UK care agency ordered to pay £30,000 to Kerala native who got no work

A Birmingham employment tribunal has ordered a UK care agency to pay £30,000 (Rs 38.4 lakh) in compensation to a Kerala native it brought to Britain on a healthcare visa to work as a care worker but didn't give him a single day of work or pay him a penny.

Shabin Shaji, a 33-year-old computer science graduate who had worked in healthcare in India, paid £17,000 (Rs 21.7 lakh) to agents to secure the visa in 2023, the Guardian reported.

Once in the UK, he bought a car, relocated to Stafford and was ready and willing to work. Swan Care Solutions Ltd, the agency that sponsored his visa, went back on its word.

"I was broke and had to rely on charity," Shaji told the hearing. "I drank tap water and bought bread close to its expiration date to survive and looked around local shops in Stafford for free bananas. I attended church and on Sundays after worship, the good people who attend the worship shared with me some snacks with tea, for which I am very grateful."

He said he had thought the move would be a great opportunity. "When I came to the UK, I found immigrants and British people struggling. I was in a terrible situation, feeling like no one in authority cared if I lived or died."

On multiple occasions, Shabin asked his employer for the work they had brought him to the UK to do, telling them he had no money to afford food.

"They told him to go to a foodbank," the Work Rights Centre, which represented him, said.

The tribunal ordered Swan Care to pay him the amount for work he was ready and able to do.

The Home Office has since revoked the agency's licence to issue certificates of sponsorship.

Shaji eventually secured sponsorship from another employer in April 2024 but has since returned to India.