Poland: Rules of monitoring at workplaces introduced in the Polish Labour Code

The new changes of the Polish Labour Code concern the matter of monitoring at workplaces. The novelization was introduced as a result of EU General Data Protection Regulation. This matter was not regulated by the Polish law before.

The newly introduced rules differentiate two kinds of monitoring: video monitoring and e-mail monitoring. The provisions determine that monitoring shall be allowed, in the case of video monitoring – as long as it is necessary to ensure safety of the employees, protect the employer’s property, control the production, or keep secret the employer’s protected data; and in the case of e-mail monitoring – as long as it is necessary to ensure the organization of work enabling full use of working time, or to guarantee a proper use of work tools made available to the employees.

The employer is allowed to keep the video recordings obtained in the result of monitoring for a period of time no longer than 3 months. After this time, the employer shall delete the recordings.

The goals, scope and methods of the use of monitoring should be determined in a collective work agreement, work regulations or in an employer’s announcement. At least two weeks before the planned introduction of monitoring at the workplace, the employer shall inform the employees about the fact.