Leo Varadkar has said an employee of six-months standing will be able to request remote working, however the Tanaiste added today that it’s not practical to give everyone a legal right to work from home.
He’s told media today that an employer must respond to a request for remote working and give a “solid reason” if they want to decline it.
He said it is not practical to have an absolute right to remote working ”as some jobs can’t be done from home.”
An employee of six months standing will be able to apply for remote working. If the employer is refusing a request under 13 listed conditions, it must be for a specified and what he termed “good” reason.
The government will publish legislation that gives people a statutory right to ‘request working from home’.
Social Democrats Enterprise Spokesperson Catherine Murphy said:
“This does not go far enough. The default position should be that flexible working is permissible. It should not be at the whim of employers to accept it or reject it.
”A change like this could be truly transformative, particularly for women, disabled people and carers – many of whom have been forced to give up work, or locked out of the jobs market, because of the absence of a statutory right to work remotely.”
“…The right to remote working is also of crucial importance to ease housing pressure in urban areas and to facilitate rural regeneration.”
