There is a chance that remote work will be regulated more than two years after the outbreak of the pandemic. One of the regulations stipulates that the employer will cover the costs of working from home, but it does not specify what these costs are and how the amount will be estimated.
Today the government will deal with the project regulating remote work. The Ministry of Family and Social Policy spoke about the fact that such regulations will be created at the beginning of the pandemic, when overnight thousands of office and office workers changed their desk in the company for a piece of table in their apartment.
For over two years, these regulations could not be passed, but in the meantime remote work was based on the special covid act, and the companies themselves set the rules for working from home or in a hybrid mode.
Deputy Minister Stanisław Szwed, who is the pilot of the legislative proposal, said that the rules of remote work are to be specified in an agreement concluded with trade unions or in internal workplace regulations, if no agreement is reached or if the employer is not working at the workplace trade unions.
The regulation will be included in the Labour Code.
Some employees may request remote work
Remote work is supposed to be a right, not an obligation. – The exception would be a state of emergency, epidemic or temporary inability to ensure health and safety in the workplace due to force majeure – said the deputy minister.
In certain situations, the employer will not be able to refuse to work remotely. The right to request this form of work will be enjoyed by parents bringing up a child up to the age of 4, parents and caregivers of persons with disabilities in the family, and pregnant women. – The employer will be able to refuse only due to the organisation or type of work, informing the employee about it – explained Stanisław Szwed.
The Labour Code is to include a solution assuming that the remote workplace will be indicated by the employee and agreed with the employer. The employer will also be obliged to cover the costs of remote work by the employee, but it has not been specified how these costs will be calculated and what the employer will actually have to pay for: electricity used, internet access? If so, to what extent?
When the government adopts a draft amendment to the Labour Code, the act will be discussed by the Sejm. The Swede believes it will happen in June.
The employer will check the employee’s sobriety
The draft amendment to the Labour Code also contains provisions that allow employers to introduce sobriety control for employees and control for the presence of substances similar to alcohol in their bodies. They provide that the employer will be able to introduce such controls if it is necessary to ensure the protection of the life and health of employees or other persons or the protection of property.
Source: Wprost
