The ‘<scp>Singapore</scp> scenario’: the uncertain prospects for labour standards in post‐<scp>Brexit Britain</scp>

Woolfson, Charles

doi:10.1111/irj.12198

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Recent contributions to the employment relations literature examine the impact of state‐led austerity (Heery et al ., ), welfare retrenchment (Yates, ), the potential for deepening inequalities at work (Wolfson, ) and subsequent increases in precarious work and precarious employment status (Vershinina et al, ). Pensions and appropriation of value from pension schemes have been largely lacking from this analysis, but as demonstrated in this article, investor–owner use of employer pension fund contributions to take money out of a firm and borrow against a pension scheme represents significant historical wage theft.…”

Section: Discussion and Conclusion The Re‐politicisation Of Pensions?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The British Home Stores pension scheme: privatised looting?

Clark

2019

Industrial Relations Journal

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On entering administration, British Home Stores owed its pension scheme £571 million—a significant employment relations issue of historical wage theft by investor–owner managers. The article locates ‘lawful’ looting of business assets in a framework that builds on Ackerlof and Romer's theory of bankruptcy for profit and connects this to an empirical narrative on business re‐structuring at British Home Stores towards administration.

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Section: Discussion and Conclusion The Re‐politicisation Of Pensions?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The British Home Stores pension scheme: privatised looting?

Clark

2019

Industrial Relations Journal

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“…Economic crises cause additional barriers to international mobility, impacting national labour markets (Trenz and Triandafyllidou, 2017). During the 2008-2009 recession, there was a decline in EU immigration (Woolfson, 2017), however, the economic climate did not deter the recruitment of migrant workers from outside the EU. As the number of UK nationals within UK employment decreased, the employment of non-UK nationals increased during the same period (Churchard, 2009).…”

Section: Increased Immigration From Outside Of the Eumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…41 Economic crises cause additional barriers to international mobility, impacting national 42 labour markets (Trenz and Triandafyllidou, 2017). During the 2008-2009 recession there was 43 a decline in EU immigration (Woolfson, 2017) (Churchard, 2009). The 2008-2009 recession caused inbound unskilled and low 4 skilled migration to fall, while there was limited increase to the marginalization of existing 5 migrant workers, this may be explained by an increased acceptance of poor working 6 conditions or decreased wages (Tilly, 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

Brexit: human resourcing implications

Ridgway

2019

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Purpose Three years on from the Brexit vote, while it remains a central topic for debate in the media, there has been limited discussion about the human resource (HR) implications. The purpose of this paper is to provide theoretical evaluation and informed discussion, distilled into four interconnected propositions, on how employee resourcing as a HR practice may be impacted following actual Brexit decisions. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the employee resourcing literature, the paper adopts a discursive approach which examines how the UK’s decision to exit the European Union will affect HR practice. The paper draws comparison with the global recession since 2008, a similarly unprecedented development in its discussion of employee resourcing practices and draws parallels which may help to inform the future of HR practices in the UK, because of Brexit. Findings This paper offers a set of propositions; the flow of talent into the UK may become more restricted and reinvigorate the “war for talent” that followed the effects of the global financial crisis on the UK. To attract and retain workers in relatively lower-skilled roles, employers may be faced with a need to re-skill such roles and adopt more flexible working arrangements. Finally, to meet skilled employment requirements, removal of restrictions to recruit from within the European Economic Area may trigger increased global migration of skilled workers. Originality/value This paper contributes to the discussions regarding the implications of Brexit for HR practice by offering propositions to shape future research agendas.

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“…Either it has to abandon its welfare‐to‐work policy as well as its cap on housing benefits to make it more attractive for people to move from the north to the south of the UK, which would be tantamount to abandoning its austerity macroeconomic stance. Or it has to introduce even more draconian welfare benefits so that labour mobility is encouraged through disciplining the poor, a policy that would represent a decisive move to the ‘Singapore scenario’ so ably discussed by Woolfson () in this journal recently. Thus, if the present government wants to reduce the number of migrants coming to work in the UK, it faces an acute policy dilemma: it either has to increase or lower the social safety net and also rethink its entire housing policy.…”

Section: Brexit the Free Movement Of Labour And Uk's Liberal Employmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Brexit: EU social policy and the UK employment model

Teague

Donaghey

2018

Industrial Relations Journal

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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.

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The ‘Singapore scenario’: the uncertain prospects for labour standards in post‐Brexit Britain

Cited by 6 publications

References 10 publications

The British Home Stores pension scheme: privatised looting?

The British Home Stores pension scheme: privatised looting?

Brexit: human resourcing implications

Brexit: EU social policy and the UK employment model

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