You are about to leave work when your manager stops you. “Open your bag. We need to check it.”
Or perhaps your boss suspects that someone has shared confidential information and asks you to unlock your
personal phone and show them your messages. Do you have to agree? Working for someone does not mean giving
up your privacy. In Poland, employers can introduce certain workplace security measures, but they do not have
unlimited authority to search employees or access their private belongings.
What about your bag?
Imagine you work in a shop where products have recently gone missing. Your employer decides that employees’
bags should be checked when they leave. A workplace may have legitimate reasons for introducing security
procedures to protect company property. But that does not mean a manager can treat employees however they
want.
Any such measures should have a legitimate purpose and respect employees’ dignity and personal rights. Workers
should also know what workplace rules and procedures apply to them. A routine security procedure that
employees have been informed about is very different from a manager suddenly demanding an invasive search
because they have decided that a particular worker “looks suspicious.”
Your employer is also not the police. If they believe that a theft or another crime has taken place, they can contact
the police rather than attempting to conduct an unlimited investigation themselves.
And your personal phone?
The distinction is even clearer when it comes to your private device. If you use your own phone, your employer
does not automatically gain the right to read your private messages, look through your photographs or demand
access to your social media accounts simply because you are at work.
There is also an important difference between a personal phone and equipment provided by your employer.
A company laptop, email account or work phone may be subject to workplace monitoring under certain
conditions. Polish law allows employers to use some forms of monitoring when there is a legitimate reason for
doing so. However, employees must be informed about monitoring, and there are rules governing its purpose and
scope.
Using company equipment therefore does not necessarily provide the same level of privacy as using your own
device.
But even workplace monitoring has limits. An employer cannot simply use the word “monitoring” as permission to
collect whatever information they want. Measures should have a specific workplace purpose and respect
employees’ rights.
“Show me your messages or you’re fired.”
Pressure can make these situations particularly difficult for young workers. A manager may present a request as if
you have no choice: “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you have nothing to hide.” That is not a good reason to
immediately surrender access to private information.
If you are asked to hand over your phone, unlock an account or allow a search of your belongings, ask why. Is this
part of an established workplace procedure? What exactly does the employer want to inspect? Why is it
necessary?
Do not provide passwords or access to private accounts simply because someone in a position of authority
demands them. If the situation becomes confrontational, stay calm. You can ask for the request in writing and
keep your own record of what happened. Save relevant messages and note who was present. If your employer
believes that you committed a crime, that is also different from your employer personally having unlimited powers
to investigate you.
Know where work ends and your private life begins.
Employers have legitimate interests. They may need to protect property, confidential information and workplace
security. Employees also have obligations toward their employers. But those interests do not erase your right to
privacy and dignity. A workplace security policy, monitoring of company equipment and a demand to unlock your
private phone are not the same thing. The details matter.
If you believe that your employer has violated your privacy or is pressuring you to provide access to private
information, you can seek advice from a trade union, labour rights organisation, the National Labour Inspectorate
(Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy – PIP), or, where personal-data rules are involved, Poland’s data protection authority
(Urząd Ochrony Danych Osobowych – UODO).
Having a job does not give your employer unrestricted access to your private life.