Drivers for a construction company who are to have their movements monitored by a satellite surveillance system have had a compensation claim rejected by the Labour Court.
The Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system has been introduced by Concast Precast, which employs more than 200 people in Dublin and Carlow.
In a claim on behalf of 28 drivers of lorries, vans and cranes, SIPTU said the "Big Brother"-type system was very intrusive.
The union sought compensation of €1,500 for each of the affected employees. It had earlier rejected an offer by the company to pay €200 to each as a goodwill gesture.
In a recommendation just published on its website, the court said that the work practice changes associated with the new system were minimal.
It rejected the union's claim but said the company should increase its goodwill payment to the drivers to €300 each.
The company had argued that compensation was not warranted as the GPS system did not require any additional effort by the drivers.
It said information from the system would not be used for disciplinary purposes, but if there was a conflict of evidence GPS data could be used to clarify matters.
It also said that timesheets would continue to be used for the calculation of wages, and the GPS system would be used only as a means of verifying hours.
It also argued that technology was continuously being updated, and to pay compensation each time this took place would place a major financial burden on the company.
SIPTU told the court its preference would be that the GPS system would not be installed in the first place.
The compensation it sought reflected the level of intrusion, it said.
