Workers whose requests for flexible or remote working are not reasonably considered by their employers will be entitled to up to 20 weeks’ pay under a code of practice published by the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on Thursday.
The code, which provides a framework for administering measures contained in two separate pieces of legislation, does not grant any actual entitlement to work remotely but sets out a wide range of factors that must be taken into consideration when such a request is made.
An employer is entitled to take into account its own operations and priorities but must consider the applicant’s circumstances.
It is entitled to refuse such requests as long as the process is reasonable and has been conducted in accordance with the principles set out in the code.
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The WRC and Labour Court will have the power to order employers to reappraise the application and can award compensation where there have been failings but they will not consider the merits of the actual application, only whether it was reasonably considered.
Under the terms of the code, employers who fail to reasonably consider applications for flexible working, from people with caring responsibilities, under the terms of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 Act or Parental Act 1998-2023 can be ordered to pay compensation of up to 20 weeks’ pay to the affected employee.
Accommodations with regard to flexible working can include, part-time and term-time working, job-sharing and remote working. The employee must submit a written request for the accommodations at least eight weeks in advance of a proposed start date and set out the reasons for it, identifying the person or people requiring their care and providing detail of any medical conditions involved.
Employees can request flexible working in order to provide care to a range of people including children, parents, other family members and cohabitants.
In instances where employees are simply requesting permission to work remotely, without any caring requirements being involved, a failure to consider the issue fairly and reasonably can result in an order at the WRC or Labour Court to pay up to four week’s pay.
The code sets out various factors that can or should be considered by the employer. It can weigh up company needs, including the nature of the work or role involved, and whether it is suitable to be done remotely, the suitability of the individual as well as any need for interaction with other team members. It must also consider the needs of the employee, however, and the basis on which the request has been made which might be personal circumstances or long commutes.
Commenting on the launch, Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney, said the “Government committed to facilitating and supporting remote working, to reduce our time commuting and to enable families to spend more time together.
“The approval and publication of the Code of Practice for Employers and Employees Right to Request Flexible Working and Right to Request Remote Working will support employees to avail of their rights and employers to operate under the Act.”
Minister for Equality Roderic O’Gorman, meanwhile, said “the commencement today of the right to flexible working for parents and carers also marks the final step in the transposition of the EU Work Life Balance Directive”.
Both Ibec, the business lobby, and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) contributed to the code’s formulation and welcomed its publication.
Maeve McElwee, executive director for employer relations at Ibec, said the code was “really welcome as it sets out how you participate in a good practice framework in terms of some of the requests that will come through and how you navigate those requests”.
Mary Connaughton of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development believes there will be pressures on employers to take the process seriously.
“It will challenge employers who want people on-site for five days a week,” she says. “It expects employers to be fair and reasonable in evaluating the application and sets out grounds they should consider when evaluating whether it can work.
“I think it’s quite balanced in that it recognises employers have a business to run but it expects them to recognise an employee’s circumstances. If you don’t have a strong rationale for something like having everyone on-site five days a week, that could be hard to stand over.”
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