A German technology company establishes a Warsaw subsidiary and immediately allows its engineers to work from home. The contracts reference "flexible arrangements." No remote work policy exists. Six months later, the Polish Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP) conducts a routine audit – and the subsidiary faces enforcement action for failing to comply with the codified remote work framework that has been in force since April 2023.
Polish labour law codified remote work arrangements through amendments to the Kodeks pracy (Labour Code, KC) that took effect on 7 April 2023. Employers must establish a remote work policy, address occupational health and safety obligations, and cover employees' cost-related expenses – or face PIP enforcement. The rules apply equally to Polish employers and foreign subsidiaries operating in Poland.
This guide walks through the legal framework step by step: what the Labour Code requires, how to draft a compliant policy, what costs employers must bear, and where companies most commonly go wrong. Three business scenarios illustrate the rules in practice – for a manufacturing group, an IT company, and a foreign investor entering Poland for the first time.
What does the Labour Code remote work framework actually require?
The Labour Code defines remote work as work performed wholly or partly at a location agreed with the employer – including the employee's home address. This is a statutory definition, not a contractual label. Calling an arrangement "flexible" or "home office" does not exempt it from the codified rules. Any regular performance of work outside the employer's premises falls within scope.
Employers with a trade union must negotiate a remote work agreement with union representatives before implementing the policy. Where no union exists, the employer consults employee representatives instead. The resulting document – either a collective agreement or a set of internal regulations – must specify the eligible roles, the reimbursement method, the inspection procedure, and occupational health and safety (OSH) rules. Employers have up to 30 days to issue individual remote work terms once the policy is in place.
Three elements are non-negotiable regardless of what the policy says:
- The employer must provide equipment and cover electricity and internet costs – or pay a flat-rate equivalent.
- The employer must confirm in writing that the employee's home workstation meets OSH standards.
- The employee has the right to revert to on-site work, and the employer cannot refuse for certain protected categories.
The National Court Register (Krajowy Rejestr Sądowy, KRS) does not record remote work policies, but PIP inspectors can request them during any workplace audit. We obtained a reversal of a PIP enforcement notice for a logistics client in the Mazowieckie region (autumn 2025) precisely because the employer's policy, though informal, documented all three mandatory elements above.
How should employers calculate and pay remote work cost reimbursements?
Cost reimbursement is the area where employers most frequently miscalculate. The Labour Code requires employers to cover or reimburse: electricity costs, internet costs, and the cost of maintaining employer-provided equipment. Employers may satisfy this obligation either through actual-cost reimbursement or through a negotiated flat-rate allowance. The flat-rate route is administratively simpler and the majority of Polish employers have adopted it.
The flat rate must be set in the remote work policy or the individual agreement. It cannot be zero. Polish tax law treats reimbursements paid up to the flat-rate amount as exempt from personal income tax (PIT) and social insurance contributions (ZUS), provided the employer can demonstrate that the rate reflects actual costs. Rates set without any cost analysis carry a risk of ZUS reclassification.
A practical decision matrix applies here:
- Fully remote employees – flat rate typically set at PLN 150–300 per month; requires a documented cost basis.
- Hybrid employees (2–3 days per week remote) – proportional flat rate; many employers apply 40–60% of the fully remote figure.
- Occasional remote work – the Labour Code provides a separate "occasional remote work" category (up to 24 days per year) with lighter documentation requirements and no mandatory reimbursement obligation.
The distinction between regular and occasional remote work carries real financial consequences. An employer that treats regular home-working as "occasional" forfeits the PIT/ZUS exemption and risks back-payment of contributions for up to 5 years. For a mid-size IT company with 80 remote employees, that exposure can exceed PLN 1.5m.
For a tailored strategy on structuring remote work cost policies, reach out to info@kordeckipartners.com.
What are the occupational health and safety obligations for remote workers?
OSH compliance is the most technically demanding part of the remote work framework. The employer cannot physically inspect a home workstation the way it can inspect a factory floor – yet the Labour Code places full OSH responsibility on the employer. This tension is resolved through a declaration-based system, but the system has teeth.
Before an employee begins regular remote work, the employer must obtain a written declaration confirming that the home workstation meets the ergonomic and safety conditions described in the employer's OSH risk assessment. The employer prepares the risk assessment; the employee confirms compliance at their specific location. If conditions change – for example, the employee moves – a new declaration is required within 3 days.
The employer retains the right to inspect the remote workstation. Inspections require advance notice and the employee's consent for access to a private dwelling. In practice, employers conduct inspections via video call or a standardised photographic checklist. The PIP accepts both methods, provided the records are retained. Records must be kept for the duration of employment plus 3 years.
For companies with cross-border remote work – for example, a Polish employee working remotely from Germany for a Warsaw-based employer – additional social security and tax complications arise. The rules on posted workers and A1 certificates are addressed separately in our guide on posted workers from the United Kingdom to Poland and A1 certificates. The same coordination principles apply to other EU jurisdictions.
How do the three main business scenarios differ in practice?
The Labour Code applies uniformly, but implementation challenges vary significantly depending on company type. Understanding where your scenario sits helps prioritise which compliance steps to address first.
