Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Under the current level 5 of the plan for living with Covid, people are asked to stay at home. If people can work from home, they should do so. They should only enter their workplace if they are providing an essential service for which their physical presence is required. While we all look forward to the day when we are free to return to our workplaces, the Government wants remote working to become part of the new normal. This is reflected in the programme for Government, which contains commitments aimed at facilitating remote work across Ireland. In July, my Department launched a consultation on remote working.  We are using the insights garnered from this to refine the current remote working guidance and we will publish a remote working strategy before the end of the year. However, we must seek to strike a balance as the closure of so many workplaces has had a real impact on footfall in our towns and cities. We need to recognise that, depending on the job or role, remote working arrangements may not be ideal for all employers or employees.

A right to request remote working exists in several countries, including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, the Netherlands and Finland.  While the exact mechanics of the schemes vary, the basic concept is that a person who meets the legal definition of "employee" has the right to request remote working arrangements.  The employer is not obliged to grant the request but is required to give it fair consideration and provide a reasonable explanation if they choose to reject it. Certain eligibility requirements may also be provided for, such as a minimum length of service or limit on the frequency of such requests.

Currently, there is nothing in legislation that prevents an employee requesting the right to work remotely but I still think legislation is needed.  I intend to initiate a discussion on the concept of a right to request remote working with the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, and employer bodies at the next meeting of the LEEF sub-group on employment, which I chair. I will be interested to hear their views on what we can do to further facilitate remote working in a way that works for businesses and staff.

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