Poland: New obligations for employers and employees regarding remote work
Written By
Counsel
Poland
I work as a Counsel in our Employment team in Warsaw. I am an expert in individual and collective law with a particular interest in trade union relations and employee benefit schemes.
An amendment to the Polish Labour Code imposes new obligations on employees working remotely. When the workplace is excluded from the employer's direct supervision, employees are responsible for certain health and safety at work responsibilities.
However, it is first the managers’ task to properly fulfil duties in this regard to enable their subordinates to adapt remote workstations to the required standards, including those related to ergonomics.
“The employer must prepare an occupational risk assessment before assigning employees to work remotely. This is not a new obligation, but the amendment clarifies that when assessing occupational risk, the employer should specifically consider the impact of remote work on human vision, the musculoskeletal system, as well as the psychological and social conditions of remote work” says Paulina Grotkowska, Counsel in Bird & Bird’s Employment team in her recent interview with MarketNews24.
Notably, for the sake of the employers’ convenience, the amendment makes it possible to create a universal occupational risk assessment for specific groups of remote jobs.
Another new task also imposed on the employer is to prepare rules on safe and hygienic work performed remotely. The document should set out the rules and guidelines on how to properly organize the remote workplace to comply with the requirements of ergonomics and ensure safe, hygienic working conditions, which activities are to be performed upon completing remote work, and what principles apply when handling emergency situations that might pose a threat to human life or health.
“The employer will be required to present personnel with these documents. Only when the employees declare they have read the occupational risk assessment prepared by the employer and information on how to ensure safe and hygienic remote working conditions, and have agreed to abide by them while assuring that their workstations are equipped accordingly, can they be allowed to work remotely”, adds Paulina Grotkowska.