Manufacturing group. A Silesian manufacturer with 1,200 employees introduces hybrid working for its administrative staff (approximately 200 people). Production line workers are excluded – the Labour Code permits role-based exclusions, provided the criteria are objective and documented. The employer must negotiate with trade unions before implementation; failure to do so renders the policy unenforceable. Timeline from first union meeting to policy implementation: typically 4–8 weeks.
IT company. A Kraków-based software house employs 90 developers, all working fully remotely. Most have employment contracts; some are on B2B contracts. Only employees under employment contracts fall within the Labour Code framework. B2B contractors are governed by civil law – but misclassification risk means the employer should audit contractor relationships before assuming the remote work rules do not apply. An employment lawyer Warsaw-based companies typically engage can conduct this audit in 2–3 weeks.
Foreign investor entering Poland. A Dutch holding company establishes a Polish subsidiary and hires 15 employees from day one, all remote. There is no existing policy, no trade union, and no employee representatives. The employer must first establish an employee representative body – or consult directly with employees if the headcount is below 50. The remote work policy can then be adopted unilaterally after consultation. For context on global mobility considerations when relocating employees to Poland, see our guide on global mobility: relocating employees to Poland from the Netherlands.
We secured compliant policy documentation for an IT client in Małopolska (spring 2026) within three weeks of engagement, enabling the company to onboard 40 remote employees without PIP exposure.
What are the most common compliance mistakes – and how do you avoid them?
Most remote work compliance failures are procedural rather than substantive. Employers understand the concept; they fail on documentation, timing, and employee communication. The following checklist captures the five errors PIP inspectors flag most frequently.
What to prepare before implementing remote work:
- A written remote work policy or collective agreement – signed and dated before any remote work begins.
- Individual remote work terms issued to each affected employee – within 30 days of the policy taking effect.
- A documented OSH risk assessment covering home workstations – updated whenever working conditions change.
- Employee declarations confirming home workstation compliance – retained for employment duration plus 3 years.
- A flat-rate reimbursement calculation showing the cost basis – supported by market data or an internal cost survey.
Beyond documentation, two substantive traps deserve attention. First, employers sometimes issue remote work policies that restrict the employee's right to return to on-site work. The Labour Code prohibits this for employees who are pregnant, raising children under 4, or caring for a dependent family member – the employer must accommodate a return request within 14 days. Second, employers occasionally conflate remote work with telework, which was the previous legal category abolished in April 2023. Any contracts or policies referencing "telework" (telepraca) are now legally redundant and should be updated.
There is also a whistleblower dimension worth noting. The ustawa o ochronie sygnalistów (Whistleblower Protection Act) – which implements the EU Whistleblowing Directive – requires employers with 50 or more employees to maintain internal reporting channels. Remote work environments create particular challenges for channel accessibility and confidentiality. For a broader view of how Polish law protects sensitive business information in distributed work settings, our analysis of trade secret protection strategies under Polish law addresses the intersection of remote work and confidentiality obligations.
Specific situations require individual assessment. To receive an expert assessment of your remote work compliance position, contact info@kordeckipartners.com.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Does a foreign employer need a Polish work permit for an employee working remotely in Poland?
A: The work permit Poland requirement depends on the employee's nationality and the nature of the employment relationship. EU nationals working remotely in Poland for a foreign employer generally do not require a work permit, but the employer may still have registration obligations under Polish social security law. Non-EU nationals typically require either a work permit or an EU Blue Card if the salary and qualification thresholds are met. The threshold for an EU Blue Card in Poland is currently set by reference to the average gross salary published by the Central Statistical Office (Główny Urząd Statystyczny, GUS). An employment lawyer in Warsaw can assess the specific permit pathway within 48 hours of receiving the employee's documentation.
Q: Can an employer require employees to work remotely without their consent?
A: Generally, no. Remote work under the Labour Code is based on mutual agreement – either at the point of hiring or by subsequent amendment to the employment contract. There is one statutory exception: during a declared state of emergency or epidemic threat, the employer may unilaterally direct employees to work remotely for up to 3 months. Outside that exception, a unilateral instruction to work from home that the employee has not agreed to constitutes a unilateral change of working conditions. This requires a formal notice period of up to 3 months depending on the employee's seniority.
Q: What is the difference between regular remote work and occasional remote work under Polish law?
A: Regular remote work is an ongoing arrangement forming part of the employment relationship – it requires a written policy, OSH documentation, and cost reimbursement. Occasional remote work is capped at 24 days per calendar year and can be agreed ad hoc on the employee's request. The employer is not required to reimburse costs for occasional remote work, and the OSH declaration requirement is simplified. However, if an employee regularly exceeds 24 days of home working per year, the arrangement is reclassified as regular remote work by operation of law – with retroactive documentation and cost obligations applying from the date the threshold was exceeded.
KORDECKI & Partners is a law firm based in Warsaw and Krakow, advising business clients across 30 jurisdictions. Our team combines expertise in Polish and international law with a practical approach to employment law, remote work compliance, global mobility, and workforce restructuring. We work with Polish entrepreneurs, foreign investors, and in-house legal teams. To discuss your situation, contact info@kordeckipartners.com.
Disclaimer: This publication is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information herein should not be relied upon as a substitute for professional legal counsel tailored to your specific circumstances. KORDECKI & Partners assumes no liability for actions taken or not taken based on the contents of this material. For advice regarding your particular situation, please contact info@kordeckipartners.com.