Statutory review

The Review was mandated by section 29 of the Act and consisted of public consultation with over 8,000 respondents, national surveys of over 1,000 employees and 500 employers as well as engagement with employer and employee representative groups and the Workplace Relations Commission.

Right to request remote or flexible working arrangements

The right to request remote working was introduced through Part 3 of the Act, which came into effect in March 2024 - see our previous insights on this topic:

• Right to request remote and flexible working comes into operation today
• One Year On: The Code of Practice for Employers and Employees on the Right to Request Flexible Working and Right to Request Remote Working in Ireland

Under the Act, employees may submit a written request for remote or flexible working at least eight weeks before their proposed start date. Requests may be submitted from day one of their employment but an employee must have six months’ service before the start of any arrangement. Employers must respond within four weeks, extendable by eight weeks in certain circumstances. When considering requests, employers should follow the Code of Practice for Employers and Employees Right to Request Flexible Working and Right to Request Remote Working and assess factors including the employee’s needs.

Key findings

• Ireland’s workforce is still predominantly office‑based, with 57% of employees working fully at their physical workplace — this aligns with reports that in‑office attendance is back to pre‑pandemic levels following an increase in return‑to‑office mandates in 2025. Approximately one‑third of workers avail of a hybrid model, whilst just 9% work fully remotely.
• There is a geographical divide in availability of hybrid working — hybrid and remote arrangements are more common in urban areas, with 48% of urban workers availing of flexible working, while 66% of rural workers are fully office‑based.
• Remote working is strongly linked to company size — 90% of large organisations (250+ employees) accommodate such arrangements compared to just 54% of micro‑enterprises (1–9 employees).
• There was a 94% approval rate for remote working requests (whether fully or partially), with refusal rates at only 7%.
• Only 48% of employees are aware of the legal right to request remote work compared to 65% of employers — this is surprising given regular media coverage and public discourse on the topic. Only 35% of employees and 47% of employers were aware of the WRC Code of Practice.
• From the employer perspective — 92% found the process of receiving and considering requests easy to navigate, which is important given this is the only aspect subject to WRC scrutiny.
• Only 63% of employees found the request process straightforward — common challenges included confusing paperwork, unclear procedural information, and opaque approval processes. One concern cited was “manager gatekeeping,” where supervisors created informal barriers to dissuade applicants.

Continued criticism

An often‑criticised feature of the Act is that the WRC cannot assess the merits of an employer’s refusal decision, as its jurisdiction is limited only to determining whether the employer followed the Code of Practice. Employee representative groups have pointed to the fact that only one complaint has been upheld by the WRC since the introduction of the Act, as being indicative of the failure of the legislation to provide a meaningful opportunity for employees to avail of remote and flexible working.

Measures to address the “tensions” between employers and employees

Against this backdrop, it was expected that the Government would consider amendments to the Act. However, there are no recommendations for such amendments at this time due to the high approval rates and perceived low administrative burden identified by the Review. Instead, the Department will focus on addressing the information gap through a targeted national awareness campaign, tailored by demographics and geography to reach groups with lowest awareness of their rights i.e., women, rural workers, and younger employees.

The WRC will also be requested to update the Code of Practice to address the concerns and “tensions” arising from the findings which will include enhanced reasoning requirements for refusals, structured internal appeals processes, improved consultation mechanisms, clearer application templates, and greater promotion of mediation services.

Key takeaways

Employers will be relieved that no amendments to the legislation are intended, although proposed changes to the Code of Practice may result in increased scrutiny of the reasons for refusal of an employee request — even if the refusal of itself cannot be overturned by the WRC.

The findings show that a significant proportion of employees are lacking awareness of their legal rights. The Government’s targeted information campaign will likely drive up requests for remote working among these groups and employers should prepare for increased demand and potential employee relations issues arising from refusals.

The balancing exercise that is needed to determine whether remote or flexible working should be extended is complex, and should not be limited to a single transaction between an employer and employee. Macro factors such as national competitiveness, public transport, urban and rural footfall, national ICT connectivity and workplace inclusion must also be taken into account.

Despite the views of opposition parties and employee stakeholders (and indeed continuing negative media coverage) there is no entitlement to remote or flexible working in Ireland — which stands to reason, as a very business‑dependent arrangement. The purpose of the Review was to assess the effectiveness and clarity of the legislation and identify any unintended consequences. From a Government perspective, the findings show that the legislation is doing what it intended to do — provide a right for employees to request a remote or flexible working arrangement.