Louise O'Reilly
Question:3. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment for an update on the WRC "code of practice" on remote working. [5571/24]
View answerThursday, 8 February 2024
Questions (3)
Oral answers (8 contributions)
It was reported that the WRC intended to finalise the code of practice on remote working by 31 January. Clearly, that date has come and gone. We have not seen it as yet and it has not been published. I am looking for an update as to the status of the code and a date for publication. The Minister will be as aware, as I am, that both workers and employers are left in something of a limbo. On the one hand, we have employers demanding that workers come straight back into the office and, on the other hand, we have employers who want to be able to support their workers but, in the absence of a code of practice, do not necessarily feel able to do so when it comes to remote working.
I thank the Deputy and I am glad to have the opportunity to update the House because, to be fair to the WRC, it has concluded its work and I have seen a draft copy as of yesterday.
The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act was enacted on 4 April 2023 and represents a significant advance in terms of workplace entitlements for all employees, parents and carers in particular. The right to request remote working will be available to all employees under the Act. The right to request flexible working arrangements will be available to parents and carers too. The right to request remote working is part of a broader Government vision to make remote working a permanent feature of Ireland’s workforce in a way that can benefit all economically, socially and environmentally.
Under the Act, employers will be obliged to have regard to a code of practice when considering applications for remote working arrangements. The purpose of the code is to provide practical guidance to employers and employees when complying with the right to request remote working provisions of the Act. Employees will be able to refer a dispute to the Workplace Relations Commission where an employer fails to meet their obligations under the Act.
Work on the development of the code of practice has been ongoing in the WRC since a public consultation closed in June 2023. In conducting its work, the WRC carried out a public consultation, reviewed submissions received, assessed relevant policy documents and research, and considered best practice in other jurisdictions.
The WRC has now completed its work and submitted a draft code of practice for employers and employees on the right to request flexible working and the right to request remote working to me on 24 January 2024. I will now review the submitted code of practice in consultation with the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, as is required under the Act. Following the approval of the code of practice, which I expect to happen soon, it is intended that the remote working provisions of the Act will be commenced as soon as is practicable.
I thank the Minister for his reply. The current Taoiseach promised that the legal right would be delivered before he left his role as Minister for enterprise, so the Minister present might forgive me if I am a little bit sceptical about the Government's intention in this regard. The Minister says he wants to make remote working a feature. Remote working is a feature of work at the moment. In fact, I have long argued that it should be recognised as a specific form of work, like shift work is, because it is a very specific form of work. At the moment, we have the worst of all worlds because there are workers who cannot put a permanent arrangement in place. They are on week-to-week or month-to-month arrangement because there is not a code of practice. There are employers who, to be fair to many of them, want to do the right thing but are waiting for this code of practice. I would like to hear some sense of urgency.
To be fair to the Minister's predecessor, he was all about the sense of urgency and nothing about the action, but we need to see this commenced as soon as possible. I would welcome to hear from the Minister that he understands there are workers now, some of whom are being forced back into the office and do not want to do so and others who want to put their working arrangement on to a permanent footing because they have to deal with childcare and everything else. They do not sense that there is any urgency coming from the Government. To be very clear, it is urgent for those people who need it.
There is a sense of urgency, but we also want to get this right. We set a very clear target that the WRC would report back to me with a code of practice by the end of January and that is what happened. I need to fully consider it now, which we are doing and we will get that done quickly. The Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, also has to do that under the legislation. We will finalise it and it will be a code of practice that will be in use under the legislation. We are on time, we are doing it and there is a sense of urgency around it.
I do not accept the Deputy's description that we have the worst of all worlds at the moment. Remote working has become a big part of the labour force environment over the last number of years and employees and employers have adapted to that reasonably well. We need more structure around that relationship and more certainty for both employees and employers, which is what the code of conduct is about. We now have that draft code of conduct and it needs to be signed off by two Government Departments. We are actively working on that and I suspect it will be done within the next couple of weeks.
To be clear, the Minister's spokesperson said it would be published before the end of January and it was not. That is the reason for this question.
It was completed.
It was not published. That is what the Minister's spokesperson said. I am not putting words into anyone's mouth. That is a fact.
My concern today is on behalf of both workers and employers. The Minister will appreciate that while he says there is a sense of urgency, I asked a priority question on this back in 2021 and it is now 2024. I do not know if the Minister's version of urgent is massively different to mine but there is three years in the difference. It is now 2024. This was promised by the Minister's predecessor, who assured me it would be done before he left his term of office. There was a clock ticking from the minute he took office so we understood exactly when that was going to be, as did he. It has not been delivered. The Minister will forgive me if I am somewhat sceptical about the Government's intentions in this regard.
For the avoidance of any doubt, work patterns are being established. Employers and workers are sitting down to establish work patterns because they want to put this on a stronger footing. They are waiting on the code to be published, so they want to see that sense of urgency.
We only got the draft code back ten days ago. We are now looking to approve that code and we are testing it, as the Deputy would expect in any process, before finally approving it and publishing it. It is probably a matter of days before that happens. We are now in a good place. We are moving towards putting a lot more structure, permanency and acceptance around how arrangements for flexible working and remote working are going to work. This is a challenging thing to get right. I speak to other Ministers, employers and trade unions about getting the balance right and ensuring we maintain a competitive workplace, while at the same time trying to adapt to the flexible needs of employees. From what I have read, this code of practice does get the balance right and I think it will be welcomed by employers, workers and worker representatives. I believe we will get it finalised in the coming days.