Employers will be able to deny a request from an employee to work from home under new laws.
Back in February, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said employers should facilitate working from home as long as business gets done, and “the services provided to the public aren't diminished in any way".
He said that although remote working will come to an end for most over the coming months, employers will have to allow for some exceptions.
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The right to request remote working bill is expected to be published before Mr Varadkar returns to the role of Taoiseach in December and is likely to come into effect next year.
The draft laws, seen by the Irish Independent, reveal that there are a list of 13 reasons that an employer could turn down a request to work from home.
These are:
- The nature of the work
- Cannot reorganise work among staff
- Impact on quality
- Performance impact
- Planned structural changes
- Burden of extra costs
- Confidentiality concerns
- Concerns about the suitability of the workspace
- Data protection concerns
- Web connectivity issues
- An inordinate distance between remote location and on-site location
- Conflict with a collective agreement
- Disciplinary processes
"I'm a big fan of remote working and hybrid working and home working,” Mr Varadkar told Newstalk’s Breakfast Business with Joe Lynam.
"I think it'll be very good in terms of rural and regional development, to get more people working in remote hubs in small towns and villages.”
He went on to say: "My basic view is that employers should facilitate it, and should be willing to do so - provided the business gets done, and provided the services that are provided to the public aren't diminished in any way.
Varadkar insisted that WFH can’t “be an absolute right,” because it may not work for some businesses.
"During the pandemic, it was a requirement, as much as possible after the pandemic I want it to be a choice,” he explained.
"But we also need to be realistic, it can't be an absolute right.
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