Right to Request Flexible Working and Remote Working

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has prepared the Code of Practice on the Right to Request Flexible Working and the Right to Request Remote Working to give guidance on best practice to employers and employees. These statutory rights are set out in the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 and Parental Leave Acts 1998-2023.

The Code is not legally binding, but it sets out best practice regarding how employers can deal with requests made by employees for flexible or remote working.

The Code provides:

• Certain employees with a right to request flexible working for caring purposes, and
• All employees with a right to request remote working.

The Code provides useful guidance for employers on how to handle requests for remote and flexible working. It does not provide employees with an automatic right to flexible or remote working but employers are required to consider requests by employees for such arrangements.

For organisations with remote and flexible working policies already in place, a comparison should be made between the content of the Code and the existing policies to examine where any gaps might be.

You can learn more about the Code here from our partners at Mason Hayes & Curran.