Legal Landmine Ahead: Why Your Company's Fitness Trackers May Violate EEOC Guidelines

Overview:

On December 19, 2024, the EEOC published a fact sheet, “Wearables in the Workplace: Using Wearable Technologies Under Federal Employment Discrimination Laws.” If you’re in HR, the timing probably makes perfect sense—because wearable data has a way of becoming “HR data” the moment it’s used to explain a decision, justify a write-up, settle a timecard dispute, or respond to a complaint.

The EEOC’s definition of “wearables” is broader than most people assume: smartwatches and rings, yes—but also proximity and environmental sensors, smart helmets and glasses (including tools that may detect fatigue or emotions), exoskeletons and physical-support devices, and GPS tracking tools. In other words, if it’s worn on the body and it tracks movement, biometric signals, or location, the EEOC wants employers thinking about discrimination-law implications.

And here’s where things tend to get messy fast. What happens when a manager says, “The device shows you weren’t where you said you were”? Or when a “fatigue” indicator starts influencing assignments? Or when activity data becomes the reason someone is “underperforming”? If the data is treated as definitive proof—or it’s applied differently across teams—HR ends up dealing with consistency questions, documentation gaps, and employee trust issues that don’t show up in the vendor demo.

The fact sheet also raises a major compliance issue: employer-mandated wearables that collect health or biometric information may count as an ADA “medical examination,” and asking for health information (even during device setup) can be a “disability-related inquiry.” That can quickly turn into questions HR has to answer—about confidentiality controls, access limitations, and how to respond when an employee raises a medical restriction, a pregnancy-related limitation, or requests an accommodation tied to wearable use.

In this session, we will translate the EEOC’s guidance into practical clarity—identifying which wearables and data uses create the greatest risk, how GPS and monitoring features can become intrusive, where ADA and accommodation issues commonly arise, how biometric data and medical questions can trigger legal exposure, and how policies and evolving state approaches may reduce employer liability around medical, privacy, and workplace surveillance concerns.

Areas covered in the session:

• Learn what wearables can impact discriminatory processes
• Learn which wearables are defined in the EEOC guidance
• Learn why some of the wearables can be intrusive in the workplace
• Learn how GPS and other tracking mechanisms can violate an employee's rights
• Learn which wearables can impact the ADA and reasonable accommodations
• Learn how biometric data can impact employees if they include medical questions
• Learn what recommendations are for Employers to use artificial intelligence in the workplace
• Learn how some states are mitigating workplace wearables
• Learn how legislation impacts how surveillance is used in the workplace
• Learn how privacy is impacted by the use of wearables in the workplace
• Learn how creating policies can reduce Employer’s liability for violations of medical and privacy laws

Handouts:

Attendees will gain access to exclusive handouts, including presentation materials provided by the speaker and additional resources developed by Amorit Education to aid your teams in post-session implementation.

Why should you attend?

Wearables and fitness trackers are quickly moving from “optional wellness perks” to tools that influence safety decisions, productivity monitoring, attendance verification, and even performance discussions. That shift creates real legal exposure when the data is inaccurate, used inconsistently, or becomes a proxy for protected traits—especially when managers start relying on dashboards instead of context.

This webinar will help you understand what the EEOC’s December 19, 2024 wearables fact sheet is signaling to employers and where the most common compliance risks show up in real workplaces: GPS/location tracking, fatigue and biometric monitoring, medical questions during setup, and situations that trigger ADA limits and reasonable accommodation obligations.

You’ll leave with practical clarity on how to evaluate wearable programs before they become “landmines”—what to watch for, what questions to ask internally and of vendors, and how policies and guardrails can reduce liability tied to medical, privacy, and workplace surveillance concerns while still allowing your organization to use these tools responsibly.

Who will benefit?

This webinar is built for leaders and practitioners who own decisions around workplace wearables (fitness trackers, GPS/location tools, fatigue/biometric monitoring) and who must ensure those programs don’t trigger EEOC/ADA, accommodation, or privacy risk. Those include:

• CHRO / VP of HR
• HR Director / HR Manager
• HR Business Partner (HRBP)
• Employee Relations Manager / Workplace Investigations Lead
• HR Compliance Manager
• In-House Employment Counsel / Labor & Employment Attorney
• Chief Compliance Officer / Compliance Manager
• Privacy Counsel / Data Protection Officer
• EHS Director / Safety Manager
• Wellness Program / Benefits Manager
• People Analytics / Workforce Analytics Lead
• HRIS / HR Technology Manager
• Internal Audit / Risk Manager