Economic and legal aspects of employee monitoring, with particular emphasis on remote work

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to identify and indicate the basic issues of employee moni-toring that arise in the field of economic and legal sciences from the perspective of employers, such as the factors motivating employers to use various forms of employee monitoring, current conditions of such activities resulting from state law and the European Union law, as well as potential threats to employers using broadly understood monitoring. Research method – Dogmatic and statistical methods, the analysis of legal acts and research results, as well as literature studies and observations of practice were used to prepare the article.Results – The possibility of using modern technologies to monitor employees is an important tool in the pursuit of effective organization of working time, although there is a lack of studies showing whether the monitoring methods offered on the market actually increase work efficiency. The actual needs of employers with regard to various forms of monitoring are not reflected in the provisions of the Labor Code. Employers should approach employee monitoring with caution, because inapprop-riate actions in this area may have negative effects.Originality / value / implications / recommendations – The article concerns issues of significant impor-tance from the perspective of not only Poland, but also other European Union countries, current in the realities of the pandemic and based on the latest legal regulations.