Mandate say new close contact rules will come as a huge relief to many employers.
Proposals going to cabinet today will mean close contacts who are fully vaccinated and boosted will not have restrict their movements for 5 days.
The isolation period for those who test positive for Covid is also being standardised at 7 days regardless of whether someone has had a booster or not.
The high numbers of confirmed Covid 19 cases and the restrictions around close contacts has led to wide-scale workplace absences.
Tesco has seen huge demand for their delivery service and some of their stores have been forced to curtail opening hours at some stores to ensure the safety of staff.
SuperValu also confirmed that some of its franchisees had cut opening hours, with Liam Ryan who owns four Supervalu stores in Cork and Limerick outlining to RedFM News that he had over 100 staff out last week.
The Irish Hairdressers Federation says Omicron had "a devastating effect" on salon owners on Saturday and Sunday.
Speaking to RedFM News, Lorraine O’Brien from trade union Mandate says staff have been taking on extra hours to keep stores operating.
"In fairness people have been very flexible and are doing what they've been asked to do and putting their shoulder to the wheel.
"The knock on effect for them is that it can be stressful for them trying to maintain the level of service to customers that they normally would.
"Along with that the additional work rate from their own perspective means they're tired and are feeling the effects of it."
