A Government strategy to be published next month will include proposals for new tax and expense arrangements to facilitate remote working, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar has said.
He said the new remote-working strategy would seek to ensure costs of such arrangements were borne fairly and the benefits shared.
The strategy will also involve the establishment of a network of digital hubs around the country.
He said the strategy would also include a right to request to work remotely and to have this considered properly fairly.
Mr Varadkar said there would also be proposals on the “right to disconnect” for workers and supports for businesses “to make the digital transition”.
The Tánaiste said the existing legislation governing working time was also being examined to consider any deficiencies in relation to the right of workers to disconnect from their jobs.
He said he had asked the Workplace Relations Commission to examine a potential new code of practice or guidelines for employers and employees on existing requirements and entitlements inthis area.
He said “any changes in this area need to strike a balance and be based on consultations between employers and employees”.
Last week Mr Varadkar told the Dail in response to questions from Louise O’Reilly of Sinn Féin that although there was nothing in legislation that prevented an employee requesting the right to work remotely, he believed “legislation was needed”.
"I intend to initiate a discussion on the concept of a right to request remote working with the Labour Employer Economic Forum," he said.
Labour Party leader Alan Kelly told the Dáil on Wednesday that existing legislation relating to working from home was "either outdated, unworkable or non-existent".
He said the Labour Party had put forward proposed new legislation – the Working from Home (COVID-19) Bill 2020 – to protect the rights of workers who are working from home.
He said this would involve the introduction of a right to “switch off” from work and for employers to be obliged to provide appropriate equipment and to cover costs incurred by those working from home.
Mr Kelly said the number of people working from home trebled as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, making it the greatest shift in working arrangements in a single year in Irish history.
“At the start of this year, there were around 200,000 Irish workers working from home on a regular basis. As a result of the pandemic, that number more than trebled to 700,000. The implications in the long run, even if a vaccine is rolled out and we defeat this virus, could be enormous for Irish society, for everything from transport and commuting, to regional development and industrial policy.
Mr Kelly said the right to switch off would be a very important protection that ensured workers were not being put under pressure to work all hours.
“ I think we can all acknowledge that the higher levels of connectivity made possible by advances in IT and mobile technology in recent years have been a double-edged sword for workers.
“The second key protection which the Bill offers is to make sure workers have a workstation in their home which is suitable for their working needs, and to make sure that the cost of running the office is not being transferred from employers to workers, by requiring employers to pay a fixed tax free amount to cover the costs of working from home, such as higher heating and electricity bills,” Mr Kelly said.
“The current law in this area is a complete dog’s dinner. Under current law, employers are effectively required to inspect the homes of their employees to ensure that the home is suitable for working from home. This is a ludicrous requirement, and one that cannot be enforced.
“We have proposed a pragmatic solution to this issue, which is that an employer be required to provide the equipment that an employee needs but does not have, and pay a fixed amount to cover the costs to the worker of working from home. This is particularly important for people working in low-paid employment, and those renting,” the Labour leader said.
