Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 27 January 2021
9. Deputy Joan Collins asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment his views on the fact that even at this late stage, the Chief Medical Officer has repeatedly had to make pleas to employers to facilitate home working; his further views on whether there should be fines in place for employers found to be undermining the public health efforts (details supplied). [3594/21]
View answerThe Government’s Living with COVID-19 Plan sets out how businesses should operate at five different levels. The Country is, at present, at Level 5 and within Level 5 people should work from home unless it is absolutely necessary to attend in person for the delivery of an essential service as listed on www.gov.ie.
I would stress, however, that, at this particular critical juncture, given the seriousness of the overall situation with COVID-19 cases across the Community and the resulting pressure on our hospital systems, it is vital that employers make provision for employees to work from home unless they are delivering an essential service and cannot work for home.
While an employer is responsible, in the first instance, for determining what work can be done remotely, employers and workers should seek to resolve any matters relating to remote working at a local level through mutual dialogue and engagement.
Where this is not possible a dispute may be referred to the State's workplace relations services for mediation or conciliation. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) is providing services on both a face to face and virtual basis. Advice can be obtained from the Information & Customer Service of the WRC at Lo-call: 1890 80 80 90 or 059 9178990 or from its website www.wrc.ie.
The settlement of a dispute between an employer and an employee as to whether work can be done remotely is best resolved between the parties, as any imposition of a penalty would not resolve the dispute.
I would add that all matters concerning actions to mitigate against the spread of COVID-19 are, of course, kept under review by Government and Public Health experts.
Separately, I would like to highlight the report “Making Remote Work” which I launched recently. This is Ireland’s National Remote Work Strategy and sets out the path to making remote working a more permanent option in workplaces across Ireland after the COVID-19 pandemic has passed. Its actions will be progressed over the course of 2021 and includes commitments to legislate for the right to request remote working and new rules to allow employees the right to disconnect. The strategy can be viewed on my Department's website.
