Business Beat
Owner managers will be alarmed by proposals from lockdown zealot Dr Leo Varadkar (pictured) to enshrine in law the right to remote working. His department’s new National Remote Work Strategy aims to make remote working a permanent option in the unlikely event that the Covid pandemic ever concludes. The new strategy sets out plans to strengthen the rights and responsibilities of employers and employees, to provide the infrastructure to work remotely and guidance on how people can be ‘empowered’.
For business, the most worrying proposal to providng employees with the right to request remote working. Such a right enshrined in law would be a disaster for owners of small firms, but would be warmly embraced by civil servants and other workers across the public sector. The strategy envisages 20% of public sector workers working remotely as an average across all functions.
For dedicated pen-pushers, the proportion would be much higher According to Varadkar: “Achieving 20% in the health sector where the vast majority of workers are frontline staff poses practical and other issues.”
Needless to say, the National Remote Work Strategy was concocted without any input from business executives or representatives The selfserving civil service blueprint also proposes that the civil service 9 to 5 regime also applies for people working remotely. The strategy envisages a legal code of practice on the right for individuals to disconnect from work – covering phone calls, emails and messaging. In addition, the strategy calls for increased tax benefits for remote workers, including civil servants.
“It’s really important that we protect the rights and entitlements of remote workers so that they can still switch off from work,” says the Tánaiste. “That is why we have included the right to disconnect piece. We want to put in place the structures which ensure we take advantage of the benefits of remote working and protect against the downsides.”
Robert Mac Giolla Phádraig of Sigmar Recruitment points out that competition for remote jobs will increase sharply and globally. “We therefore need to ensure any regulation doesn’t have a long term unintended consequence in displacing Irish jobs,” he says. “Presenteeism has been replaced by virtual-teeism. This should be fixed by designing appropriate working patterns and managing expectations as opposed to legislation.”