Tánaiste Publishes Views on Right to Request Remote Work

Friday, 20 August, 2021- The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD today published views from members of the public and stakeholder groups on the right to request remote work.

Earlier this year the Tánaiste published Ireland’s first National Remote Work Strategy, to make remote and blended working a bigger part of life after the pandemic.

An important commitment in the Strategy is to introduce a new law giving workers the right to request remote work.

Currently, in Ireland, all employees can ask their employers for the right to work remotely, but there is no legal framework around which a request can be made and how it should be dealt with by the employer. This new law will set out clearly how these requests should be facilitated as far as possible.

A Clear Framework to Request Remote Work

The Tánaiste said:

“We have a real opportunity now to make remote and blended working a much bigger part of normal working life. Introducing a right to request remote working will set out a clear framework to facilitate remote and blended work options, in so far as possible.

“It will ensure that when an employer declines a request, there are stated reasons for doing so and conversations with workers are taking place in a structured way. We recognise that remote working won’t work for everyone or for every organisation, so the Government will take a balanced approach with the new legislation.”

A total of 175 submissions were received, most of which came from individual workers. The report published today summarises the key points of the views received. The questions asked covered topics such as:

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 & equipment required for remote working
Reasonable grounds of refusal of a request to work remotely
How to manage changes in any arrangement agreed between workers and employers

A Fair Mechanism

The Tánaiste said:

“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.”

On 28 June the Tánaiste launched his department’s #MakingRemoteWork campaign. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the advice and information available from the Government to help workers and employers facilitate more remote and blended working. This includes guidance for employers and workers and a Remote Working Checklist.

Along with engagement from trade unions and industry representatives, submissions were also received from businesses, political parties and individual workers. The summary report on submissions on a Right to Request Remote Work can be found at Report on the submissions received from the Consultation on Right to Request Remote Working.

Prepared by Suzanna Hayek