“Freezing Houses, No Pay”: Zimbabwean Care Workers Expose Exploitative Recruitment Scheme in Ireland

Zimbabwean Care Workers Expose Exploitative Recruitment Scheme in Ireland

A group of Zimbabwean care workers has accused an Irish healthcare company of taking thousands of euros in recruitment fees before abandoning them in freezing shared accommodation without wages.

The testimonies were delivered before Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), where eight workers detailed a pattern of broken promises, threats, and financial hardship.

Also Read: Zimbabwean Care Workers Going Homeless In The UK After Being Scammed By Unscrupulous Sponsors

“We Paid, We Moved, but There Was No Job”

According to the Irish Times, the workers — who travelled to Ireland between December 2023 and January 2024 — said they were lured by offers of stable care-sector jobs in Virginia, Co. Cavan.

Most had paid between €2,000 and €3,600 to Unity Healthcare Services Ltd or its directors after being assured that work permits and accommodation would be arranged.

One worker said she was told her job would begin “within weeks,” only to arrive in Ireland and find that the care facility they were meant to staff had not opened. Others said that Unity Healthcare provided no income apart from a brief €100 weekly allowance that stopped after just three weeks.

Crowded Living Conditions and Months Without Income

With no salaries coming in, seven workers ended up sharing a staff house rented by the company, some forced to sleep in dining rooms due to overcrowding. They described the property as “freezing,” with residents pooling whatever money they could gather simply to buy food and electricity.

Several said they survived only by occasionally cleaning homes or babysitting — work unrelated to the jobs they were recruited for.

Threats, Delays, and Lost Job Opportunities

The tribunal heard that when some workers questioned Unity Healthcare about switching employers, they were threatened with cancellation of their work permits. One worker said she waited seven months for a “letter of no objection,” required to take up new employment. By the time she received it, two job offers had already disappeared.

Company Denies Wrongdoing

Unity Healthcare’s co-director Bruce Magama told the tribunal that the care centre’s opening had been delayed and that the company had attempted to assist workers in securing alternative employment. However, none of the workers involved managed to secure stable jobs through the company.

Claims Filed Under Wage Legislation

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 of Ireland (MRCI), which is representing them, says the workers’ experiences highlight serious gaps in Ireland’s migrant labour protections, particularly in outsourced healthcare recruitment.

More Testimony to Come

The WRC hearing has been adjourned, with a ninth complainant expected to testify. The case is drawing growing attention as advocates argue it reflects a wider practice of migrant workers being financially exploited before even beginning their jobs.

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