Irish Employment Law In Brief: May 2022

This month’s 'In Brief' brings together a range of resources and articlesthat we’ve found interesting this spring. We’ve highlighted the key themes, to help you keep up to date with developments.  

Menopause Symptoms are Forcing Women Out of the Workplace 

Menopause and its impact on the workplace and workforce continued to be high up the HR news agenda this spring with the CIPD reporting on their survey that showed that nearly one million women have had to leave their jobs due to uncomfortable menopausal symptoms: https://bit.ly/3tn2qxi 

And Davina McCall's second documentary on the menopause aired in May on Channel 4. Well worth a watch. Catch up here: https://www.channel4.com/programmes/davina-mccall-sex-mind-and-the-menopause 

While on the subject of female health issues, Trade Union Fórsa has called for a for menstrual health policy in every Irish workplace as they state that over 70% of women have taken time off work due to period pain. On a similar note, the Spanish government said it is planning to introduce paid leave for women with painful periods.  

And if there’s no women left in the workplace when they become menopausal, the question is, who’ll book the Christmas party………….?! 

Why Women Should Say No to ‘Office Housework’ 

The Guardian has an interesting article on 'office housework', described in a new book that argues that “non-promotable work” – the kind that is important to organisational functioning, but unlikely to be rewarded or even recognised – is the invisible hurdle to gender equality in the workplace, with women’s time and energy being disproportionately expended on thankless tasks. 

Over years of research the writers found that across the public and private sectors, and a wide range of roles, female employees were shouldering the burden of “office housework” and low-value assignments, causing them to miss out on promotions and pay increases. 

For junior women, it seemed to come at the expense of meaningful work, with junior men spending about 250 more hours each year on high-value work such as with clients. Senior women, on the other hand, spent the same amount of time on promotable tasks as senior men – meaning they just worked more hours in total. 

What do you think? More from the Guardian: 
https://bit.ly/3zpwYlB 

Remote and Hybrid Working  

A new survey reveals the thing office workers miss most about being in the office is socialising and interacting with colleagues, with 53% of workers saying this was the case. This was followed by separation between work life and home life, routine, getting out of the home and the sense of team (28%). The CIPD reported that a large majority of organisations are expanding their employee offering when it comes to new ways of working with 46% of organisations planning to increase hybrid working options. However, 69% of businesses in Ireland think hybrid working arrangements will increase the chances of a cyberattack or incident, according to a new survey by Dell Technologies. 91% of companies surveyed said they took steps to enhance data protection in the past 12 months. If you have concerns about cyber security and home working, you might be interested in our eLearning course, Protecting Data when Home Working in Ireland: 
https://www.legal-island.ie/e-learning/protecting-data-when-home-working-in-ireland/  

As the right to request remote working draws closer to a legal reality the Government has recently announced that remote workers will be able to avail of free use of their local digital hub to help facilitate remote working. Listen again to our recent webinar with Caroline Reidy of the HR Suite as she discusses the preparations an employer should make to prepare for a request for remote working and considers what employers should do to facilitate hybrid working arrangements. 

Gender Pay Gap Reporting 

The government has recently published guidance on how to calculate the gender pay gap metrics which is very helpful given that the Regulations implementing the Gender Pay Gap Information Act 2021 and setting out specific details payments etc to be included by employers when calculating their gender pay gap were published last week.   

Helpfully, Legal Island and Addleshaw Goddard have created an event to help employers understand their obligations. This practical event will help employers understand what the gender pay gap is and the requirements of the legislation as well as helping employers to identify challenges and offer practical solutions and learn how to reduce the reputational risk. Book your place on this really important event here: 
https://www.legal-island.ie/events-ie/gender-pay-gap-information-act-2021/ 
 

These and many other stories can be found here on the Legal Island hub.