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We’re fans of the philosophical here at The Journal, so let’s kick off this piece with a question.
What is the point of new laws?
Generally, it’s to fix a specific issue. A problem is identified, the government thinks it can do something about it. It brings forward new legislation, and the issue is (hopefully) made somewhat better.
With that in mind, one would be justified in asking: What problem was Ireland’s ‘right to request remote working’ law trying to solve?
Initially, it seemed to be that employees who worked remotely with little issue during the Covid pandemic would not be forced back to the office for no reason.
That is clear from comments made by former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. He said in January 2022 that the legislation would mean businesses need a ‘very good reason’ to refuse permitting their staff to work from home.
But the legislation ended up being extremely watered down - something previously covered by The Journal.
And now a recent string of decisions made under the legislation show how far it has strayed from its original intent.
One published earlier this month may just be the final nail in the coffin for the legislation.
It is significant, because it is the first award for a breach of the remote working rules.
The full case details are available here, but here’s a quick summary.
A Salesforce recruiter wanted to relocate from Dublin to the west of Ireland, working remotely. He was granted permission by both his manager, and a director at Salesforce.
Under the agreement, he would “continue working remotely, attending the office as needed”.
On that basis, the recruiter moved across the county. Less than a year later, Salesforce came back and said he would have to attend the office between three and four days a week.
The reasons given were for in-person meetings with managers, and for the “promotion of collaboration”.
While the employee protested, citing a 550km round trip to the office, his request to work remotely was denied. So, he then took a case under Ireland’s ‘right to request’ remote working legislation.
Upon hearing his case, the Workplace Relations Commission awarded him €1,000, as it said Salesforce did not follow the correct procedure in dealing with his request.
On the surface, this may sound like a (small) win for the employee. But really, when you look at the details, they just reinforce how flimsy Ireland’s remote working law is.
To start – as previously outlined by The Journal - the ‘right to request’ law does not give employees any right to work remotely. In practice, a company can deny a remote working request on any grounds they like.
While doing this, they only have to meet two requirements.
One – show that the employee’s remote working request was ‘considered’.
This requirement can be easily fulfilled. For example, TikTok previously did it by getting a manager and HR employee to meet to discuss a request.
Two – issue a response to the employee’s request within four weeks.
If these two requirements are met, there is essentially no way for a company’s decision to refuse remote working to be questioned.
The only reason the Salesforce employee received the €1,000 award was because the company took longer than four weeks to respond.
So, why does this show Ireland’s ‘right to request’ remote work law is a waste?
Because this is basically the worst case scenario for an employer – a small fine.
Salesforce’s Irish arm recorded just under €6 billion in revenue in its 2024 financial year. A €1,000 award wouldn’t even register as a fraction of a rounding error.
There is nothing for companies to be afraid of here. The two ‘right to request’ steps are so easy to fulfil that it is simple for any employer to do so.
In the event that they don’t, the worst they will face is a tiny penalty, which is unlikely to have any meaningful impact. It’s worth remembering that, even in its original ‘13 reasons’ iteration, the ‘right to request’ law was heavily criticised.
The Irish Times pointed out in 2022 that the originally listed 13 reasons were not exhaustive. Employers could still reject a request for not being suitable on “business grounds,” which was extremely broad and vague.
The Irish Legal News then noted that this would have given “complete discretion to the employer” whether workers could work remotely.
“This arguably renders the right to remote work illusory,” the publication said.
But while the initial legislation was weak, at the very least, employers would have had to justify their decisions in refusing remote work.
It wouldn’t have been much, but it would have been something.
However, even this small right was stripped away.
In November 2022, the government changed the ‘right to request’ Act, as it was rolled in with other legislation. It was reported that this shift would mean the rules set would be “weighted more towards employees”.
Companies would apparently now have to consider both “their needs and the needs of employees when considering a request”. Unhappy employees would also get the right to appeal decisions at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC).
However, we can clearly see that the reality is even less effective than what was originally proposed.
The WRC has specifically said that the new measures are “very limited”. Where a request for remote working has been refused, WRC inspectors are unable to investigate the merits of a decision made by an employer.
All they can do is check if the employer followed the two steps outlined earlier.
That’s it.
Dozens of optimistic employees have taken cases under the ‘right to request’ Act. Besides the Salesforce employee, none have been successful.
And as we’ve seen, the €1,000 handed out in that one case is unlikely to give other businesses pause when it comes to considering remote working requests.
Ireland’s ‘right to request’ law has been described by one prominent employment solicitor as a ‘toothless tiger’. Frankly, that feels kind.
As things stand, the law is basically zero help to employees.
The government, or opposition politicians, should consider looking to bring back the spirit of the original proposal.
It is difficult to tell private firms how to manage working arrangements with their employees.
But other countries have brought forward legislation with some meaning to them. These include Angola, which gives stronger remote working rights to pregnant women with health complications, or those who have young children or disabled dependents.
Poland also has similar measures for pregnant workers or those with children under four.
These countries show that this can be done.
The original intent of Ireland’s remote working law was good. However, under pressure from business lobbying, the execution has been extremely poor.
Ireland’s remote working law is functionally useless. It is basically a waste of time for all parties. For employers, who have to go through the song and dance of ‘considering’ requests, hopeful employees who don’t get any real rights, or the WRC inspectors who can basically do nothing.
But it doesn’t have to stay this way.
We have enough evidence to show now that the law isn’t working as it should be – legislators should take another crack at it.
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