THE FUTURE OF REMOTE WORK – LEGAL DILEMMAS

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many areas of life, and has also directly affected ways of performing work. The biggest change has been the expansion of remote working on an unprecedented huge scale. This form of work has allowed many workers to move their work activities online, thus reducing the pandemic threat. Remote working has many benefits for employees, saving the time needed to commute, as well as for employers, who can save the funds needed to maintain offices. Aside from its many advantages, remote working raises numerous legal dilemmas that relate to range of important issues, starting with the right to establish such work. Other problems include the provision of work tools, covering the costs of performing work at the employee’s home, appropriate organisation of working time, together with respect for the principle of work-life balance. Other dilemmas concern the protection of privacy of the employee and his/her family. It is also connected with providing the employer with the possibility to control the performance of work by employees, as well as ensuring an appropriate level of occupational health and safety. This paper indicates such dilemmas, and discusses the key issues related to them. These issues need to be taken into account when developing regulations on remote working, both at international and national levels