Ireland: Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023

The “Work-Life Balance Act”, which transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance into law, was signed into law on 4 April. It introduces a number of provisions that come directly from the directive, such as granting five days of Unpaid leave for medical treatment to parents of children aged under 12 and to people who are looking after children, plus the right for parents and carers to request flexible working. However, the act goes further than the directive, by introducing five days’ leave per year for workers who are victims of domestic violence. They will receive an allowance paid by the employer, the amount of which has yet to be fixed by the government. It also establishes the right for all employees to request remote working (less restrictive than the original proposal). The ICTU trade union confederation is delighted with the new right for employees to request remote working and has announced that it would like to negotiate an increase with companies in the amount of leave granted in cases of domestic violence to ten days, and to have this paid at the full rate, because “anything less risks putting [victims] in further danger” (see press release).