Let’s talk about Brexit: Intra-organizational communication, citizenship status, procedural justice and job insecurity in a context of potential immigration threat

In this study we investigate the degree to which procedural justice and Brexit related intra-organizational communication interact with UK-citizenship status in alleviating/fostering job-insecurity. Intra-organizational communication is often negatively associated with job insecurity (Keim, Landis, Pierce and Earnest, 2014), especially in contexts of turmoil and uncertainty; we suggest that this association will depend upon citizenship status and whether employees work in a procedurally just organization. In a survey of 682 employees, we measured the degree to which organizations are perceived to communicate about Brexit, procedural justice, and job insecurity. We found a three-way interaction between procedural justice, citizenship status, and Brexit communication when predicting job insecurity. When experiencing low levels of procedural justice, employees were more responsive to Brexit communication. For non-UK citizens in low justice conditions, Brexit communication was associated with lower job insecurity; for UK citizens in the same lower justice conditions, Brexit communication was associated with higher job insecurity. These effects were less pronounced for employees who perceived their employer to be more procedurally just. The study highlights that procedurally just work environments can help ensure that employees do not respond negatively to organizational attempts at open communication when faced with uncertain contexts.