The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has published its long awaited code of practice on the right to request flexible or remote working. The document is intended provide a framework within which employers and employees can engage on requests from people either with caring responsibilities who want more flexibility, which can include remote working, and those who simply want to work from home or generally away from the office.
Does the code give people the right to work away from their normal workplace?
No. Lawyers, HR experts, employers’ groups and trade unions are all agreed on that. This does not mean there will be any right to work at home, a hub, or any other location. What it does do is set out a mechanism for requesting such an arrangement be made and obliging an employer to consider it fairly and reasonably.
Who can make the request?
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Any employee really, although they will have to be in their job for at least six months before any arrangement covered by the code can come into effect. In reality, those likely to have any prospect of succeeding are more likely to be in white collar, desk jobs like administration or professional services - the sort of jobs that were most successfully done remotely during the pandemic but which have, in many cases, gradually been returning to the office.
How do I go about applying?
The code, which is available here, sets out all of the criteria and includes a template for applications. Basically, an employee must put in writing the reasons for the request – reducing commute times or domestic circumstances are cited as possible examples – and give a series of undertakings with regard to issues like the suitability of proposed workspace, broadband security and ongoing compliance with company policies. The request can be to work one day a week remotely or all the time.
What does the company have to do?
Consider the request - fairly giving consideration to their own needs but also those of the employee - and then respond, normally within four weeks. They will be able to weigh up issues like the suitability of the role – and employee – for remote working as well as the need for things like collaboration with colleagues and the potential impact on service delivery.
What happens if the employee is not happy with the outcome?
They are encouraged to try to resolve the matter internally first but if they believe the request has not been fairly and reasonably considered, they can take a case to the WRC which can order reconsideration and award compensation, up to 20 weeks’ pay in respect of a flexible working request, or four weeks’ in relation to remote working. It will rule on the process, however, not the outcome itself.
What are the experts saying?
Unions have welcomed the code saying that, while it is not perfect and does not grant the right to work remotely, it is a considerable improvement on draft proposals that included a list of reasons for refusal. The potential for hearings at the WRC, they suggest, will encourage many employers to engage as it will bring the potential for the “naming and shaming” of those who treater workers poorly.
Síobhra Rush, partner in the employment division of legal firm Lewis Silkin, says the code “will help employers, particularly small ones who want to engage with their employees but perhaps don’t have the same level of developed workplace policies”.
“It is very practical,” she said. “What is clear, though, is that it’s not an absolute legal right to remote work. It’s only the right to request. After that, of course, it has the potential to become a talent attraction and retention issue because people will leave to get remote working elsewhere.”
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