An Indian man has been awarded nearly £30,000 by a British court after his employer failed to provide work
An Indian man who moved to the UK under the Skilled Worker Visa Scheme has been awarded nearly £30,000 by an employment tribunal after his employer failed to offer him any work for almost a year, despite granting him sponsorship to take up a caring job.According to The Guardian, the court directed care company Swan Care Solutions Ltd to pay Shabin Shaji wages for work he was “ready, able and willing to do”, along with holiday pay and other remedies for breaches including failure to provide a written contract and failure to comply with grievance procedures.Shaji, who hails from Kerala, moved to Stafford in 2023 after being told there was a significant shortage of healthcare workers in the UK.
Purchased a vehicle for the position and completed online training before traveling. He said he had previously sought advice from a YouTube influencer about securing work in the UK, who connected him with agents.According to the court, he paid £17,000 to recruiters and was later interviewed for the role via WhatsApp before being issued a sponsorship certificate, allowing him to live and work in the UK with Swan Care Solutions as his sponsoring employer.
However, the computer science graduate, who had previous healthcare experience in India, said he did not get any shifts despite repeated requests. The terms of his visa meant he could not work for another employer for more than 20 hours a week. He later received care elsewhere in April 2024, a year after his arrival, but later returned to India due to ill health.The court heard that staff at Swan Care Solutions suggested he take cash work and use the food bank, and told him they would contact him when it was his “turn”.Employment judge Kate Edmonds was quoted as saying by The Guardian: “The claimant did what he needed to do to start working… However, the defendant did not provide him with work, nor did they pay him a wage.”She added: “The defendant was prevented from working… and therefore his wages were unlawfully deducted.”“I was broke and had to rely on charity,” said Shaji, who was struggling during his time in the UK without work or income. “I drank tap water and bought bread that was close to its expiry date to survive.”The Employment Tribunal ordered the company to pay £28,843.54 in wages and holiday pay, along with costs of £8,700.
