An Indian man who moved to the United Kingdom under the skilled worker visa scheme has been awarded nearly £30,000 by an employment tribunal after his employer failed to provide him any work for around a year, despite issuing him sponsorship to take up a care job.According to The Guardian, the tribunal 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 non-compliance with grievance procedures.Shaji, who hails from Kerala, moved to Stafford in 2023 after being told there was a major shortage of healthcare workers in the UK. He bought a car for the job and completed online training before travelling. He said he had earlier sought advice from a YouTube influencer about securing work in the UK, who connected him with agents.According to the tribunal, he paid £17,000 to recruiters and was later interviewed for the role over WhatsApp before being issued a certificate of sponsorship, allowing him to live and work in the UK with Swan Care Solutions as his sponsoring employer.However, the computer science graduate, who had prior healthcare experience in India, said he was not given any shifts despite repeated requests. His visa conditions meant he could not work for another employer for more than 20 hours a week. He later secured sponsorship elsewhere in April 2024, a year after arriving, but returned to India later due to ill health.The tribunal heard that staff at Swan Care Solutions suggested he take cash-in-hand work and use a food bank, telling him they would contact him when it was his “turn”.Employment Judge Kate Edmonds was quoted by The Guardian as saying, “The claimant had done what needed to be done to start work … However, the respondent did not provide him with work, nor did they pay him.”She added, “The respondent withheld work from him … There was therefore an unauthorised deduction from his wages.”Shaji, who was struggling during his time in Uk without employment or income, said, “I was broke and had to rely on charity. I drank tap water and bought bread close to its expiration date to survive.”The employment tribunal has ordered the company to pay £28,843.54 in wages and holiday pay, along with £8,700 in costs.
