Remote working has been permanently introduced into Poland’s labour code after President Andrzej Duda yesterday signed into law legislation to that effect passed by parliament with cross-party support. The new rules, which go into force in two months, also empower employers to check their workers’ sobriety.
Under the new rules, employers will not be able to refuse requests to work from home from certain employees – including parents of children up to the age of four and carers of disabled people, as well as pregnant women – if the type of employment allows for such work, notes the Polish Press Agency (PAP).
Remote workers will have an obligation to ensure that they have appropriate premises and technical conditions to perform their work but employers must provide the necessary equipment. In case of doubts, employers will have the right to carry out inspections, notes news website Interia.
Remote workers will also be entitled to receive compensation from their employers for electricity, internet or other bills related to business purposes.
The Polish government is working on a bill to strengthen the right to work from home.
It would bar employers from refusing such requests from certain groups – including parents of young children – and require them to cover the costs of working from home https://t.co/fqAUzMYLng
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In addition, the new rules allow employers to carry out sobriety checks on employees if they have a reasonable suspicion that the worker is inebriated or if it is necessary to protect the life or health of other people or property.
Meanwhile, employees who normally work on-site will be allowed to work remotely – if their type of employment allows – for up to 24 days a year. Such requests can be made based purely on the employee’s needs, for example if they need to provide emergency care to a family member.
Employers will also now have the right to order staff to work from home in certain situations, such as a pandemic.
The bill updating the labour code to include remote work was approved by all parties in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, apart from the far right on 1 December.
This month, the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party’s majority in the Sejm rejected amendments proposed by the opposition-controlled Senate, including to allow parents of children up to the age of 10 to be granted the automatic right to remote work.
Main image credit: BRUNO EMMANUELLE/Unsplash
Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.
