The WRC’s Code of Practice on Access to Part-Time Working (the ‘Code’) has been updated for the first time since 2006.
The Code reflects a focus on flexible working arrangements and provides updated guidance on the requirements of the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 (the ‘Act’). The Act protects part-time employees from being treated less favourably than comparable full-time employees, unless there are objective grounds for doing so. The Act also provides that where a benefit is determined by the number of hours an employee works, it must be pro-rated for part-time employees.
Notable changes introduced by the Code include an emphasis on considering access to part-time work when developing policies and recruitment goals. Employers are encouraged to proactively identify part-time working opportunities across all levels and review training, performance appraisal, and promotion and career development policies to ensure there are no barriers to the progression of part-time workers in the organisation.
The Code recommends that employers, wherever possible, should consider requests by employees to transfer from full-time to part-time work and vice versa. In addition, training and development initiatives should be scheduled to accommodate part-time staff where possible.
The Code is admissible in evidence in proceedings before the WRC, the Labour Court or the Civil Courts. Most WRC Codes of Practice are made under section 42 of the Industrial Relations Act 1990, which expressly provides that the relevant court or officer must take the Code’s provisions into account when relevant to any question in the proceedings. However, Codes of Practice do not create legal rights, nor does Irish law provide a statutory entitlement to part‑time work. In practice, while non‑compliance with a code is not actionable in itself, the WRC and Labour Court routinely treat codes as authoritative benchmarks when assessing reasonableness and procedural fairness.
This has been illustrated in cases taken as a result of recent Code of Practice on the Right to Request Flexible Working and the Right to Request Remote Working (the ‘Flexible Working Code’). Under the Flexible Working Code, the obligation on employers is to consider an employee’s request for remote or flexible working; employers are not obliged to grant such request. This obligation to consider was confirmed in the first WRC decision following the Flexible Working Code, where it was noted that an Adjudication Officer’s remit is strictly limited to assessing whether an employer considered a request for remote working in accordance with the Flexible Working Code (Alina Karabko v Tiktok Technology Ltd ADJ-00051600). Several cases since the Karabko decision have confirmed this position, noting that once proper consideration is given to a flexible or remote working request, the statutory obligations of the employer will have been met (Zaurbek Musae v TikTok Technology Limited ADJ-00052437; Javier Osorio v Cognizant Technology Solutions Ireland Limited ADJ-00052414).
The Code of Practice on Access to Part-Time Working will be subject to review again in 2029.
