Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Tánaiste's statement to the effect that the Government will not oppose the Bill on Second Stage. That is a welcome move. We welcome the fact that the national remote working strategy group will meet today. That is important. What we want to do with this Bill is ensure we enshrine the right to switch off in law while at the same time recognising that flexibilities need to be built in for individuals in their workplaces as befits their circumstances and in concert with their employers. Nobody is arguing against that flexibility. Working mothers, in particular, and commuters need to have that blend so that they can go to the office or work from home as needs be. Childcare is an essential component, especially for working mothers and working families. We have seen the evidence of the effects of the first lockdown for working mothers. Research from the National Women's Council showed that it was having a detrimental effect and leading to stressful situations for working mothers who were literally working all hours and, in the first lockdown, having to take care of children. It affected working mothers in the main.

We want the principle of the right to switch off to be enshrined in legislation. We want to improve the rights of workers by providing employees who work remotely with the right to switch off from out-of-hours work-related electronic communications. This is important for their mental health, for those caring for children and for other vulnerable people who need support. I note the points made by the Tánaiste in respect of the Organisation of Working Time Act. It is important to note that nobody is seeking to amend that such that every employee would not be entitled to at least 11 hours of rest in every 24 hours and every employer would not permit his or her employee to work for more than 48 hours in a week under that Act. Nobody is talking about amending that Act to the detriment of workers, lest the impression be conveyed that that is the case.

The Tánaiste referred to some concerns that he had in respect of the diminution of workers' rights, which is absolutely not the case in this legislation. We seek to strengthen the rights of workers; allow for a new paradigm to exist whereby people are, by necessity, working from home; and ensure we do not have a dystopian future. We have seen evidence of employers monitoring workers at home through the use of applications of Time Doctor, ActivTrak, Terramind and StaffCop, where surveillance applications are being applied to workers who work at home at all hours of day and night. We want to ensure that we as a Legislature legislate for the new phenomenon in a way that protects workers' rights and allows for some protection from the point of view of both occupational health and safety and ensuring the Organisation of Working Time Act is applied and strengthened.

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