‘State needs to lead’ on right to work remotely – Labour TD

Government employees were among the “thousands” who have contacted the Labour Party about remote working rights in recent months, TD Mark Wall has said, adding the “state needs to lead” on the issue.

He was speaking at a press conference about a Bill his party is bringing forward on Wednesday.

If passed, the Work Life Balance (Right to Remote Work) Bill will give employees an enforceable right to work remotely if their roles allow it.

Since March 2024, all workers can request remote working, but it can be refused by their employers.

The Labour spokesman on Social Protection said the party wants to “introduce a right to flexible and remote work, rather than a right to ask”.

He said: “Even the Workplace Relations Commission cannot decide whether a job can be done remotely or whether a refusal makes sense.

“Under current law, as long as the refusal is documented, it stands, no matter how arbitrary or outdated the reasoning.”

Many of the thousands of workers that had contacted his party about remote working are government employees, Mr Wall said, and “the state needs to lead on this”.

“They need to be the ones to show an example and show all employers that working from home can work, has worked, and can work again,” he said.

Asked how he expected to get employer buy in to the new legislation, Mr Wall said an emphasis needs to be placed on productivity.

His party colleague Marie Sherlock said: “Let’s face it, if somebody’s in a car for three hours per day, there has to be an impact on their productivity.”

She said around a third of the workforce do some form of remote work but access to that type of flexible work is “based on luck” and “tend, on average, to be higher paid in more senior positions”.

The National Women’s Council of Ireland took part in the press conference and while their executive director Corrinne Hasson said the organisation had been calling for the right to remote and flexible work to be strengthened, she said it is “important to note” that remote working “is not for everyone”.

“Many women aren’t able to avail of it, and particularly women in sectors such as healthcare, social care, education, hospitality.

She said implementation of the legislation would be important to make sure “flexibility and security go hand in hand with adequate pay and conditions”.

“We need to ensure that flexible and remote working doesn’t simply shift more unpaid work and responsibilities around onto women or isolate them from career progression,” she added.