Pre-employment, periodic and follow-up examinations - an obligation of both the employer and the employee

The Labour Code requires all future employees to undergo pre-employment medical examinations and repeat them every few years. The examinations should be carried out during working hours.

In addition, where a sick leave of over 30 days is involved, the employee must undergo a follow-up examination to confirm his or her ability to continue work at the same position.

Employers are monitored by the National Labour Inspectorate as to their adherence to the obligation of referring employees to adequate medical examinations. If a person carries out professional duties without valid examinations, a fine ranging from PLN 1 thousand to 30 thousand may be imposed on the employer.

Which examinations and when?

The types and frequency of medical examinations are set out in detail in the Regulation of the Minister of Health. Employers refer their employees to the doctor, indicating any risk factors they may be exposed to at work.

Office clerks working with computers typically undergo periodic checkups every four years. These include general examinations (blood count, ESR, blood sugar, general urine test, etc.), as well as ophthalmological and occupational medicine consultations. On the basis of an anamnesis and the employee's state of health, the doctor may prescribe further checkups. In accordance with doctor's instructions, employers are obliged to provide corrective glasses to those working in front of computers. In other types of office work, examinations are repeated every five years.

The type and frequency of examinations depend on whether an employee is exposed to harmful, noxious or hazardous factors.

In some types of work, periodic examinations are carried out more often after an employee reaches 45 or 50 years of age.

Harmful factors

Other examinations will be obligatory in establishments, where employees are exposed to excessive noise (general checkups every four years; these include otolaryngological examination repeated each year during the initial three-year period of employment, and then in three-year intervals) or if the work involves continued, long-term strain on the vocal cords (e.g. laryngological consultations repeated every five years.

Similarly, examinations will be different for employees inhaling harmful dusts or vapours (here the frequency depends on the types of such substances), and for those employed in hot or cold environments (every three years). Separate rules will apply to persons having a daily contact with biological materials.

Specific guidelines regard occupations which require "adequate sensory capabilities", such as drivers, fork-lift operators, road and construction machinery operators, persons working at high altitudes (a division is here made into an altitude of up to three meters and above) and those required to carry guns at work.

A separate category comprises jobs which involve "hazards resulting from continuous, massive inflow of information and response readiness", highly-demanding management posts involving substantial responsibility, but also those where employees put their lives at risk or their work is substantially monotonous. In such cases, besides examinations such as cholesterol and ECG tests, the employee's mental health should be paid attention to.

In the case of shift work, the scope of examinations will depend on doctor's recommendations and they are to be repeated every three or five years.