Government Pledges To Make Remote Working A Permanent Feature Of The Irish Workplace

The Department for Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE) has set out its plan for embedding remote working in the Irish workplace post-pandemic in its National Remote Work Strategy (Strategy). The document outlines changes that will be made to the employment law landscape, including the introduction of a right to request remote working and a new code of practice on the right to disconnect. DETE says that it aims to harness the benefits of remote working and to mitigate any potential negative impacts.

The first of the Strategy's three pillars is likely to be of most interest to HR and employment law practitioners. This pillar explains how the government will create a regulatory environment that is conducive to remote working. Pillars two and three focus on the required infrastructure and public policy goals respectively.