the purpose; a movement history is not. See Check in at Work registration.
How to roll it out without a surveillance fight
Registering hours and being watched are two different things. Your rollout decides which one your crews see.
- Say the purpose before the tool. Correct pay, the right allowances, faster dispatch to the nearest crew. Then say what you will not do: no tracking after hours, no speed checks, no movement profile.
- Answer the objection out loud. When a crew says "they will follow me", show the off switch, the retention period and who can see the data.
- Don’t use it to police lateness. If the only use is catching who started five minutes late, you confirm the fear you set out to remove.
- Combine with care. If you run vehicle tracking and time tracking together, keep the purposes separate in the policy. Our article on combining time tracking and vehicle tracking goes into the set-up.
The privacy settings to ask any supplier for
Whichever system you choose, ask to see these settings working, not on a slide.
| Setting | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A privacy switch for private use of the vehicle | Tracking off outside working hours, which the GBA asks for |
| Tracking limited to working hours | No data from commuting or breaks |
| Configurable update interval | Dispatch needs frequent updates; most other uses need far fewer |
| Separate time registration (badge, app, check-in) | Hours do not come from GPS |
| Access per role | Only the people named in your policy see location |
| Retention per data type, with deletion | Location detail goes sooner than hours |
What we can show today: our track and trace for vehicles has a privacy button for use outside working hours.
The update interval is configurable to the dispatcher’s needs.
At Cibor, concrete workers identify themselves with a badge in the vehicle.
Geofences around job sites handle the Check in at Work registration automatically.
FAQ
Do I need my employees’ consent for GPS tracking?
In the employment relationship, the GBA treats geolocation as a justified practice needed for the business. The worker’s consent is not required. The GBA adds an exception: in other cases, for example for travelling workers, the worker must agree to the system in writing, for instance in an annex to the employment contract.
The legal basis is usually legitimate interest.
Can I track a company car that the employee also uses privately?
Only during working hours. Tracking must be switched off outside working hours. The GBA considers it best practice that workers can switch it off themselves.
Can GPS replace our time registration?
No, not where you already have another system for working time. Use GPS for dispatch and safety, and register hours separately.
Next step: check your set-up against the table
Take the table above to your next works council meeting or to your data protection officer.
If you want to see the privacy switch, the working-hours limit and separate time registration in practice, we show them on your own vehicles and crews.
