Ann Graves (Dublin Fingal East, Sinn Fein)
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186. To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the protections in place to protect people, from being made redundant, who have a medical condition that prevents them from working in the workplace but are working satisfactorily and productively from home. [67376/25]

Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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There are a range of protections under employment law for employees facing redundancy or the loss of their job.

Redundancy is where an employee loses their job because their employer is closing their business or reducing the number of staff. It occurs when a job no longer exists, an employee is let go and they are not replaced. This is set out in the Redundancy Payment Act 1967, as amended.

Where a genuine redundancy situation arises, an employee with more than two years’ service with that employer and who is in insurable employment within the meaning of the Social Welfare Acts is entitled to a statutory redundancy payment.

In general, dismissal of an employee due to redundancy is not deemed to be an unfair dismissal. An employee with more than one year’s service is protected under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, as amended. In such cases, an employer must be able to demonstrate that the redundancy is genuine and the selection criteria and the redundancy process is substantively and procedurally fair.

Under the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023, all employees have the right to make a statutory request for remote working. By law, their employer must provide a reasoned written response to this request. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has a published Code of Practice which provides practical guidance on such requests here: www.workplacerelations.ie/en/what_you_should_know/codes_practice/code-of-practice-for-employers-and-employees-right-to-request-flexible-working-and-right-to-request-remote-working/.

In addition, under the Employment Equality Act 1998, as amended, discrimination on the grounds of disability is prohibited. Employers are required to consider “reasonable accommodations” for persons with a disability.

Where an employee believes their employer has breached their employment rights, they can make a complaint to the WRC. In most cases, complaints must be made within 6 months of the alleged breach. The WRC can extend this to 12 months if the employee demonstrates reasonable cause.