Brexit: EU social policy and the UK employment model

Abstract

Big claims that are often unsubstantiated are made about the likely impact of Brexit on the UK labour market. This article seeks to go beyond the rhetoric and present a careful assessment of the employment relations consequences of Brexit for the UK. It addresses four key questions in particular: will Brexit end UK engagement in the EU's free movement of labour regime and if so, what will be the labour market consequences for the UK?; to what extent will Brexit weaken employment rights in the UK?; what impact will Brexit have on the behaviour of trade unions and on the functioning of collective bargaining in the UK?; and finally, what will be the effect of Brexit on the interactions between London and Brussels on wider employment policy questions. The article argues that Brexit poses acute policy dilemmas for the UK Government that are likely to generate considerable political and economic uncertainty. The fallout from this uncertainty is hard to predict in advance. It could either open the door to a Corbyn‐led Labour Government or alternatively to an even more thorough‐going deregulation of the UK labour market.

Return and volatility spillover between India, UK, USA and European stock markets: The Brexit impact

“…The uncertainty of Brexit is seen higher in those industries of the UK that are having trade relations with the European Union and on those industries of the UK dependent on migrant labor of the European Union (Bloom et al, 2018). Brexit is likely to create policy dilemmas for the UK government (Teague & Donaghey, 2018).…”

Brexit: human resourcing implications

“…This view has been amplified, since the Brexit outcome through the publication of papers which demonstrate that at organisations, such as Pret a Manger, only 50 per cent of job applicants are from the UK (Sullivan, 2017). Teague and Donaghey (2018) suggest that the access to labour through the free movement of people has resulted in an underinvestment in the development of skills by employers. Job applicants from outside of the UK, in this case and other labour-intensive industries such as construction, can be considered "posted workers" a form of temporary labour migration leading to greater labour market segmentation and host society disconnection (Caro et al, 2017).…”

“…Furthermore, the aftermath of the global financial crisis has led to an increase in precarious employment for many people in the UK and EU labour markets (ILO, 2012). Teague and Donaghey (2018) argue that the free movement of "cheap labour" from the EU has been central to precarious employment in the UK. Flexible working practices can, however, support candidate attraction as they allow individuals to work in different ways (Taylor et al, 2017) and can, therefore, increase workplace diversity by making work accessible to more people.…”

Brexit and the ‘left behind’: Job polarization and the rise in support for leaving the European Union

“…Although the consequences of the decision to leave the EU are still somewhat uncertain, it is predicted to have an adverse effect on the UK economy (Sampson, 2017), with early indications of this having been borne out given a range of restrictions to immediate post‐Brexit trade for the UK (De Lyon & Dhingra, 2021). Brexit is also expected to have a significant impact on various aspects of the UK labour market, with Teague and Donaghey (2018) considering the implications of leaving the EU on freedom of movement, employment rights, trade unions and employment policy. Woolfson (2017) focuses specifically on the prospects for labour standards in a post‐Brexit UK.…”