What Is Occasional Remote Work and How Many Days Does the Annual Limit Cover?
Occasional remote work means performing duties away from the workplace at the employee's request, without amending the employment contract or requiring a separate internal policy. The annual limit is 24 days in a calendar year and does not depend on the employee's working time fraction or the number of hours worked. This arrangement is available only to an employee engaged under a contract of employment, who submits the request in paper or electronic form. This arrangement does not require the parties to conclude an agreement or vary the terms of employment, which distinguishes it from remote work agreed on a permanent basis. The employer considers each request individually and may refuse it without giving a reason, because the request is not binding on the employer. The legal basis is Article 67(33) of the Labour Code. The provision has been in force since 7 April 2023, introduced by the amending Act of 1 December 2022
Unlike remote work agreed on a permanent basis, the occasional arrangement does not require consultation with trade unions or the drafting of an internal policy. Ordinary remote work is agreed by the parties when concluding the employment contract or during its term, on the employer's initiative or at the employee's request. The differences between the two arrangements are set out in the table below.
| Feature | Occasional remote work | Remote work agreed on a permanent basis |
|---|---|---|
| Annual day limit | up to 24 days in a calendar year, irrespective of the working time fraction | no statutory limit on days |
| Initiative and consent | solely at the employee's request; the employer may refuse it without giving a reason | on the employer's or the employee's initiative, by agreement between the parties |
| Equipment and costs | the employer need not provide equipment or cover costs | the employer provides work tools and covers the costs of electricity and telecommunications |
| Health and safety and risk assessment | the duty to ensure safe conditions and to carry out a risk assessment remains | a full occupational risk assessment and written health and safety information |
| Legal basis | Article 67(33) of the Labour Code | Articles 67(18)–67(32) of the Labour Code |
Read also: Labour Law
What Must the Employee's Request Contain and in What Form Must It Be Submitted?
The legislation does not prescribe an official template for the request for occasional remote work. The Labour Code requires only that it be made in paper or electronic form. The employee submits the request on their own initiative and need not justify it.
The Act does not specify a deadline by which the employee must submit the request before the planned day of remote work, nor the number of days that a single request may cover, provided they fall within the annual limit. In practice, employers settle these matters in internal rules, since Article 67(33) does not regulate them. In HR documentation, the request usually also states the date or period of remote work and the place where it will be performed, although the provision does not require such content.
Read also: Health and Safety
Must the Employer Agree to Occasional Remote Work?
A request for occasional remote work is not binding on the employer. The employer may refuse to grant it and need not give reasons for the decision. This distinguishes the arrangement from certain requests concerning ordinary remote work, where the Act imposes on the employer a duty to respond within a specified time limit to selected groups of employees.
The employer therefore makes the decision freely, guided by its own assessment of organisational needs, without having to state the basis for that assessment.
A refusal usually takes the form of brief feedback to the employee, in paper or electronic form, without detailed organisational or HR justification.
Do Pregnant Employees and Parents of Young Children Have Priority for Occasional Remote Work?
The Labour Code grants priority access to remote work to pregnant employees, employees raising a child up to the age of four, and carers of persons with disabilities, unless this is precluded by the organisation or type of work; the employer must inform the employee of the reason for a refusal within seven working days. However, this provision falls within the group excluded in the case of occasional remote work under Article 67(33) § 2 of the Labour Code.
The employer may therefore refuse a request for occasional remote work even from an employee belonging to a protected group. The special protection and the seven-day response deadline apply only to the ordinary remote work arrangement agreed on a permanent or hybrid basis, and not to the occasional arrangement.
What Costs and Obligations Is the Employer Not Required to Bear in Occasional Remote Work?
Articles 67(19)–67(24) and Article 67(31) § 3 of the Labour Code do not apply to occasional remote work. In practice, this means that the employer is not required to:
- provide the employee with the materials and work tools, including technical equipment, necessary to perform remote work;
- cover the costs of installing, servicing and maintaining that equipment, or the costs of electricity and telecommunications services;
- pay a cash equivalent or a lump-sum allowance for the use of equipment belonging to the employee.
This exclusion does not cover the employer's general obligations arising from separate legislation, including on the protection of personal data and on working time.
What Health and Safety and Record-Keeping Obligations Remain with the Employer?
The exclusion of certain remote work provisions does not release the employer from the duty to ensure safe and healthy working conditions in occasional remote work as well, including drawing up an occupational risk assessment and preparing information on health and safety rules. In occasional remote work, the employer must:
- ensure safe and healthy working conditions even where the employee performs duties away from the workplace only occasionally;
- draw up an occupational risk assessment for work performed remotely and, on that basis, prepare information on the rules for performing the work safely;
- agree with the employee the rules for monitoring performance of the work and health and safety compliance, since the monitoring rules set out in an internal policy or agreement do not apply to occasional remote work.
The request, the employer's decision and the record are the three elements of the occasional remote work procedure. Illustration: PRAWOUE.PL
It is advisable to record occasional working days separately from days of remote work agreed on a permanent basis, in order to monitor use of the 24-day annual limit.
In HR administration, occasional working days are most often recorded in a simple table in the personnel file or in the payroll and HR system, with columns for the date, the place of work and the request number, which makes it easier to monitor the limit.
What Do These Provisions Mean for the Employee and the Employer?
Occasional remote work gives the employee the possibility of working away from the workplace for up to 24 days in a calendar year, but does not create a claim against the employer. The employer retains discretion over each request, while remaining responsible for the safety of work performed away from the workplace. The protection afforded to protected groups in ordinary remote work does not extend to the occasional arrangement. For HR departments, this means keeping a separate record of occasional working days and documenting every decision made by the employer.
Glossary
- Occasional remote work – Performing work away from the employer's premises at the employee's request, without amending the employment contract, for up to 24 days in a calendar year.
- The 24-day limit – The maximum number of days of occasional remote work in a calendar year, irrespective of the employee's working time fraction (full-time or part-time).
- Priority for protected groups – The right of pregnant employees and parents of young children to remote work — this does not apply under the occasional arrangement.
- Occupational risk assessment – The employer's duty to assess the hazards of working remotely and, on that basis, to draw up health and safety information.
- Employee's request – A communication from the employee to the employer seeking consent to occasional remote work, made in paper or electronic form.
Sources
- Labour Code, Article 67(33)
- Labour Code, Article 67(18)-67(32)
- Labour Code, Article 67(19)-67(24)
- Labour Code, Article 67(31)
Legal status as of 6 September 2026
