Proof British work just as hard as East Europeans

COMPLAINTS that British workers are lazy compared with Eastern Europeans are ‘misconceived’, a groundbreaking study has found.

The ‘strong work ethic’ identified among migrants by bosses actually disappears after just two years, academics found, with foreign workers by that point taking as many sick days as UK colleagues.

It means Britons could be unfairly missing out on jobs because their nationality is not associated with hard work, say researchers from the University of Bath. The paper comes as ministers are urged to put in place policies to wean businesses off cheap foreign labour after Brexit.

Employers have warned that some sectors of the economy, such as construction, agriculture and horticulture, rely heavily on EU workers and could struggle if the labour supply dries up.

But campaign groups have argued what the latest study shows – that, beyond the short term, British workers are as diligent as Eastern Europeans.

Using official UK statistics, researchers looked at more than 100,000 employees, including 1,396 from the so-called A8 ex-

‘No difference in sick days’

Eastern Bloc countries – Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

They found employees from these countries were initially more than three times less likely to be absent from work than native UK workers. But within two years there was no difference in the number of sick days recorded.

Economists equate work attendance – one of the most valued attributes for employers – with work ethic.

Dr Chris Dawson, senior lecturer in business economics at the University of Bath, said: ‘The study shows that the common view that UK workers are lazy compared to migrant workers is misconceived.

‘In fact migrants are temporarily working extra hard to offset the challenges they face when they first enter the UK job market. We clearly see in the research that migrants new to the UK put in a couple of years of hard work, before a better understanding of our culture and job market means they adopt the same work ethic as native workers.’

The study, published in the journal Work, Employment and Society, was the first of its kind ever carried out.