The Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment have published a report on the submissions received from the Consultation on Right to Request Remote Working. A total of 175 submissions were received for the report and the Department has summarised some of the views and opinions offered by stakeholders.
The questions asked covered topics such as the timeframe for replying to requests to work remotely; the length of service, if any, an employee should have before being entitled to work remotely; health and safety and equipment required for remote working; reasonable grounds of refusal of a request to work remotely and how to manage changes in any arrangement agreed between workers and employers.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has stated that: "Because of the pandemic, a lot of people are required to work from home. After the pandemic, people should have a choice, so long as the work gets done and business and service needs are met. That's the principle I want to apply.
"The intention is to introduce a mechanism for employees to request remote working that is fair to workers but does not place an undue burden on employers. This new legislation will be a priority in the new Dáil term. We will also continue to provide up-to-date advice, guidance, and information on all aspects of remote working for workers and employers."
The report follows Mr. Varadkar’s announcement earlier this year in which he outlined the Government’s commitment to making remote and blended work a much bigger part of Irish life after the pandemic. This was published in Ireland’s first National Remote Work Strategy.
Click here to read the report.