Excerpt from pinsentmasons.com.

The Irish government has set out legislation that would give employees the right to request remote working, as part of plans to make the work arrangement a permanent feature of Ireland’s economy.

The Right to Request Remote Working Bill 2022 provides the first legal framework for Irish employees to make a request for remote work – and for employers to approve or refuse them. It comes amid a shift away from more traditional work patterns in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the height of which saw many Irish workers told to work-from-home for the first time.

Under the terms of the Bill, employers will be required to put in place a formal remote working policy that specifies how remote working requests will be managed, the time frame in which a decision will be made and the specific conditions that will apply. Firms that fail to do so face a fine of up to €2,500.

Jason McMenamin, employment expert at Pinsent Masons, said: “All workplaces will have to have a written statement in place which sets out the company’s remote working policy. Employee engagement will be key in ensuring that this policy is smoothly introduced, if not already in place. We recommend that employers seek input from their employees on remote working arrangements when drafting such a policy, where remote working is possible.”

 

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