Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for bringing forward this legislation. The first part of the Bill, which aims to strengthen workers' rights within the current context of Covid-19, is very welcome. It is widely accepted now that work-life balance is fundamentally important.

With advances in technology and people being accessible more easily we must catch up in law and make sure a worker's right to disconnect from work is protected. Workers' rights are something I have long fought for as a member of Unite. I know all too well the importance of the power of collective bargaining, when ordinary workers come together to protect themselves and their working conditions.

As the Bill sets out clearly, any time spent by an employee in accessing, considering and responding to work-related electronic communications is working time. This is the message we must embed in this important legislation. It cannot be the case that employees are put in a position that phone calls or emails are extra work time, whereby the employer benefits from an employee's attention outside of working time and it should be considered as such. The issue of the right to disconnect is being examined at European level, with the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions stating it is important to get it right in terms of work-life balance and safeguarding workers' health and safety. It is my understanding that France and Italy have already legislated for this matter, which demonstrates that a legislative precedent is set.

My colleague, Deputy Louise O'Reilly, introduced a Bill to the House to deal with this matter and I commend her on her work on this. Her legislation would make it a requirement that employers put in place a right to disconnect policy to establish the hours when employees are not supposed to send or answer work-related emails, texts or calls. This would be put in place in consultation with the employees and, where applicable, the relevant trade union. It, therefore, would allow employees to waive the right to disconnect but only with their consent. This is a very important principle, as it means the employees and their unions should be at the centre of discussions on when they are available outside of working hours in times when they might be in need of flexibility. This principle should be remembered when we are debating legislation on workers' rights to disconnect. Flexibility is sometimes necessary but not at the expense of the employees' well-being and safety. I am happy to support the legislation in principle as it strengthens workers' rights. I hope we can continue to respond to our changing working environments due to this pandemic by keeping workers' rights, safety and conditions as core values in our society.

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