On December 1, 2022. The Parliament adopted in session a bill to amend the Labor Code and certain other laws. The bill in question concerns the permanent introduction into the Labor Code of the possibility of remote work and the creation of a basis for employers to introduce and carry out, when necessary to protect certain assets, preventive checks of employees for the presence in their bodies of alcohol or drugs acting similarly to alcohol.
Employer’s obligations under the new rules
In addition to the aforementioned changes, the amendment imposes a number of new obligations and privileges aimed at increasing the employee’s productivity, as well as providing greater comfort during the provision of remote work. In turn – according to the enacted regulations – the employer will be obliged to:
- provide the employee performing remote work with the materials and work tools necessary to perform remote work, and cover the costs of any training required to perform remote work,
- cover costs related to the installation, operation or maintenance of work tools. Interestingly, the cost of electricity should also be covered by the employer,
- cover other costs directly related to the performance of remote work, if such an obligation is specified in the agreement concluded with the trade union or in the agreement concluded with the employee.
It is worth noting here that the coverage of costs related to the performance of remote work by the employee will not constitute income within the meaning of the provisions of the Law of 26.7.1991 on personal income tax (Journal of Laws of 2021, item 1128).
Control of employee sobriety
Within the next 14 days of the enactment of the amendments, the provisions on preventive sobriety control are to come into force. Thus, the employer will gain the ability to carry out such control only when it is necessary to ensure the protection of the life and health of employees. In difficult or emergency situations, the employer may be assisted by the police. The employer is obliged not to allow employees who are under the influence of intoxicants or alcohol to work.
In addition, employers who decide to introduce sobriety testing at their workplace will be obliged to specify in intra-company records the groups of employees subject to said testing and the manner in which it is carried out.
Employee privileges – occasional remote work
The amendment included a provision treating the provision of occasional remote work by an employee. It is distinguished by its incidentality and the possibility of performing it only due to the needs of the employee. As indicated in the justification, a good example is the need to care for a family member in need of ad hoc support. The dimension of occasional remote work during a calendar year will not be allowed to exceed 24 days and will be granted at the request of the employee.
Proposed work-life balance directive
Regulations introducing provisions whose overriding goal will be to ensure the work-life balance of parents and caregivers – that is, the work-life balance directive – are still at the stage of work in the labor ministry, so it will take some time before they are enacted.