Thought Leadership News

New laws set to come into place in Ireland will bring significant change for both employees and employers. Moira Grassick looks at pending legislation and what employers can do to start preparing. Employment law is constantly changing, so employers must keep track of what is on the horizon. Current changes to employment laws are a top priority for both Government and the Oireachtas, with a raft of new laws being proposed to deal with everything from domestic violence to probation periods.  Although many of these laws are in their early stages, they are expected to pass, meaning employers must prepare for the changes they will bring about. There is a clear indication that cross-party support on several Bills will have a direct impact on the employment relationship by as early as July and August of this year. Paid leave bills underway The Government recently approved a publication of the draft Sick Leave Bill 2022 providing for up to three paid sick days per year. This is planned to increase to five days in 2024, seven days in 2025 and 10 days in 2026. Under the new rules, employers will need to pay 70 percent of normal wages up to a maximum of €110 per day. This isn't the only new type of paid leave that has been proposed, however. The equality committee is set to discuss a bill to introduce paid leave for survivors of domestic violence. This would allow time off for medical visits, criminal and civil legal proceedings, counselling sessions, or for victims to look for a new home. Tips and gratuities Amendments to the National Minimum Wage bill may soon mean that employees in the service sector will be entitled to all tips and gratuities paid by customers. Up until now, it has been up to an employer to pay customer tips to employees. Service charges could be used to subsidise employee pay, so employers may need to make changes to their payroll system in anticipation. Retirement Older workers in Ireland will also be receiving better government support. Although there is no mandatory retirement age in Ireland, an exception allows employers to introduce it if the reason for doing so can be objectively and reasonably justified. The new Employment Equality (Abolition of Mandatory Retirement Age) Bill 2022 would abolish this loophole, meaning that it would be less likely that older workers would be forced out of work before they chose to leave. Redundancy Lengthy legal battles have led to proposed changes in the rules surrounding redundancy. An amendment to the Companies Bill (2021) and the Protection of Employment Bill (2017) aims to provide preferential creditor status to employees in collective redundancies. It follows the campaign by Debenhams employees to receive their full redundancy pay after the company went into liquidation. Right to disconnect With so many people still working from home, many employees will be happy to hear about the Right to Disconnect Bill. Thirty percent of home workers in Ireland have stated that they regularly work past their contracted hours. This bill would allow all home- and office-based employees to have the right not to work routinely outside normal hours. Stay aware Changes to company climate policies, potential changes to pay rates in specific sectors and a drive to ensure clarity around working conditions will all soon be discussed in the Dáil. Every employer must be aware of these potential changes to comply fully with all legislation. Moira Grassick is COO at Peninsula Ireland. 

Dr John McCallig’s research into the accounting system of the future built on blockchain technology and cryptography has earned him a sought-after award for invention, writes Arlene Harris. As Assistant Professor in Accountancy at the UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business and the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, Dr John McCallig has long held a fascination for business, financial systems and the ways in which technology can improve both. Even as a teenager growing up in Claremorris, Co. Mayo, McCallig, now a Fellow Chartered Accountant, recalls an early interest in “the world of numbers” and emerging computer technology. After learning how to programme early home computers, McCallig went on to complete a degree in commerce at NUI Galway followed by a DPA (now Master of Accounting) at UCD.  “My research career began with PhD studies at Lancaster University in the UK and my thesis and subsequent research focused on the relationship between stock market returns and accounting numbers,” said McCallig.  “More recently, I have become interested in how the use of cryptography in business systems could produce better data for decisions by investors, regulators, and the public.” This interest is proving fruitful for McCallig, who was recently named recipient of the 2022 Invention of the Year Award by NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin.  Announced in March at the 2022 NovaUCD Innovation Awards, the prize was given to McCallig in recognition of his research into the use of blockchain technology and advanced cryptography to design accounting systems that could enable transparent access to verifiable data.  Through this research, McCallig has established that building such systems is theoretically possible and could potentially lead to a complete redesign of financial reporting processes in the future. His award-winning invention uses privacy-preserving analytics to collect and share commercially sensitive information about VAT obligations and payments.  This innovation can confirm that the proper VAT payments have been made—in real-time and without breaching the privacy of any individuals or firms involved.  The potential impact of this invention would be to provide the basis for a system that could interact “natively” with the digital economy to help build a modern and fair tax system, according to McCallig.  Now, he is keen to find out more about how his invention might work in practice.  “I have been working with NovaUCD on the commercialisation of my research on the use of cryptography in the VAT reporting and payment system and I am delighted and deeply honoured to have received the 2022 NovaUCD Invention of the Year Award,” he said.  “I appreciate the recognition this award gives to innovative ways of ensuring privacy and data integrity in critical social systems, like the VAT payment system.” Cryptography is the practice and study of secure communication techniques that allow the contents of a message to be viewed only by the sender and its intended recipient. “Many people think of cryptography as all or nothing—you encrypt a file, in which case nobody else can get any information about it, or you leave it unencrypted,” said McCallig. “In fact, modern cryptography provides a rich toolbox of techniques, which can be used to provide partial access to information.  “One example is homomorphic cryptography, whereby mathematical operations can be performed on encrypted data.” McCallig pointed to pay gap research published last year by Boston Women’s Workforce Council in the US, which collected payroll data in a secure manner without revealing information sourced from any individual company involved in the study. “One idea I have been working on myself is how a company’s receivables can be confirmed in a more efficient way,” McCallig said. “This relies on both the company and its receivables encrypting data about the obligations, so that data from the company and the debtors can be compared without revealing the data.” Although he does not foresee a future in which the fundamentals of accounting will change, McCallig is convinced that digital technology will play an ever greater role. “The digitalisation of accounting data in companies is nearly complete. Almost all significant enterprises have sophisticated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems,” he says.  “The interfaces between businesses are still mainly manual, however, with information being shared using email and PDFs.  “Here, there is an opportunity to design systems that not only allow the secure exchange of information, but also provide access to high-quality information for auditors and stakeholders.” Advanced cryptographic systems are, McCallig believes, ideal for this kind of application.  “I am fascinated by the role of information in business decision-making and resource allocation in the economy,” he said. “Accountants play a key role in providing this information and my interest is in exploring whether advanced information systems could improve the quality of this information.” As he continues his work at UCD—where he teaches financial accounting, financial statement analysis and accounting technology—McCallig is intent on ensuring that the next generation of accountants are fully up-to-speed with the various technologies playing a role in the future of finance. “It has been a privilege to teach and research at UCD and I am hoping to introduce more material on accounting technology, data analytics, blockchains and cryptography into the university’s accounting curriculum in the future.”

