It's about time | Managing working time in the digital age
As the government develops its Future Jobs Ireland initiative, it is clear that management of working time is a key component of the future of work. Recent reports of remote working initiatives and the “right to disconnect” from email and other electronic devices shows that examining working time goes to the very core of the employment relationship – it can highlight productivity, bring any performance issues to the fore and may raise questions in relation to employee health and wellbeing.
For employers, the challenges of managing working time are not new. Digitalisation has amplified some of the difficulties presented by the manner in which working time has been regulated, but it is by no means the only issue.
Since working time legislation was last revised more than 20 years ago, a range of scenarios have required further examination – travel time as working time, the need in certain sectors for continuous service or production and the search for the ever elusive certainty of working hours where the nature of the work itself is uncertain. These issues have spawned a burgeoning body of case law and various amendments to the original 1997 Act.
This November, Ibec will host a one day event examining the working time legislation as it currently stands, the challenges that employers and employees face in compliance and where we as a society need to be with regard to managing working time. Delegates will also hear from Ibec experts on related topics such as health and safety and data protection which are likely to arise in the context of compliance with working time legislation in the modern workforce. We will also look at practical solutions to these challenges and revisit Ibec’s guidance on recording of working time and other compliance related challenges. This one day programme will be of significant interest to employers and HR practitioners alike.