Zimbabwean care workers accuse Irish recruiter of exploitation at WRC

Zimbabwean care workers in Ireland accuse a recruiter of exploitation, unpaid wages, overcrowded housing, and broken job promises in a WRC case (image source)

A group of Zimbabwean care workers has told Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission that they paid thousands of euros in recruitment fees to an Irish healthcare company and were then left without wages, adequate accommodation or the promised jobs. Eight complainants described a pattern of broken promises, threats and severe financial hardship after travelling to Ireland between December 2023 and January 2024 to take up care-sector positions in Virginia, Co. Cavan. The workers said they paid between €2,000 and €3,600 each to Unity Healthcare Services Ltd or its directors after being assured that work permits and staff housing would be arranged. Instead, they arrived to find the care facility that had been advertised had not opened. Some received a short-lived weekly allowance of €100, which stopped after about three weeks, leaving most with no regular income and dependent on pooled savings, casual cleaning jobs and babysitting to survive.

Seven of the complainants were housed in a company-rented staff house that they described as overcrowded and “freezing,” with some forced to sleep in dining rooms because there were not enough beds. The tribunal heard that residents pooled money for food and electricity and that several survived only by taking informal work unrelated to the roles they had been recruited for. When workers asked Unity Healthcare about switching employers, they say they were threatened with cancellation of their work permits. One witness told the commission she waited seven months for a “letter of no objection” — a document required to change employers — and by the time it arrived two job offers she had secured had already evaporated.

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 Ireland’s Payment of Wages Act 1991, seeking unpaid wages and refunds of recruitment fees. The Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) is representing them and told the commission the case highlights serious gaps in protections for migrant workers, particularly where recruitment is outsourced across borders.

The WRC hearing was adjourned after the initial testimonies, with a ninth complainant expected to give evidence at a later date. The adjournment gives the tribunal time to consider the evidence and for both sides to prepare further submissions. Unity Healthcare’s co-director, Bruce Magama, told the tribunal that the opening of the care centre had been delayed and that the company had tried to assist workers in finding alternative employment. He acknowledged operational setbacks but denied that the company had wilfully abandoned staff. Tribunal records show, however, that none of the complainants secured stable employment through Unity Healthcare after arriving in Ireland.

Advocates say the case is emblematic of a broader problem in migrant labour recruitment: workers paying large sums up front to secure overseas jobs and then being left vulnerable when promises are not met. The MRCI has used the hearing to call for stronger oversight of recruitment practices, clearer enforcement of employer obligations, and faster administrative processes that prevent workers from being trapped in precarious situations by delays in paperwork. Legal experts and migrant rights groups argue that the tribunal’s findings could inform policy changes on recruitment fees, employer accountability and the regulation of third-party recruiters. They also stress the need for accessible complaint mechanisms and emergency supports for workers who arrive without the wages or housing they were promised.

The WRC will reconvene to hear further testimony and consider the legal claims. If the tribunal finds in favour of the complainants, remedies could include orders for unpaid wages, reimbursement of recruitment fees and other compensation. Beyond individual outcomes, the case is likely to intensify scrutiny of cross-border recruitment in the Irish care sector and to prompt calls for systemic protections to prevent similar exploitation in future.