"This individual was getting paid for not working," said Margie Feinberg, spokersperson for New York's Department of Education and former employers of John Halpin.

Halpin had worked in New York schools for over 20 years, latterly as a supervisor overseeing carpenters.

His employers became suspicious about the timesheets that he was submitting and spent five months monitoring his movements using the GPS capability of his phone.

The data revealed that Halpin was frequently turning up to work two hours early -- but then leaving work two hours early as well.

A court hearing resulted in a recommendation that Halpin be dismissed for his misconduct.

He was damned by the fact that he falsified his timesheets, operating under the assumption that his chances of being found out were minimal.

Halpin's attempt to mount a defence on the basis that the GPS data was inaccurate as well as being an unethical approach failed to sway Judge Tynia Richard.

Judge Richard's decision called for his dismissal, stating that the Department of Eductation was under no obligation 'to notify its employees of all the methods it may possibly use to uncover their misconduct.'

New York has no legislation obliging employers to tell workers that they are being tracked -- Connecticut and Delaware are the only states in the US to have such a law.

Unions have stepped into the legislative void, negotiating with individual companies to prevent covert tracking.

One such deal has been formed between the Teamsters, a union of professional drivers, and the UPS delivery company.

UPS have agreed that GPS devices cannot be used to gather information that can then be used to dismiss employees.