Poland & CEE HR Perspectives: How to properly manage employee’s working time during remote work?

Working time continuously proves to be one of the most complex matter from the Polish HR law perspective. The fact that in practice this is the most frequently controlled area by the Polish Labour Inspection proves that opinion.

The COVID-19 pandemic forced most of the workplaces to adjust to new reality. The major challenge was the transfer from stationary to remote work. Polish “Anti-Crisis Act” entitled employers to order employees to perform work remotely (for the time being – possible during the period of pandemic and 3 months afterwards). The major concern is how to deal with working time management during remote work in order to mitigate related risks on employer’s side. This relates in particular to risks for overtime claims.

One of the solutions is implementing the most suitable working time system. Polish law provides for a possibility of introduction of a special system where working time is defined by tasks. It allows the employer to assign tasks and set the deadline for their implementation with no further necessity to track or register employee’s working time. It may be applied for example in the following cases:

• Whenever type of work and its organization can be performed at any time, not within standard office hours (e.g. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.);
• Where it is impossible or difficult to control and record the working time (e.g., sales representatives);
• Where work performance depends on employee’s individual commitment.

This system equips employees with a certain degree of independence: it is up to the employee when she/he performs obligations as long as assigned tasks are performed. The crucial point is to properly assign work so that it may be performed within regular working time limitations (8 hours per day, 40 hours per week). The superior should be absolutely sure that the tasks he/she assigns to the employee are not more time-consuming (i.e., exceeding the said limitations).

Whenever “regular” working time system are applied employers have special means of control over employees.  The “Anti-Crisis Act” allows the employers to request that employees performing remote work keep records of performed activities, taking into account in particular a description of these activities, as well as the date and time of their performance. The employee prepares a record of the activities performed in the form and with the frequency specified in the employer’s order.

At PCS | Littler Global we support our Clients not only in implementing and managing mechanisms related to working time system but we also provide detailed assistance through all of the remote work related matters. Our vast experience gained already in “pre-pandemic” times allowed us to provide customized assistance immediately from the very beginning of last year’s new “remote work era”. We are ready to advise how to become cost efficient and how to mitigate various risks arising from the complexity of remote work regime.