Right to request remote working
Deputy Higgins argues that current working-time laws are not enough for people working from home during Covid and asks for stronger protections. The Tánaiste says a consultation has been completed and the Government is pursuing a twin-track approach to give a right to request home working and extend protections.
Working people are under more pressure than ever before. Many have been working at home since March and for many of them the distinction between work life and home life has blurred beyond recognition. Video meetings in different time zones, work calls in the evenings and the constant ping of emails arriving have heaped pressure on people. This is especially true for those who are struggling with their work-life balance, their mental health or the general upheaval that Covid-19 has presented. Current laws state that people should work an average of a maximum of 48 hours per week. For many, that would be a luxury. The programme for Government contains a commitment in respect of the introduction of proposals this year regarding a right to disconnect. This was part of the Fine Gael remote working strategy launched in January, prior to the Covid pandemic, and it is something that is already in action in France. Can the Tánaiste outline plans to enable employees to have the right to disconnect so that when they switch off from work they can actually switch off?
Comment on this
As the Deputy pointed out, we already have legislation on working times, stipulating a maximum number of hours that anyone can work in a given week, although it is averaged over 16 weeks in order to facilitate shift work and so on. There is already a law in place in that sense. Working time also includes any of that time at home, but perhaps it is not enough. We engaged in a public consultation on remote working and received more than 500 replies, which is very encouraging. We are now examining a twin-track approach to this by giving people the right to request home working and requiring that employers take that seriously. Linked to that is a right to disconnect so that people do not find that working from home means they are always working. We want to avoid that. We are looking at other jurisdictions to see whether their laws have made a difference. There is little point in passing a law that does not really make a difference. We should have some proposals in the new year.