Salesforce ordered to pay €1,000 to recruiter in first-ever compensation under remote work laws
A RECRUITER WHO relocated with his family to the west of Ireland under a remote work agreement has won €1,000 in compensation from Salesforce, over the company's failure to respond in time to a formal request for a remote work arrangement.
The employee of the business software company told the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) that they had gotten approval for an agreement allowing him to relocate and work fully remotely in the west of Ireland – but after less than a year, they were ordered to come back to the Salesforce office in Dublin for work.
Salesforce, which has its European headquarters in Dublin, was found in breach of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 for missing a four-week deadline for a response.
According to the recruiter, both his manager and director at Salesforce approved an agreement for him to relocate in June 2023. Under this agreement, the recruiter would 'continue working remotely, attending the office as needed', the WRC heard.
The move was for 'personal circumstances', the recruiter told the WRC.
Less than a year later on 20 May 2024, the recruiter's line manager told her team that employees would be required to attend the office between three and four days a week.
Following this, the recruiter submitted a formal request under the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 to continue working fully remotely.
In the request, they highlighted that it would be a 550km round trip for him to commute to and from the office, and pointed to his 'proven performance in a remote capacity'.
They also pointed to inconsistencies in Salesforce's return-to-office policy, which they said allowed other employees in similar roles to work remotely.
The recruiter's complaint was submitted to Salesforce on 10 June 2024, but the company did not reply until over a month later on 11 July, when they told recruiter that they required more time to consider his request to work remotely.
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This was outside the four-week period after they had submitted his request – as set out in the Act.
The employee submitted an official complaint to the WRC on 17 July.
A decision by Salesforce on the recruiter's request was not issued until 26 July 2024 – six weeks and four days after his request was submitted.
Salesforce rejected the request for remote work, citing the 'need for in-person meetings with hiring managers', the 'promotion of collaboration' and alignment with the company's global hybrid working strategy.
the recruiter argued that these reasons contradicted prior agreements with the company which had 'explicitly removed' in-person meetings from his responsibilities.
A representative for Salesforce argued that the company had complied with legislation by responding to the request for remote work, adding that their failure to respond in time was 'attributable to human error'.
WRC Adjudication Officer Breiffni O'Neill agreed with Salesforce's argument that they were only permitted to examine the company's failure to respond to the employee's request within the four-week period mandated by law.
This meant they could not assess the underlying reasons for rejecting the request.
O'Neill concluded that Salesforce had offered 'no compelling reasons' for missing the deadline, though they described the delay as 'minor.'
They ordered the company to pay the recruiter €1,000 for the breach.
They are the first person to win compensation in the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) for a breach of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023, which came into force last year.
The recruiter is the ninth complainant decided by the WRC under the Act.
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