A group of Zimbabwean care workers have told a tribunal in Ireland that they paid thousands of euros to a recruiter for work permits, only to find the jobs they were promised never materialised. Many said they were left living in “freezing” shared accommodation without pay.
Speaking to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) on Thursday, 14 November, one worker said she was threatened with having her work permit cancelled when she asked about moving to another job she had been offered.
Another recounted being left without income for months and eventually having to leave a staff house after the landlord threatened to change the locks.
The eight workers, Shingirirai Chiwaridzo, Nombeko Hlabangana, Brenda Mubaiwa, Tatenda Ncube, Allen Phillip Ndhlovu, Nicola Sibanda, Nobuhle Sibanda, and Agapao Munashe Zvihari, are pursuing complaints under the Payment of Wages Act 1991 against their former employer, Unity Healthcare Services Ltd.
The Migrant Rights Centre of Ireland (MRCI), representing them, says the workers are owed months of unpaid wages, as well as refunds for fees allegedly charged to secure work permits. Unity Healthcare disputes the claims.
The tribunal heard that the workers were approached in Zimbabwe in 2022 and 2023 and paid between €2,000 and €3,600 to Unity Healthcare or its directors.
Worker Nobuhle Sibanda said she was quoted €1,000 for a work permit by CEO Londiwe Maphosa and told the total cost, including accommodation, would be €3,000.
Sibanda said she raised €2,600 and received an offer letter, contract, and non-disclosure agreement after wiring the money to the company’s co-director, Bruce Magama.
Most workers travelled to Ireland at their own expense in December 2023 or January 2024, expecting to start work within weeks at a new care facility in Virginia, Co. Cavan, with pay of roughly €560 a week (€15 per hour).
While some attended training and moved into a staff house rented by Unity, the jobs never materialised.
Unity director Bruce Magama told the tribunal the centre’s opening had been “delayed” and said he tried to find alternative employment for staff. However, the workers said efforts to place them elsewhere failed.
At one point, seven workers were living communally in the staff house, with some sharing bedrooms and others sleeping in the dining room.
Some workers earned small amounts by cleaning houses or babysitting. Unity had promised €100 per week while they waited for work, but this stopped after three weeks. Others received no money at all.
Chiwaridzo said residents pooled resources to cover electricity, food, and heating, but it was insufficient.
She added that she had to wait from March to October 2024 to receive a “letter of no objection” from Unity Healthcare, which was needed to take up other job offers, by which time two had already fallen through.
The WRC hearing has been adjourned, with a ninth complainant scheduled to give evidence later.
MRCI representatives Pretty Ndawo and Sylwia Nowakowska appeared for the workers, while Magama represented the company.
More: Irish Times
Leave a Reply Cancel reply