Remote work during the COVID-19 epidemic in Poland - results of an empirical study

Remote work, identified in the literature as a flexible form of employment, is of interest to both researchers and business practice representatives. It is mainly expressed by the growing trend in the number of publications, but also by the sudden increase in popularity of the 'remote work' entry among those seeking this form of work. The presented article attempts to identify differences in areas related to the preparatory activities, implementation and type of rules regarding the implementation of remote work on a selected group of organizations in Poland. In addition, based on the respondents' previous experience, the advantages and limitations of remote work were identified. Empirical proceedings were carried out in April 2020, during the epidemiological state in Poland, on a randomly selected group of 117 organizations. As a result of the study, discrepancies were noted, including the possibility of carrying out this form of work before and during COVID-19. Furthermore, it was pointed out that the rules for the implementation of remote work in most organizations have not been established or are unwritten (not formalized). The study presents results which allow the conclusion to be formulated that large organizations were prepared to a greater extent than medium, small and micro enterprises for reconfiguration of the form of work from stationary to remote in the areas of implementation of pre-development activities, setting principles and their scope.