The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, Leo Varadkar, is launching the #MakingRemoteWork campaign, which has the purpose of raising awareness of the advice and information available from the Government to encourage employers and workers to continue implementing remote work. The campaign also aims to facilitate the blend between on-site and remote work.
Ireland continues to bet on remote work. Before the pandemic, the digital environment was already taking place. Ireland was one of the countries able to adapt fast to the changes. Now that things are getting back to normal, remote work isn’t going anywhere. The Government is encouraging employers and employees to make remote work a bigger part of the workplace structure.
The State of Remote Work in Ireland
The Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, has ensured that the Government is committed to working on new laws that give the right to request remote work, and earlier this year, they put a new Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect. He also mentioned that 20% of public sector employment would be working fully remote.
The Irish Government is also investing in improvements to make remote work better and more accessible:
We are doing all we can to install high-speed broadband in all parts of Ireland as part of the National Broadband Plan. We are reviewing the treatment of remote working for tax and expenses in advance of the next Budget. Leo Varadkar
Currently, Ireland has more than 1 million people fully vaccinated and 3.6 million people with the first dose; that’s more than 20% of the country’s population that’s already vaccinated. This will make many employees return to the office, but with the new #MakingRemoteWork campaign, employees will decide what works best for them.
After the pandemic, it should be about choice, so long as the work gets done and business and service needs are met. That’s the principle I want to apply. We need to make sure we do not drift back to the office and the old normal just because it’s safe to do so. We need to seize this opportunity to create a new normal, a better normal.Leo Varadkar
As most people want to blend between office and home, remote work should remain a priority. The Tánaiste also announced that employers will still have the right to insist employees return to the office if it’s safe from a health perspective and a need for the business to operate. But employees will have a legal right to request work remotely.
