Remote PIP inspection — when the inspector does not come to your company

What a remote inspection involves

Under art. 26 ust. 5 of the Act of 13 April 2007 on the State Labour Inspectorate, an inspection or individual inspection activities may be conducted remotely — through a postal operator or by means of electronic communication within the meaning of art. 2 pkt 5 of the Act of 18 July 2002 on the provision of services by electronic means.

The provision sets conditions: there must be a justified case, the remote mode must not conflict with the purpose of the inspection, and in addition it should make the inspection more efficient or be warranted by the nature of the inspected party's activity. This is not a discretionary mode.

Requesting an online transmission is a separate power. Art. 23 ust. 1 pkt 2a of the PIP Act allows the inspector to request it in order to examine documents, hear the party and question the inspected entity — in justified cases, provided this does not conflict with the purpose of the inspection.

Service card, authorisation and the scope of powers

Art. 26 ust. 6 of the PIP Act settles that conducting an inspection remotely does not limit the inspector's powers under art. 26 ust. 1 i 2 and art. 23 ust. 1. The catalogue of demands remains the same — personnel files, documents connected with the performance of work, explanations, statements and calculations. The channel changes, not the scope.

In a remote inspection, the service card is presented and the authorisation to conduct the inspection is delivered by means of electronic communication (art. 26 ust. 7). The absence of those documents is a reason to ask for them to be supplied, not to refuse cooperation.

Data security during the inspection

Art. 26 ust. 8 of the PIP Act obliges the authority to conduct a remote inspection using technical and organisational measures ensuring the confidentiality, availability and integrity of the data transmission, applying cryptographic mechanisms adequate to the risks.

An employer who hands over personnel files and residence documents of foreigners remains the controller of that data. The material made available should match the scope of the demand — sending entire folders or sharing a screen with an open HR database goes beyond the activity covered by the request.

What it changes for an employer of foreigners

Inspections of the legality of employment have not been excluded from the remote mode. The first signal may therefore be electronic correspondence. Completeness of the files is key: the residence document, the basis for performing work (a work permit, a seasonal work permit, a declaration of entrustment of work, or a temporary residence and work permit), the contract and confirmation of registration for social insurance.

Equally important is that the document matches reality. A single permit is tied to a specific entity entrusting the work (art. 118 of the Act on Foreigners), and a change of conditions may require the permit to be amended (art. 120).

The reform also widened the circle of inspected parties. Art. 13 pkt 1 of the PIP Act covers — as regards occupational health and safety, the legality of employment and the conclusion of civil-law contracts in the conditions set out in art. 22 § 1 of the Labour Code — also entrepreneurs who are not employers and for whom work is or was performed during the year preceding the day the inspection began, including by persons conducting business activity on their own account.