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Request for remote or flexible working (Ireland)
Ireland · in English · for employees
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For an employee in Ireland asking to work from home, or, as a parent or carer, to change their hours or pattern for caring. The request names the right it uses (the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023, or section 13B of the Parental Leave Act 1998), your current and proposed arrangement, the start date, how long it would last, the place for remote work and your reasons. Send it at least eight weeks before the start; your employer must reply within four weeks, or eight at most.
- Made for use in Ireland
- Last updated November 3, 2026
- Document in English
Published byDocMuse
When to use this document
- I want to ask my employer in Ireland to let me work from home a few days a week.
- As a parent in Ireland I need to change my hours to fit around school pick-ups.
- I care for an elderly parent in Ireland and need a more flexible working pattern.
- My manager in Ireland said to put my request to work remotely in writing.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Employee
- Employee's address
- Town and county (e.g. Ennis, Co. Clare; or Dublin 8)
- Your Eircode
- Date
- Person you are writing to, as you would address them (e.g. Ms Byrne)
- Employer
- Employer's postal address (street, town and county, and Eircode on separate lines)
- What you are requesting
- Your working arrangement now (days, hours, place)
- The arrangement you are asking for (days, hours, place)
- Date the arrangement would start (at least eight weeks away)
- How long the arrangement would last (e.g. 12 months)
- Address you would work from (for remote working only)
- Why you are asking (for caring: whom you care for)
Common questions
- Who can ask for remote or flexible working in Ireland?
- Any employee can ask to work remotely. Flexible working for caring purposes, such as changed hours, a compressed week or term-time working, can be asked for by a parent of a child under 12 (16 if the child has a disability or long-term illness) or by someone caring for a person who needs significant care for a serious medical reason. Either arrangement can only start once you have six months' continuous service.
- Can my employer in Ireland refuse a request to work from home?
- Yes, there is a right to ask, not a right to the arrangement. But the employer must consider the request against the business's needs, your needs and the WRC's Code of Practice, reply in writing within four weeks (eight at most), and give reasons if it refuses. If it does not deal with the request properly, you can complain to the Workplace Relations Commission.
- What should a request for remote working in Ireland include?
- Put it in writing at least eight weeks before you want it to start, and say what arrangement you want (which days, which hours), the start date, how long it would last, where you would work from, and why you are asking. The WRC's Code of Practice expects the employer to weigh those reasons. Suggesting a trial period, or how you will stay reachable, can help an employer agree.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
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