The Chief Inspector of Labour Katarzyna Łażewska-Hrycko and a group of closest colleagues took part in the plenary session of the Labour Protection Council, which took place by video conference on 18 March 2021.

During its deliberations, the Council adopted its position on the payment of employee benefits (including salaries) for the period 2018-2020 and during the COVID-19 pandemic period from March 2020. In it, it recommended m.in: maintaining, as one of the priorities of the State Labour Inspectorate in 2021, examining compliance with working time regulations and the payment of wages and other benefits arising from the employment relationship, continuing pip’s review of compliance with the legal solutions introduced by the provisions of the anti-crisis shields on labour protection, as well as prioritising the examination of employee complaints about improper payment of benefits from employment.

The main topic of the meeting was the organisational, ergonomic and health aspects of remote work. Materials on occupational risk assessment in remote workstations and rules for the organization of remote work at the computer were presented by Dr. Zofia Pawłowska and Dr. Hab. med. Joanna Bugajska from the Central Institute for Labour Protection – State Research Institute. Anita Gwarek, director of the Department of Labour Law at the Ministry of Development, Labour and Technology, discussed the state of play on the preparation of legislation that would normalised the issue of remote work in the Labour Code.

Speaking during the meeting, Chief Inspector of Labour Katarzyna Łażewska-Hrycko drew attention to psychosocial factors occurring in the remote work environment. „We are going to carry out webinars, from which we want to make the material to be published on our website so that the widest possible audience can get acquainted with it. This will be a study prepared by our specialists involved in the study of stress and psychosocial aspects related to remote work”, said Katarzyna Łażewska-Hrycko.

She also announced the establishment of a team working on recommendations for investigating the circumstances and causes of accidents in remote work. From 1 March 2020 to 31 December 2020, 6 accidents were reported to PIP during remote work. All were considered accidents at work. Two of the victims suffered serious injuries, three died and one suffered minor injuries.

„As a control institution, we need precise rules on remote work. We do not have such and therefore we have no reason to carry out inspection activities in the private homes of employees, which is a big obstacle in the investigation of accidents related to remote work, as well as in assessing compliance with health and safety conditions”, said Katarzyna Łażewska-Hrycko.

Source: https://www.pip.gov.pl/pl/wiadomosci/123072,praca-zdalna-na-forum-rady-ochrony-pracy.html