It was announced this week in Ireland that the Cabinet has signed off on proposed new laws to allow employees (who have been with a company for more than 6 months) to request remote working. Under this legislation, the employer must reply to the request within 12 weeks.
The Tánaiste Leo Varadkar recognised that remote working was imposed on a lot of people because of public health restrictions. Now that restrictions have been lifted, he wants to give people the choice to decide.
The Right to Request Remote Working Bill 2021 will provide a legal framework for requesting, approving or refusing a request for remote work. All workplaces must have a written statement that sets out the company’s remote working policy, stating how remote working requests are managed and the conditions that apply to remote working in general.
Employers can refuse a request for remote working under the following 13 conditions;
- The nature of the work not allowing for the work to be done remotely
- Cannot reorganise work among existing staff
- Potential negative impact on quality
- Potential negative impact on performance
- Planned structural changes
- Burden of additional costs, taking into account the financial and other costs entailed and the scale and financial resources of the employer’s business
- Concerns about the protection of business confidentiality or intellectual property
- Concerns about the suitability of the proposed workspace on health and safety grounds
- Concerns about the suitability of the proposed workspace on data protection grounds
- Concerns about the internet connectivity of the proposed remote working location
- Inordinate distance between the proposed remote location and on-site location
- If the proposed remote working arrangement conflicts with the provisions of an applicable collective agreement
- Ongoing or recently concluded formal disciplinary processes
These grounds are set out in the legislation, and Codes of Practice will also be developed to provide guidance and help employers implement this new law. Any refusal can be appealed to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
The Tánaiste has said that he wants the legislation published by Easter, and passed the Oireachtas by the summer.
Written by Michelle Corry