As we celebrate Pride month, Dee France, Member & Student Support and Well-being Lead at Chartered Accountants Ireland, explores what diversity and inclusion means in the workplace, the important role it plays for employee well-being, and why employers should foster a culture of belonging and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion (D&I) has become a driving force in the changing organisational landscape. Companies and business leaders are placing greater emphasis on their approach to D&I and are embracing policies and strategies to create a more diverse, fairer, and resilient workforce.  Employee well-being and D&I are closely connected. In fact, employee well-being awareness can be seen as an intrinsic element of a company’s effective D&I strategies and policies.  An essential and significant feature of good overall well-being is our feeling of purpose and belonging. Programmes and initiatives that promote inclusion, diversity, and belonging can support and cultivate positive employee well-being. In its entirety, D&I in the workplace can have an impact on our overall happiness at work.  Emotional tax Employees from diverse backgrounds who experience a non-inclusive workforce can face an additional burden of an ‘emotional tax’ – the experience of being treated differently from peers due to race/ethnicity or gender, triggering adverse effects on health and feelings of isolation and making it difficult to thrive at work. This emotional tax can have an extremely negative impact on employees’ mental health and wellbeing. Feeling undervalued, overlooked, or excluded due to your identity can heighten a person’s vigilance to protect themselves from acts of bias or prejudice. Thrive, Chartered Accountants Ireland’s dedicated well-being hub, continues to receive regular calls from our members and students who seek support from the damaging impact a non-inclusive workplace can have on their wellbeing.   Managing diversity and inclusion  Implementing effective and successful D&I strategies and policies can take time, but a coherent and structured approach to these ensure that work practices and values support an inclusive culture that embraces different people, views, and perspectives. Producing a D&I policy allows a company to go above and beyond legal obligations and set a standard of expectation for the organisation and for its employees.  There are several ways companies can begin to incorporate inclusivity into the workplace.  Leadership and employee training  Providing training for leadership, management and employees increases awareness, aids the understanding and engagement in the company’s values and policies, helps embed these initiatives into the culture of the workplace, and allows for the development of empathy for others.  Employee network groups  Building an employee network group is an effective way to allow people to connect with others from different groups, and raise a sense of belonging, affinity, and kinship.  For example, the Institute has several different committee groups such as Balance, our LGBTQ+ committee, Student Committee, and D&I committee.  Open communication and feedback  Developing open and clear communication channels that are easily accessible to employees breeds better dialogue. It ensures employees and managers alike feel safe in airing grievances, giving feedback, and the feeling of being heard and valued.  Employee surveys on D&I initiatives allow companies to take onboard employees’ experiences and action feedback. It permits companies to assess if policies and strategies are working and evaluate and benchmark their efforts from year-to-year.  The Thrive Wellbeing Hub provides counselling, wellness coaching, practical advice and more to all members of the Institute. You can contact the Thrive wellbeing team by visiting our website, via email at: thrive@charteredaccountants.ie, or by phone: +(353) 86 0243294.