Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Labour Party for using its time to bring forward this legislation. In 2019, the CSO reported that 18% of people in Ireland were working from home, mostly one or two days a week. These people generally worked in large companies, with home working more prevalent in the multinational sector. The pandemic changed everything. Overnight, whole industries moved to remote working . In July, a survey conducted by Microsoft indicated that 72% of organisations had implemented remote working policies. The latest CSO labour force survey indicates that 36% of the workforce is working from home and while the figure will shift as restrictions change there is no doubt a significant proportion of the workforce will continue to work from home when we emerge from this pandemic.

An NUIG survey in October showed that 94% were in favour of working remotely on an ongoing basis for some or all of the time, which was an increase from 83% at the start of the pandemic. The number of people who want to work remotely every day is 27%, which is more than double the findings of the previous survey, which was 12%. A total of 23% of those asked said they would think of relocating due to the ability to work from home and 7% have already moved. We need to think about housing policy from this point of view. Covid has really raised even more serious questions about the whole issue of co-living than there were to begin with. Housing policy is part of what we need to consider.

We also need to bear in mind that there will be shifting attitudes on this as people change and get used to a different form of work. We have to take a long view on this and look at the data. There is a clear need for a suite of legislation in this area. Policies designed for an office environment will not always suit a home environment. Extending current policies to home creates many grey areas for workers and employers. Who is liable if a worker is injured at home if they develop posture injuries from poor seating? Many studies have examined the extent of remote working and its impact on workers and there are clear divides in the research. Research carried out by employers and employers' groups tends to be more positive towards remote working than research carried out by unions. We have to pay attention to this. Issues of people with neck strain and other such issues because of not having the correct type of equipment are very serious.

Fórsa carried out a survey in August, which indicated serious challenges. Its survey of 4,000 public sector workers revealed that more than 80% of those who favour home working want a hybrid arrangement, whereby people can work between home and the workplace. Just over a quarter, at 28% of those surveyed, said a manager had asked them about their home working set-up from a health and safety perspective. I would have thought that would be a standard practice. One third said their employer had not provided the necessary equipment and, significantly, a minority of 12% have no access to essential technology such as broadband. We all hear from people who have to drive to sit outside somewhere so they can work from their car.

Home working is not as popular among young workers aged under 30, which suggests where they live matters with regard to sharing or being in a family home setting. A survey carried out by the Financial Services Union, FSU, in April and May showed challenges for people working from home. This survey of home working staff revealed that 44% feel pressure to answer calls and emails outside of working hours and 56% have seen an increase in work intensity. A total of 66% reported an increase in work-related stress. Research carried out by the University of Limerick in 2019 for the FSU revealed that one in four workers in the banking and finance sector is expected to answer calls and emails outside of working hours. There really have to be controls on this.

New European research shows that almost 40% of EU workers started working from home during the confinement. The latest EU working conditions survey shows people regularly working are twice as likely to work 48 hours or more a week than those working in employer's premises. They are six times more likely to work in their free time and they are the groups of workers most likely to report waking up repeatedly during sleep. They are never able to shut off or differentiate between work and home.

Workers are entitled to security and safety at work. Safety at work must now extend far beyond the narrow parameters of the old. It must embrace positive mental health. No worker should be left feeling stressed and harassed by the demands of technology. Everyone is entitled to live their lives outside of the paid working day. There is also a presumption that workers are able to work from home and that they have the space, equipment, broadband and childcare necessary to do so safely. I do not know how many women I have spoken to, particularly young mothers, who feel their lives and entitlements have gone backwards. This is part of the reason many want a hybrid system.

We welcome the Bill but we want it to go further. We want to ensure that workers benefit from the power of technology and the increased flexibility it provides. This must include looking at options such as the right of workers to set their own hours. We also think a four day week is something that should be considered in this context. There is plenty of evidence to show it raises productivity. Burning out workers is the last thing that should happen. We want to ensure people have access to high-quality hubs based in local communities, which can provide a positive working environment and promote local investment. We must ensure the voices of workers and their communities are central in the shaping of the future of work. The Government has an opportunity to give workers a valuable forum through sectoral task forces and it should set out in the national economic plan how it intends to do this.

The model of excluding workers from task forces which will determine their future, as we have seen with the task force on tourism, is not satisfactory. We cannot leave economic policy to employers alone; it is too important for that. Ireland's way of dealing with the rise in remote working has been to continue the voluntarist model of industrial relations. Too often, the Government presents an opt-out model and employers opt out. If we are serious about giving workers a voice, we must introduce proper collective bargaining legislation and ensure that workers are represented at board level.

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