Right to refuse remote work 2.0 – this time with greater delays
Right to refuse remote work 2.0 - this time with greater delays - The Labour Party
Labour’s enterprise spokesperson George Lawlor TD has criticised Government’s failure to take meaningful action to promote and protect remote working in Ireland.
Deputy Lawlor said Fine Gael’s latest proposals show just how anti-worker and anti-progress this coalition Government is.
Deputy Lawlor said:
“What is it going to take for this Government to realise remote working is good for business, good for workers, and good for communities. Just last month, the Dáil debated a Labour Party Bill that would provide an immediate right to remote work for anyone who can do so.
“The update to the Code of Practice will ultimately mean more work for HR practitioners to come up with language to justify an employers decision to refuse requests for remote work. All the evidence is clear, remote working benefits companies, women, young workers, people with disabilities and creates stronger communities.
“Ireland’s world of work has fundamentally changed but our laws and this Government have not kept pace with where people are. Dragging workers back to offices with no clear business case at a time when housing costs continue to spiral, congestion bites and the cost of living soars is crazy and lacks any understanding of the issues facing people across the country.
“Indeed many people made changes to have they lived their lives during the pandemic. Workers who reorganised their lives in good faith around flexible arrangements now face longer journeys, higher childcare costs and mounting stress because this Government refuses to act. The updated code of practice will do nothing to address their situations.
“There is no credible evidence that forcing people back into offices improves performance, but there is clear evidence that it worsens congestion, damages wellbeing and undermines our climate commitments.
“Labour’s Work Life Balance Bill would have ended blanket refusals based on habit or managerial whim and give workers a clear and enforceable right to remote work where their role allows. Government must stop siding with employer vetoes over workers’ lives, abandon its opposition to Labour’s legislation and act now to give workers real rights, real certainty and real balance in their working lives.”