Heat at work. Employer has certain obligations towards employee

Heatwaves, snowstorms and storms undoubtedly affect the functioning of employees. In one European country, employees can take advantage of the so-called weather leave when weather conditions prevent them from working. In Poland, the topic of additional time off for this reason is only just gaining importance.

Bad weather leave? This solution was introduced in Spain. It is a response to situations when weather conditions actually disrupt work or pose a threat to health and life (as was the case in 2024 in Valencia). This includes heavy downpours, snowstorms or exceptionally high temperatures.

The new regulations will apply in Spain from the second half of 2024 and are a response to extreme weather events. Employees can take up to 4 days off per year, fully paid . The condition? An orange or red weather alert is declared by the Spanish meteorological agency AEMET .

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However, this is not the end of the range of possibilities. The employer can also adjust the work organization to the forecasted conditions. The regulations allow, among other things, to shorten the working day, to move the start or end hours of the shift.

There is no weather leave in Polish law, but employers must respond to working conditions. One such obligation is to provide employees with adequate hydration .

According to paragraph 112 of the regulation of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy of 26 September 1997: "The employer is obliged to provide all employees with drinking water or other beverages, and to provide employees permanently or periodically employed in particularly difficult conditions with other beverages in addition to water. The quantity, type and temperature of these beverages should be adapted to the working conditions and the physiological needs of the employees (...)".

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In practice, this means that every employed person, regardless of whether they work physically or spend their day in the office, has the right to access water or drinks.

The employer must ensure an appropriate temperature in the workplace, not lower than 18 degrees Celsius for light physical or office work and 14 degrees in other cases. If work is carried out outdoors or in unheated rooms, the company must provide its employees with the opportunity to warm up, shelter from precipitation and change clothes, and if necessary, safe sources of heat.

There are increasingly frequent voices that the changing climate may prompt the legislator to consider new solutions in the field of labor law. As explained by the website kadry.infor.pl, weather leave could be considered in several forms:

• in case of natural disasters (e.g. floods)
• in case of sudden weather changes affecting well-being (e.g. pressure spikes)
• in situations that make it impossible to get to work, e.g. snowstorms or violent storms that cut off electricity, or heat exceeding 35 degrees

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Perhaps the flood situation of 2024, when part of Poland struggled with flooding, will become an impulse for further legislative work. At that time, in response to the scale of destruction, the legislator implemented 4 additional days of leave on request, 20 days off to remove the effects of flooding, and hourly vacation leave (up to 5 days).