Employees should be obliged to give objective reasons if they refuse an employee’s request to work remotely, a number of industry leaders have commented this week.

Firstly, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, in its address to the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment this week, ICTU’s general secretary, Patricia King, has demanded significant amendments to proposed legislation designed to establish workers’ rights to request remote working arrangements.

The union federation told the Oireachtas Committee that an employer’s reasons for refusing an employee’s request to work remotely must be proportionate, relate to genuine business needs, and take account of all the circumstances of both the business and the employee.

Patricia King said: “Our cross-union campaign is clear: If enacted in its current form, the right to right to request remote work bill will not deliver robust legislation guaranteeing fair procedure and balancing employer and employee needs.

“While most jobs require a physical presence in the workplace, as many as one in four workers in employment worked from home during the first lockdown. Remote working has now moved into the mainstream of workplace issues,” she added.

“Remote working has been shown to improve workers’ quality of life and their wellbeing. It can benefit the environment and rural regeneration. It makes good business and economic sense too. Studies repeatedly find that most employers report that productivity either...

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