- Tuesday, September 17, 2024
More than 100,000 overseas workers had arrived in Britain to take up care jobs since 2022 when the government opened up a new visa route to tackle staff shortages
By: India Weekly
AN Indian nurse who was sacked by a British care company won a significant payout on Monday (9) in a case that lawyers said could spur other migrant workers to pursue claims against unscrupulous bosses.
Kirankumar Rathod is among more than 100,000 overseas workers who have arrived in Britain to take up care jobs since 2022 when the government opened up a new visa route to help tackle massive staffing gaps.
But critics say reports of labour abuses in the sector have soared since the scheme’s introduction.
Rathod said he was left in dire financial straits after London-based Clinica Private Healthcare Ltd hired him, but failed to provide him with any work and then fired him.
In an unusual ruling on Monday, employment judge Natasha Joffe ordered Clinica to pay Rathod nearly £17,000 in unpaid wages to date, and to continue paying his salary until his claim for unfair dismissal is decided.
“This is very significant,” Rathod’s solicitor Sarmila Bose of the Work Rights Centre told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“It shows that redress is possible for the many people who have been wronged by the way the visa scheme has been operated.”
Bose said the award was “a lifesaver” for Rathod, his wife and six-year-old daughter who had been left in a “desperate financial situation” by Clinica.
After the ruling, Rathod said he felt “massive relief”.
“This has been an incredibly stressful time for me, both emotionally and financially, as while Clinica denied me work and income, I was unable to provide for my family,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a statement.
Legal experts said it was extremely rare for judges to grant “interim relief” and the ruling was a strong indication Rathod would win his case at the Central London Employment Tribunal when it is eventually heard in full.
Rathod said he had paid an agent in India £22,000 to secure a care job in Britain – although there is no suggestion Clinica knew this.
After arriving in May 2023, he received a contract to work as a healthcare assistant with an annual salary of £23,500.
When no work materialised, Rathod and other employees visited Clinica’s west London offices several times.
Following one visit, he received an email accusing him of “gross insubordination”.
After months without work, Rathod told a company representative he would take legal action. He was sacked the following day on November 8, 2023.
“I told him the situation was killing me, I could not sleep at night,” Rathod said in a witness statement.
In a previous written summary of the case, the judge said Clinica appeared to have “strung along” a significant number of others and its behaviour suggested “something awry” in the way it ran its business.
