ILPC 2026

Double precarity?  Triple precarity?  European Union migrants in the context of Brexit

Previous research into the workplace experiences of migrant workers has found that they are more likely to be found in precarious forms of work, such as temporary or agency work (Hopkins and Dawson, 2016).  This doubling of precarity, combining both migration status and work status, has been found to create significant issues for migrant workers.  This is found in areas including absence management (Dawson et al., 2017), career progression (Hopkins and Dawson, 2016), workplace health and safety (Hopkins, 2015), and pay and reward (Dawson et al., 2017).

For workers from the European Union currently based in the United Kingdom, a potential third level of precarity has been introduced.  The current status of many people in the UK is currently highly uncertain given the result of the referendum held on 23 June 2016, the result of which means that the UK will leave the European Union.  This so-called ‘Brexit’ has led to concerns for migrants, both in terms of their future in the UK, and also for their present living and working conditions, with evidence of increased levels of hate crimes following the referendum (Home Office, 2016).  Anecdotal evidence suggests that this has also created worsened workplace relations between migrant workers and those from the UK.  As such, there is a requirement to develop existing academic workplace studies which have investigated migration and precarity in the context of intra-European migration, to the new context of uncertainty created for these migrants in the move to Brexit.

In this rapidly developing new context, this paper presents first findings from in-depth qualitative studies in UK workplaces.  The aim of these studies is to investigate the working and wider living conditions for those workers who face not only a precarious working environment as a result of working on a temporary or agency basis, but also great uncertainty in the wider context of ‘Brexit’.  Themes to be explored will include the future life and career plans of migrants in this context; impacts on health, safety, mental health, and well-being; potential instances of workplace bullying and hostility; pay and reward; responses by UK workers to the post-referendum context; and the impacts on organisations of these issues.

References

Dawson, C., Veliziotis, M. and Hopkins, B. (2017) “Understanding the Perception of the ‘Migrant Work Ethic’”. Work, Employment and Society (OnlineFirst)

Home Office (2016) Hate Crime England and Wales 2015 to 2016 London: HMSO

Hopkins, B. (2015) “Occupational Health and Safety of Temporary and Agency Workers” Economic and Industrial Democracy OnlineFirst

Hopkins, B. and Dawson, C. (2016) “Migrant Workers and Involuntary Non-Permanent Jobs: Agencies as New IR Actors?” Industrial Relations Journal 47 (2)