Fair access to remote working demanded
 
ICTU’s social policy officer Laura Bambrick said the current approach to reimbursing expenses associated with home working was inadequate.
ICTU’s social policy officer Laura Bambrick said the current approach to reimbursing expenses associated with home working was inadequate.

Fórsa has called for engagement with unions on an official target that 20% of public service operations should be done remotely. The union wants to ensure that staff have fair access to remote work, which it says should be organised largely on a ‘hybrid’ basis with staff blending time spent working at home and in the workplace.

 

Fórsa also questioned whether the 20% target is ambitious enough, when the experience of home working during the Covid-19 emergency had demonstrated that many roles can be carried out remotely in ways that are productive, cost-effective and attractive to employers and staff.

 

A large survey of Fórsa members, conducted last year, showed a strong appetite for a hybrid model, and also ranked fair access to remote work as the most important issue for staff.

 

Earlier this month the union gave an initial welcome to headline measures set out in the Government’s new remote working strategy, called ‘Making remote work.’ But the union called for engagement with unions on the detailed roll-out of the proposals.

 

Fórsa’s head of communications, Bernard Harbor, said it was essential to avoid a situation where a relatively small number of people work at home all the time, and others are denied the opportunity. “It’s important that employers, in the public service and elsewhere, work with staff representatives to ensure fair access to remote work on a mainly hybrid basis,” he said.

 

The Government strategy includes pledges to give workers a legal right to request remote working and introduce a legally admissible code of practice on the right to disconnect. Both of these issues were highlighted in Fórsa’s 2020 submission to the official remote working consultation.

 

‘Making remote work,’ which envisages that remote working will “become the norm” for 20% of public sector staff, also promises a review of the tax treatment of costs associated with working at home – and other issues raised by unions.

 

Bernard said the strategy addressed a number of issues highlighted by the union in its submission to the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment.

 

“Fórsa has welcomed the pledge to establish legal rights to disconnect and to request remote working, which would bring Ireland closer to European best practice. But there needs to be engagement with trade unions and other stakeholders on the detail of these and other proposals to ensure that fair access to remote working and proper protections for all staff, regardless of where they work,” he said.

 

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) also gave a broad welcome to the promise of legal rights on flexible working and the right to disconnect.

 

“Plans to have the Workplace Relations Commission draft legally enforceable regulations on workers’ right to switch off from work-related calls and messages outside of working hours without consequences for not replying is a good starting point to tackle the always-on work culture,” according to ICTU’s social policy officer Laura Bambrick.

 

Laura also said the current approach to reimbursing expenses associated with home working was inadequate. “Remote workers should not have to carry the business costs, whether in the form of higher utility bills or the daily desk charge at a hub,” she said.

 

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