Public sector employers want more detail on what Britain's vote to leave the European Union will mean for their migrant staff, according to a new survey.
The latest Labour Market Outlook from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, a professional association for human resources staff, is the first to be published since June's referendum in which voters opted for Brexit.
The CIPD asked employers what information they most needed to help them in supporting their workforce through the Brexit uncertainty, with 53% of the public sector organisations surveyed calling for more clarity on what the vote will mean for UK employment law, which at present is tied up with EU legislation.
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Next on the list for public sector employers was clarity over migration policy, with 39% of the organisations surveyed listing this among their concerns, and 35% urging more information on the status of agency workers. The government has so far refused to guarantee that EU citizens working in the UK under freedom of movement rules will be granted the right to remain in any Brexit deal.
The study also reveals the action already taken by public sector managers to try and calm fears over the implications of Britain's impending departure for their staff.
More than a quarter (27%) of the public sector organisations surveyed said they were giving some of their migrant workforce help with applications to become UK citizens, while 42% said they had run Q&A sessions with senior managers to answer queries on what the vote will mean for staff from overseas.
Across both the public and private sectors, a fifth of managers said they believed the Brexit vote meant their migrant staff were considering leaving the UK, while more than half (52%) said it was too early to say or they did not know.
Two-fifths (40%) told the CIPD they believed that Brexit would make it harder to recruit EU migrants, while just 2% said it would make it easier to bring in overseas talent.