The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions, Act 2023 (the "Act") was signed into law by President Michael D. Higgins on 4 April 2023.
The Act introduces measures that will support employees in Ireland in balancing their family life, work life and caring responsibilities.
It is anticipated that the relevant sections of the Act will come into effect over the coming months. We are also awaiting the Workplace Relations Commission (the "WRC") to publish its Code of Practice (the "Code") which will provide further detail on the considerations relating to remote working.
Right to request remote working arrangements
The Act introduces the statutory right for employees to make a request to work remotely and for that request to be dealt with in a transparent and expeditious manner.
An employee is required to have six months' continuous service with their employer before they are entitled to request a remote working arrangement. The detailed request must be submitted in writing at least eight weeks prior to the proposed commencement of the arrangement. The request should include the employee's reason for making the request and details of the proposed remote working location.
An employer must respond to the request within four weeks. However, this timeframe may be extended to eight weeks' if the employer is having difficulty assessing the workability of the request. In its response, the employer is expected to consider the needs of business and the employee as well as the...
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