Two Zimbabwean healthcare workers who travelled to Ireland for work have each been awarded $35,000 (KSh 4.5 million) after the employment opportunity failed to materialise.
Tatenda Ncube and Brenda Mubaiwa were among nine Zimbabweans recruited by Dublin-based Unity Healthcare Services after being promised jobs caring for vulnerable children.
Workers stranded after travelling to Ireland
However, they were left without work after arriving in Ireland and struggled to meet their basic needs, DW reports.
Ncube and Mubaiwa were recruited alongside seven other Zimbabweans to work in Ireland’s healthcare sector.
The workers travelled to Ireland expecting to begin employment with Unity Healthcare Services, only to find themselves without the jobs they had been promised.
Their situation reportedly left them struggling to pay for basic necessities as they waited for the company to provide the documentation they needed.
Ireland labour body awards workers compensation
The workers also said delays in receiving documents from the agency made it difficult for them to secure alternative employment.
Ireland’s employment disputes body later awarded the nine workers a combined total of about $320,000 (KSh 41.5 million).
Unity Healthcare Services challenged the decisions, but Ireland’s labour court upheld the awards made to Ncube and Mubaiwa.
The court found that the company’s appeals had been lodged too late, meaning the awards remained in place. Each of the two workers is therefore set to receive $35,000 (KSh 4.5 million).
Third worker’s award overturned
The labour court also considered the case of a third worker from the group. Her award was overturned after the court found that she had already secured another job, distinguishing her circumstances from those of Ncube and Mubaiwa.
Decisions on six other cases involving the Zimbabwean workers are still pending.
The cases highlight the risks faced by migrants who travel abroad after securing promised employment, particularly when jobs or essential documentation fail to materialise.
For workers such as Ncube and Mubaiwa, the journey to Ireland in search of better opportunities ultimately became a prolonged struggle before the labour court upheld their compensation awards.
