WFH is dead and buried. Right to WFH bill is pointless

I wouldn't sign any contract that says you can work from home now and could be asked to work onsite at any location. My contract has a definitive address. Covid probably changed alot of this around contracts but company can use RTO as a headcount cutting exercise and leave you doing impossible commutes as happened the worker in the article. It really is going to be a mine field going forward and workers have no real protection unless WFH home is specifically called out in a contract but generally companies will word the contract to give them full control or it may just be word of mouth when offering the job that company offers flexibility until they decide to change their policy.

Been a while since a post here but I thought better to rekindle than starting a new thread. There is a public consultation on the right to request remote work legislation - since I'm sure we all agree it is toothless and pointless some may want to contribute to the consultation in the hope it could be made far stronger. Personally I would like to see something like in Victoria Australia where employers are gong to be legally bound to allow employees WFH 2 days per week - that would soften the cough of all the RTO mandates fairly sharpish.

https://enterprise.gov.ie/en/news-and-events/department-news/2025/november/20251117.html

On a personal note since I have added quite a bit on my own battle to retain my 2 days WFH amid a mis-mash RTO policy while still making multiple exceptions and still hiring remote. Despite this I ignored the mandate and and had multiple arguments and shouting matches with management (some of whom WFH themselves) in the end for this and multiple other reasons I finally moved on. Management in total shock I handed in my notice and left in a major bin. I've heard even management in the US head office wondering why…. as if it wasn't clear I had issues with the WFH policy.

New job 3 days WFH policy but pretty much told on day one its in name only and do as you want more or less so been going in maybe 1 or 2 days a week just to see but I can see it being 1 max soon. I took a not insignificant pay cut to move also, the value of WFH is just too high and the sooner the office obsessed realise it the better for everyone.

Quite correct, most people I know will quietly admit , if they are honest, not as much work gets done at home. Too easy to check on a thread on boards.ie, put out the washing, chat to a neighbour, watch tv for a 40 minute coffee break or whatever.

Productivity is the reason most employers prefer workers in the office : the increase in productivity more than outweighs rent, electricity, overheads etc of office space.

Don't forget we have some who say that people wfh are minding other people's children and are working second jobs.

I get far more done at home than in the office.

Employer just needs to state that all the files that the desk job person has are too sensitive to be on anything other than an internal network. I'd prefer more of a carrot/stick approach here.

Carrot: Tax breaks on employers for every day their employees who can work from home

Stick: Workers not allowed or able to work from home get extra pay / annual leave

The market wouldn't be long sorting itself out

Do you have some evidence to back up that claim? I would be curious to read it, nearly every piece of research I have ever read shows either a marginal increase in productivity or no change at all for employees who have the option to have hybrid working conditions. Although things may have changed with more data since the pandemic.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07500-2

There are some studies (Jacobs, K. et al. (2025) ‘Working from home and well-being’) which suggest poor productivity and life dis-satisfaction for people who do not have proper or adequate facilities at home to work from i.e. they are working in a shared space or lack the required equipment/set-up/connections. However, for top talent and top performers these are probably not going to be an issue.

If your goal is to increase productivity it would seem counter intuitive to me to force everyone back to the office to get marginal gains from your mid-performing staff while increasing the likelihood that your top performers will start looking elsewhere.

You were reading my mind.

WFH benefits society. Less cars stuck on the M50, less people on the Luas of a morning. If companies were incentivized to have WFH roles they wouldn't be long changing their tune.

Ive been interviewing over the past few months and as I dont live in Dublin any more, my first question was always what is their WFH position. It's amazing how many companies consider 4 days in the office as being hybrid.

Nope, I'm in the office today.

But you get more posting done at home because nobody is looking over your shoulder.

No actually on Boards far more when in the office. There is no one is looking over my shoulder, I am not in school, we're all adults.

Cannot invent work when there is none there to do.

I spent far more time on boards and internet browsing in general when I used to be in the office a lot compared to at home as I can do far more productive things at home around the house when taking a break from work. My work day is about 1.5 hours shorter on days I go in also as I don't get in until about 9:45 and leave again around 4 to beat the traffic where as at home I generally work 9-5ish

On the rare occasion they have an onsite meeting (maybe 3 times per year) they just rent a funcation room in a hotel or meeting room in a hot desk hub. I have a relation working there hence how I know this, I'm not guessing.

So many businesses are software or other non-phsyical developments nowadays that showing off products isn't really a thing. Anyone doing something physical will obviously need a place to make it at the very least.

The problem with people going back to the office is there is not the infrastructure or public transport to deal with it. Everyone is moving out of dublin where jobs don't exist then commuting into Dublin. The next 2 or 3 years those roads will b gridlocked completely. It's already getting there right now. People and companies will have no choice but to let workers work from home thanks to our idiotic government.