Belonging at Work: How Irish Employers Are Stepping Up on Wellbeing in 2026

A legal right that puts flexibility on the table

Since 7 March 2024, every employee in Ireland has had a legal right to request remote working, formalised under Part 3 of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023. Employees can make a request from their first day in a job, though the arrangement cannot start until they have six months of continuous service, and employers must respond within four weeks, or up to twelve if they need more time to assess it. The Workplace Relations Commission has also published a formal Code of Practice on handling these requests, developed with input from trade unions, employer bodies and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, giving both sides clearer, evidence-based rules to work from.

That legal underpinning matters because employees clearly see flexibility as core to their wellbeing, not a perk. Ibec's KeepWell research found that 68% of employees cite hybrid or flexible working as essential to their overall wellness, and 35% say they would turn down a higher-paying job in order to keep hybrid working arrangements.

The Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 also introduced a separate but related right to request flexible working for parents and carers, alongside statutory leave for medical care purposes and domestic violence leave, so the legislation underpinning today's wellbeing push covers far more than remote work alone. The WRC's Code of Practice sets out the factors an employer should weigh when assessing a request, including the nature of the role, business needs and the equipment or connectivity available at the proposed remote location, giving employers and staff a shared, transparent framework rather than leaving decisions to informal negotiation.

What the KeepWell survey shows is improving

Ibec's KeepWell workplace wellbeing accreditation programme surveyed 1,000 people and found that almost seven in ten respondents, 69%, said workplace wellness had become more important to them over the past two to three years. Crucially, that increased appetite is being met: 28% of respondents said they had seen increased investment and focus on wellbeing from their employer, with a further 30% noting a moderate rise in effort, meaning well over half of workers are seeing real movement from their employers.

The research also points to where employers still have work to do: 35% of respondents felt their line managers were not yet adequately trained or supported to prioritise employee wellbeing, a clear signal for where investment should go next. The survey also found real differences in what different groups value, with 62% of men favouring physical wellness supports compared to 43% of women, while nearly two-thirds of women valued company support for mental wellbeing specifically, a reminder that flexible, varied wellbeing programmes matter more than one-size-fits-all initiatives.

The same KeepWell research also found demand for practical stress-management skills is rising, with employees increasingly looking for training that helps them cope day to day rather than one-off talks or leaflets, according to the Irish Times' coverage of the findings. That shift towards skills-based support, rather than awareness alone, mirrors what the KeepWell accreditation itself assesses: employers seeking the KeepWell Mark are measured on concrete practices across physical, mental, social and financial wellbeing, not simply on whether they have a policy document in place.

A national day that keeps growing

National Workplace Wellbeing Day, run by Ibec, marked its 12th year on 29 April 2026, and organisers describe it as the only national day in the EU dedicated by the business community to spotlighting employees' social, mental and physical wellbeing. More than 1,000 companies now take part annually, a scale Ibec says has grown consistently over more than a decade. This year's theme, Belonging, focused on workplace culture and the role employers play in helping people feel they have a place at work, reflecting Ibec's own research showing 70% of Irish employees now value workplace wellbeing more than they did three years ago.

Alongside the awareness day, Business & Finance and Ibec jointly published the Top 100 Companies Leading in Wellbeing Index 2026 in April, recognising employers who have built genuine wellbeing cultures rather than one-off initiatives, spanning organisations from semi-state bodies to internet infrastructure providers, each assessed on how they embed work-life balance, mental health support and inclusive culture into daily working life. The list included organisations such as the .ie domain registry and the semi-state air traffic body AirNav Ireland, showing that the recognition spans large infrastructure employers as well as more typical office-based businesses.

Dr Kara McGann, Ibec's Head of Skills and Social Policy, explained why Belonging was chosen as the theme, saying it is more than a cultural metric, it is the heartbeat of a thriving workplace and the foundation of true wellbeing, and that Ireland's competitive edge lies in workplaces where every individual feels seen, heard and valued. On the day itself, companies marked the occasion with the annual KeepWell Awards, recognising standout employers such as DeCare, named Company of the Year in the SME category in a previous year's awards, and Bon Secours Health System, honoured for leadership in embedding wellbeing into how it runs its organisation.

Why employers are treating this as a business issue, not just a nice gesture

Ibec has been explicit that it sees wellbeing increasingly as a commercial matter rather than a purely ethical one. Business & Finance reporting on National Workplace Wellbeing Day 2026 pointed to research from Oxford University and the London School of Economics linking employee health to higher performance and lower absenteeism, framing staff wellbeing as a core commercial metric rather than a peripheral HR concern. In a tight labour market, Ibec argues, the ability to retain talent depends directly on the quality of the working environment on offer.

That commercial framing is showing up in Ibec's own trend analysis for 2026, which forecasts that burnout and psychological safety are becoming boardroom priorities rather than issues left to HR teams to manage on the sidelines. Organisations that measure and actively nurture psychological safety, the analysis notes, are already seeing a ripple effect across engagement, trust and teamwork, with employees more willing to say they are struggling without fear of consequences. Ibec's trend forecast also flags the psychological impact of AI adoption on staff, noting that uncertainty about how roles are changing can affect stress levels just as much as workload itself, meaning employers are being encouraged to build reassurance and clear communication into how they introduce new technology.

What workers can actually ask for

For employees, the most important shift is that flexibility is now a legal conversation rather than a favour. Under the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, any worker can request a remote working arrangement, and parents and carers can request flexible working for caregiving purposes, with employers required to respond within set timeframes and to give reasons if they refuse. Alongside that, the KeepWell framework gives workers a practical benchmark: if an employer holds KeepWell accreditation, it has been independently assessed on everything from mental health support to physical activity and nutrition in the workplace.

Ibec's advice to employees is to use the structures that now exist: raise flexibility requests formally under the Act, ask whether your employer takes part in KeepWell or National Workplace Wellbeing Day, and use employee assistance programmes where they are offered. The survey evidence suggests workers who ask are increasingly being heard, with employers reporting that retention pressures make them far more willing to accommodate flexibility than before the pandemic.

The Bottom Line

Workplace wellbeing in Ireland is now being driven by law and culture at the same time: a legal right to request remote work gives employees real leverage, while Ibec's KeepWell data shows employers responding, with rising investment across most workplaces and a national day that now involves more than 1,000 companies. Gaps remain, particularly around manager training, but the trend line only points one way. Flexibility, mental health support and a genuine sense of belonging at work are no longer optional extras in Irish workplaces; they are fast becoming the baseline everyone expects.