Remote work will consist in performing permanent or parttime work at the workplace indicated by the employee (including at the employee's home address) and each time agreed with the employer.

The Act applies to both remote and hybrid remote work (partly at home, partly in the company), according to the needs of the employee and the employer.

Remote work may be agreed:

• at the time when the contract of employment is concluded, or
• during the period of employment (in the form of an amendment to the terms of the employment contract; no written form will be required).

The employer will be able to instruct the employee (and not agree with him) to work remotely in the period:

• of the state of emergency, the state of epidemic or the state of epidemic threat and within 3 months after their cancellation,
• in which, due to force majeure (e.g. fire or flooding at work), it will not be temporarily possible for the employer to provide safe and hygienic working conditions at the employee's current workplace.

The Act introduces an obligation to define the rules for remote work in:

• an agreement concluded between the employer and the enterprise trade union organization (enterprise trade union organizations),
• regulations established by the employer - if the agreement is not reached with enterprise trade unions and if  no trade union is active in the employer’s establishment  (then the regulations would be established after consultation with employees' representatives).

In the event that the employer does not have an agreement or regulations on remote work, it may be applied at the request of the employee concerned.

• a pregnant employee,
• an employee raising a child up to the age of 4,
• an employee who takes care of another member of the immediate family or another person remaining in the same household, who has a certificate of disability or a certificate of severe disability,
• an employee referred to in Art. 142¹ § 1 item 2 and 3 of the Labour Code, that is:

- an employee-parent of a child holding a certificate referred to in Art. 4 sec. 3 of the Act on Support for Pregnant Women and Families "For Life", i.e. a certificate of severe and irreversible disability or an incurable life-threatening disease that occurred in the prenatal period of the child's development or during childbirth;

- an employee-parent of a child holding a disability certificate or a certificate of a moderate or severe degree of disability,  provided for in regulations on occupational and social rehabilitation and on employing disabled persons ;

- an employee-parent of a child holding an opinion on the need for the early support of the child's development, a certificate on the need for special education or a certificate on the need for revalidation and educational classes, as appropriate, referred to in the provisions of the Act of 14 December 2016 - Education Law.

The employer will be able to refuse remote work to such an employee only if it is impossible to perform it due to the type of work or work organization. The employer will have to inform the employee of the reason for the refusal.

• occasional remote work will be allowed at the employee's request (non-binding, the employer will be able to refuse to take it into account),
• up to 24 days in a calendar year,
• due to its special nature, some provisions on remote work will not be applied (e.g. an obligation to provide materials and work tools).

• provide the remote employee with materials and work tools, including technical devices, necessary for remote work,

The Act also provides for the possibility for the employee to use private work tools (e.g. a computer) in the event that both parties to the employment relationship so agree, provided that the employee's private technical devices and other work tools used by him for work ensure work safety. In this case, the employee will be entitled to a cash equivalent in the amount agreed with the employer.

• provide installation, service, maintenance of work tools, including technical devices, necessary for remote work or cover the necessary costs related to the installation, service, operation and maintenance of work tools, including technical devices necessary for remote work, as well as the costs of electricity and necessary telecommunications services,
• covering other costs directly related to the performance of remote work, if such an obligation is specified in the agreement (concluded with trade unions) or regulations (or in the absence of an agreement or regulations - in the instruction issued or agreement concluded with the employee),
• providing the remote employee with the training necessary to perform this work and technical assistance,
• enabling the remote employee to stay on the premises of the workplace, contact other employees and use the employer's premises and equipment, the company's social facilities and social activities (on the terms applicable to all employees).

The Act provides that if remote work is agreed during the period of employment, both the employee and the employer may submit a binding request to return to traditional work at the employer’s premises .

The employee and the employer agree on the date of restoring the previous working conditions (i.e. traditional work, e.g. at the company's headquarters), and if they do not reach an agreement - it takes place after 30 days from the employee's or employer's request in this matter.

The employer will fulfill the obligations towards the remote employee resulting from Section Ten of the Labour Code, i.e. regarding ensuring occupational health and safety, with the exception of :

• the obligation to organize the workplace in accordance with the provisions and principles of occupational health and safety (this obligation rests with the employee),
• the obligation to take care of the safe condition of work premises and technical equipment,
• obligations from Chapter III - they concern work premises and building facilities,
• the obligation regarding sanitary facilities and personal hygiene products,
• the obligation to provide preventive drinks and meals,
• the obligation to provide first aid in emergencies.

The initial OSH training for people employed for remote work for administrative and office positions will be possible to take place entirely via electronic means of communication.

All remote employees will be subject to periodic health and safety training (with some exceptions for occasional remote work).

Work tools and materials used by remote workers will have to meet the requirements set out in Chapter IV, Section Ten of the Labour Code concerning machines and other technical devices (regardless of whether they will be provided by the employer or the employee will use private equipment).

• particularly hazardous ,
• as a result of which the permissible standards of physical factors for living quarters are exceeded,
• with the use of substances harmful to health, corrosive, radioactive, irritating, sensitizing or other with an unpleasant odour, dusting or intensively dirty.

Before allowing remote work, the employer will be obliged to develop an occupational risk assessment (the employer will be able to prepare a universal occupational risk assessment for individual groups of remote work positions) and, on its basis, to prepare information containing the principles of safe remote work and familiarise the employee with it.

Such information should include:

• rules and methods of proper organization of the remote work position,
• principles of safe and hygienic remote work,
• activities to be performed after completing remote work,
• rules of conduct in emergency situations posing a threat to human life or health.

For the investigation of an accident at remote work, the provisions on accidents at work will be applied accordingly - taking into account the employee's constitutional right to privacy protection and not to disturb the home peace.

The employer will be obliged e. a. to appoint a post-accident team to determine the circumstances and causes of the accident at work.

Inspection of the accident site should take place immediately, in accordance with the applicable post-accident procedure, however, its date in the case of remote work will be agreed between the employee and the post-accident team. At the same time, if the post-accident team decides that it is not necessary to inspect the accident site, because, for example, the medical documentation, explanations or other evidence presented by the employee are sufficient to determine the circumstances and causes of the accident, they will be able to refrain from carrying out the inspection.