The spring of this year brought the introduction to the Labor Code of regulations related to remote work and the admissibility of employers’ inspections of employees in the field of sobriety, long-awaited by employers. Many people are interested in remote work, which is confirmed by the fact that it is one of the criteria for choosing a job offer by a given employer.

It is permissible for the employer to conduct sobriety tests in a situation where it is necessary to ensure the protection of life and health of employees or other persons, or to protect property. The employer may introduce sobriety control of employees, provided that it does not violate their dignity and other personal rights.

The introduction of the sobriety test, the definition of the employees covered by it and the method of conducting the sobriety test are set out in a collective labor agreement or in the work regulations or in an announcement, if the employer is not covered by a collective labor agreement or is not obliged to establish work regulations.

Employees working remotely may be subject to sobriety control, provided that the conditions for this are met. For this purpose, reference should be made to the regulations contained in the workplace agreement in force at the employer, regulations or announcement specifying the rules for conducting sobriety checks of employees, developed in accordance with statutory requirements regarding sobriety checks.

These files should specify the group or groups of employees covered by the sobriety test and the method of conducting the sobriety test, including the type of device used for the control, time and frequency of its performance.

The company’s collective labor agreement is concluded by the employer and the company’s trade union. The initiative to conclude it is vested in both the employer and each company trade union. The agreement must be in writing and may be concluded for an indefinite or definite period. It determines the scope of its application and indicates the seats of the parties to the agreement.

An agreement concluded for a definite period before its expiry date may be extended by the parties for a definite period or deemed concluded for an indefinite period.

If the employer is still negotiating the conclusion of a collective enterprise collective bargaining agreement, it may regulate the issues related to the sobriety control of employees at this stage.

In a situation where the employer already has a collective company employment agreement, then it is necessary to amend it. No changes to the agreement may be introduced without the consent of the trade union organization.

Work regulations are a document that determines the organization and order in the work process and the related rights and obligations of the employer and employees. The obligation to introduce work regulations applies to an employer employing at least 50 employees, unless the provisions of a collective labor agreement apply in terms of determining the organization and order in the work process and the related rights and obligations of the employer and employees.

Optionally, an employer employing fewer than 50 employees may introduce work regulations, unless the provisions of a collective labor agreement apply to determining the organization and order in the work process and the related rights and obligations of the employer and employees.

When an employer decides to introduce a sobriety test, and he has work regulations in place or is about to be adopted, the rules regarding this control should be regulated in these regulations.

An employer who wants to introduce sobriety control, and who is not bound by work regulations or a collective agreement, may do so in a notice.

If the employer does not introduce a sobriety test in the acts of internal company law, he may carry out a sobriety test under the existing rules, i.e. by calling the police for this purpose.

The employer should inform employees about the introduction of sobriety testing in the manner adopted in his company no later than 2 weeks before the start of its implementation.

Before allowing an employee who is subject to a sobriety test to work, the employer shall provide him with information on the rules of conducting the inspection.

As far as employees working remotely are concerned, the provisions of the Labor Code allow the employer to carry out inspections in relation to them. He has the right to carry out control in the following scope: the employee’s remote work; occupational health and safety; compliance with information security and protection requirements, including data protection procedures.

The inspection should be carried out in consultation with the employee at the place of remote work during the employee’s working hours, with the method of inspection adapted to the place where remote work is performed and its type. The above forms of control also apply to an employee who occasionally performs remote work.

The employer’s control activities may not violate the privacy of the employee performing remote work and other people, or hinder the use of home rooms in a manner consistent with their intended use.

According to the position of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, in the case of employees performing remote work, there are, as a rule, no grounds for subjecting them to a sobriety test or a test for the presence of substances similar to alcohol, which may be used when they are necessary to ensure the protection of employees’ life and health or other persons, or protection of property, and in the case of remote employees, such situations generally do not occur when using ICT devices and performing work.

The Ministry does not rule out such a possibility, if the employer indicates them as a group subject to sobriety control, specifies the method of conducting it and there are legal grounds for conducting such control, i.e. it will be necessary to ensure the protection of life and health of employees or other persons or the protection of property.

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