Migrant nurse wins legal boost in unfair dismissal claim against UK firm

A migrant nurse could be eligible for a substantial payout from a British healthcare company after an employment tribunal ruled he was likely to win his unfair dismissal case, in a trial that could pave the way for dozens of cases other such.

Natasha Joffe, an employment judge, ruled that Clinica Private Healthcare, a London-based healthcare provider, may have to pay unpaid wages to Kirankumar Rathod after it sacked him in 2023. The ruling could leave him eligible for a payout of more than £13,000.

Rathod was sacked after raising concerns about the lack of work being offered to him and other colleagues who had also moved to the UK with the promise of full-time employment.

Campaigners hope the interim ruling will prompt hundreds more to come forward, after the Guardian revealed widespread allegations of worker exploitation in the sector last month. A final decision on the case is expected at the end of this year.

Sarmila Bose, head of employment at the Center for Employment Rights, which represented Rathod, said: “This is a very significant judgment. It’s the first time a care worker has won this kind of relief in principle.”

Nicola Ranger, acting head of the Royal College of Nursing, said: “This is a vital victory for migrant healthcare workers. This case is not the end of the matter because we know that exploitation is widespread across social care. Migrant care workers desperately need the next government to launch an urgent investigation and take action to ensure working standards are upheld.”

Rathod’s case echoes dozens of others uncovered by the Guardian. More than 30 people said they had paid up to £20,000 to immigration agents – and sometimes employers themselves – to secure job offers, only to find little or no work when they arrived.

Many had taken on high levels of debt to secure the jobs and are now living in poverty in Britain, unable to secure regular work and unwilling to return home for fear of being unable to repay their debts Theirs.

After the Guardian revealed the practices, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper promised Labor would launch an inquiry into the treatment of migrant care workers if they won office.

Rathod said he came to the UK in 2023 after paying £22,000 to an immigration agent in India to obtain a visa and employment. He was given a sponsorship certificate by Clinica saying he would be a care assistant, working 39 hours a week for just over £23,000 a year.

After arriving in Britain, Rathod completed an induction course and three days of training, but was then not offered a job. According to court documents, he asked why he wasn’t being offered shifts and was told, “It’s been very difficult to find shifts that work for all of you in the care homes that come with long shift hours like most of you wanted. . [sic].

Rathod says he called his employer in November 2023 to protest again about not being given the job and threatened to take legal action against them.

The next day he received a termination notice saying he was being fired for “his failure to heed several verbal warnings regarding disobedience to his employer and death company.” [sic].

The case is ongoing. But in an interim ruling in June, Joffe found that Rathod would probably win his unfair dismissal case, and so all unpaid wages between the date of his termination and the conclusion of the case must be paid. That would run to at least £13,000, and possibly much more depending on how long the case drags on.

Joffe ruled: “The apparent irregularities in the way the claimant and other employees were treated in relation to their contract of employment and certificates of sponsorship tended to suggest that there was something wrong with the way the first respondent [Clinica] he was running his own business, which he wouldn’t welcome if the light shined on him.”

She added: “The contract provided for work which did not materialize and the subsequent conduct of the respondents suggested that the claimant and others were being obstructed.”

The clinic did not respond to a request for comment.

During the legal proceedings, the firm told the court that it would not be able to pay Rathod’s unpaid wages because it had since lost its license to sponsor migrant workers, and so paying any such workers would be illegal. The judge will rule on that at a later hearing in late July, with a final decision expected to take several more months.

Lawyers say even the decision to grant temporary relief in principle is a big win for others who have found themselves in similar positions.

Jamila Duncan-Bosu, a lawyer at the Anti-Trafficking and Labor Exploitation Unit, said: “This is a very interesting and welcome judgment. We hope it is the beginning of a turning tide and more workers will be able to come forward after this.”