Employer demands 24/7 access to employee's location for $16/hr job: 'There is no legitimate reason for them to know where I am'

JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor

Jun 26, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

Everyone is entitled to privacy, but that's easier said than done.

The person who shared their story on the antiwork subreddit learned that the hard way. It seems like these days, everyone wants access to your location. Your apps do, your friends do, but should your workplace be able to do that? Sure, they probably want you to clock in where and when they need you to, but should they be allowed to know where you are even when you're not at work? That seems like a pretty big invasion of privacy. You are entitled to live your life without your employer constantly peering over your shoulder. They only pay you for a certain slice of your time, so you should be able to live your life outside of that without fear of consequence. It's a creepy overstep for your employer to demand access to your location at all times, especially when it isn't relevant to your job. Our modern world asks us to make so many concessions about privacy. We fork over so much of our data, or have it extracted from us in secretive ways. We don't have a lot of agency over how and when it is used. But we can draw the line where we can draw the line. We don't have to accept everything that is handed to us, especially in the workplace. If you accept everything as inevitable, then you will completely lose control over your life.

via Joshua Rawson-Harris

^{A model represents an employee frustrated at their retail job}
My employer wants 24/7 location access on my personal phone for a $16/hour job.

via Own_Replacement_4195
via Own_Replacement_4195
via Own_Replacement_4195
via Own_Replacement_4195
via Own_Replacement_4195
via Own_Replacement_4195
This employee tried to point out that what their employer was doing was wrong, but they were having trouble making their concerns heard. When they tried to let their employer know that they weren't comfortable with this policy, their job started to seem like they were in jeopardy. This is a tricky line to walk because you can't punish your employees for refusing to be taken advantage of. Unfortunately, that's what seems to happen a lot of the time. Keep reading to see what happened here and see what you think about it.
via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

^{A picture representing a cashier handing money back to a customer}
Commenters gave their ideas on how to handle this.

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