To counteract the spread of COVID-19 with the Act of 2nd March 2020 on specific solutions related to the prevention, counteraction and eradication of COVID-19, other infectious diseases and crisis situations caused by them, the Polish legislator has introduced the possibility for the employers to instruct employees to work remotely without the prior consent of the employee. For the first time in the Polish legislation remote work has been defined in a legal act, but some practical questions regarding working conditions have not been regulated, giving to the employers a high level of autonomy in their interpretation. At the same time, other measures have been introduced to counteract the pandemic that included the closure of schools and nurseries, forcing employees to personally take care of children. Combining home office and care responsibilities has put significantly higher pressure on female workers, as the statistical reports demonstrate, increasing also the levels of unpaid womens' work. This research aims to analyze how the legal response of the Polish legislator affected the gender inequalities related to the work life balance, with special attention to remote work provisions and its implications on women. The analysis of statistical data and reports of the International Labour Organisation, with comparison to the Polish anti-crisis regulations, lead to some critical remarks on the impact of these regulations on further gender discrimination. The author concludes by formulating some proposals to deal with growing gender inequalities that have to be taken into consideration in the following legal response to the after-pandemic world of work.

In order to counteract the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic, pursuant to the Act of March 2, 2020, the possibility of sending an employee to work remotely was introduced by employer's official order. However, the concept of remote work has not been defined by the legislator, nor is it defined in the applicable labour law. This causes difficulties in distinguishing between remote work and telework as referred to in art. 675 of the Polish Labour Code. The issue of the range and form of admissible employees' control also remains controversial. As stated by the legislator, within the meaning of the COVID-19 Act, remote work means work rendered outside the place of its permanent performance. This includes also the possibility to provide work from the employee's home, so called "home office". Determining the limits of the employer's permitted control seems to be particularly problematic, while taking into account the obligation to respect the employee's right to privacy and the privay of the household members, as well as the employer's need to apply the principles of personal data protection regulated in the GDPR. In addition, the need to distinguish the concepts of remote work from telework, makes it necessary to dispute whether there is an obligation for the parties of the employment relationship to regulate in the order of the employer or in an agreement concluded with the employee the circumstances in which the remote work has to be concluded, as well as the possibility of applying warranty provisions regarding the specifics of providing work using means electronic communications as regulated in chapter IIb of the Labour Code.