New provisions of the Labor Code regulating remote work have been in force since April. Therefore, the enterprises were to receive money to equip employees. However, as part of the revision of the National Recovery Plan, the government intends to abandon this investment. Companies will not get money to provide employees with the equipment needed to perform remote work. This money, i.e. almost EUR 44 million, is to be used to support childcare facilities for children up to three years old (nurseries, children’s clubs) under the MALUCH+ programme.
The authors of this change explain that the removal of investments from the KPO will not affect the implementation of the reform, and the entry into force of the amendment to the Labor Code will improve the reconciliation of professional and private duties and will help people who are professionally inactive or with lower professional activity to find permanent employment. Moreover, it was indicated that a number of activities financed outside the KPO are envisaged, aimed at strengthening the effects of legislation related to the introduction of remote work to the Labor Code as a safe form of work.
Other opportunities to obtain money
It is worth mentioning that pursuant to Art. 60a of the Act of 20 April 2004 on the promotion of employment and labor market institutions, an entrepreneur or an employer may obtain a grant financed from the Labor Fund for the creation of a remote work position. The amount of the grant may be up to 6 times the minimum wage applicable on the date of conclusion of the contract.
Moreover, the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, as part of the draft act on professional activity, provides for the introduction of further instruments aimed at strengthening the legislative effects in the field of remote work.
For example, the possibility of receiving funds for the creation of a remote work position is provided for if the place of remote work declared by the job seeker or the unemployed person sent to work and his/her place of residence are located in an area at risk of depopulation. This instrument is intended to enable and popularize remote work performed in small and medium-sized towns at risk of depopulation. The form of assistance for the creation of remote workstations could benefit both local entrepreneurs creating remote workstations and external employers offering the possibility of such work to employees from small and medium-sized localities far from the employer’s headquarters.
The draft law also provides for a new loan to finance expenses related to adapting a workstation for remote work for a selected group of employees. The loan will allow an entrepreneur to finance the equipment and supplies necessary for a remote worker. The loan for the adaptation of existing workstations to remote work applies to employees referred to in Article 67 par. 6 and 7 of the Act of 26 June 1974. – Labor Code, for whom the employer is required to agree to remote work (pregnant women, parents of children under 4 years of age and employees caring for another member of the immediate family or another person in a common household with a disability certificate or a certificate of significant disability).
