New draft regulations – employee sobriety test

The website of the Government Legislation Center has published a new bill amending the Labor Code and the Act on Upbringing in Sobriety and Counteracting Alcoholism, which is to regulate the conduct of preventive sobriety checks for employees.

Inspections will be allowed if it is required for the protection of the health and life of employees or other persons, or property protection.

The proposed regulation provides that:

/  the control will be carried out by the employer for the presence of alcohol in the body, using a method that does not require laboratory tests, with respect for the dignity and other personal rights of employees;

/  the obtained data will be stored for 1 year or longer, if securing them is necessary for proceedings or documenting order penalties;

/  the control rules and the groups of employees covered by the control will have to be specified in a collective labor agreement, work regulations, or a notice;

/  the employer will be able to select occupational groups subject to the sobriety test;

/  the Labor Code will introduce a procedure to be followed in the event of a positive result of a sobriety test or a justified suspicion of the employee’s insobriety, which is the same as the practice so far: an intoxicated employee will not be allowed to work, and at the request of the employer or employee, the authorized body should additionally verify his/her sobriety;

/  a similar regulation will apply to agents that act similarly to alcohol;

/  the detailed requirements for the test procedure and the list of agents acting similarly to alcohol will be regulated in the implementing rules, the draft of which has not yet been published;

/  the regulation will also apply to persons under civil law contracts and self-employed persons.

The bill has been referred to the Legal Committee. After consultation, it will be referred to the Sejm.

The GKW Law Firm represents employers in processes initiated by employees in connection with the disciplinary termination of an employment contract or the imposition of an order penalty following a refusal to submit to a sobriety test.

The proposed regulation is particularly important in view of the positions of government administration bodies [The President of the Personal Data Protection Office] that employers cannot independently carry out sobriety checks of employees, including random checks.

Regulating the principles of preventive inspections will enable employers to enforce the obligation to submit to inspections by employees and will protect employees’ rights regarding personal data processing and respect for their dignity.