Remote work: new regulation and planned amendment to the Labour Code

5 September 2020 will be the effective date of the new regulation concerning remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Works are being carried out to implement remote work to the Polish legal system for good as part of an amendment to the Labour Code.

Provisions on remote work extended

Remote work gained popularity among Polish companies after the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and performing and ordering such work was regulated as part of the provisions of the Anti-Crisis Shield 4.0 effective since 8 March. However, these provisions lose their legal force on 4 September 2020, so the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy decided on their extension.

As decided by the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, 5 September 2020 will be the effective date of a new regulation pursuant to which the employer will be able to instruct the employee to perform remote work during the state of the epidemic or the state of the epidemiological threat announced due to COVID-19 and for 3 months after they have been called off.

The ministry also informed that the amendment extending the term of validity of the provisions on remote work will not include any new guidelines for entrepreneurs. Let us remind that the current regulations oblige employers ordering remote work to check if the employee has sufficient conditions to perform such work and provide the employee with the necessary tools and materials.

The act amending the provisions of the Anti-Crisis Shield 4.0 is currently waiting to be signed by the President.

Read also: The President signed the amended Act on the posting of workers

Remote work for good in the Code?

Due to the growing popularity of remote work, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy has commenced works aimed at introducing remote work to the provisions of the Labour Code for good. However, as the ministry informs, the current regulations concerning remote work need to be modified so that such work may be performed without hindrance also in conditions not related to a crisis situation. New solutions will be developed as part of consultations and discussions of all parties concerned, namely in the course of social dialogue.

For the time being it is still not known when precisely the new regulations will be subjected to social consultations, but this is supposed to take place shortly after the holidays. Also, a new definition of remote work has not been yet proposed, but organisations uniting employers emphasize that many aspects of remote work should be determined directly between employees and the employer.

Author:

Magdalena Wilkoszewska
Director of the Labour Law Department, Attorney-at-law,
TGC Corporate Lawyers 

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