Zimbabwean Workers Win €30,000 Each After Ireland Jobs Failed To Materialise

Zimbabwean Workers Awarded €30,420 Each After Ireland Jobs Failed To Materialise

Two Zimbabwean healthcare workers have each been awarded €30,420 (approximately US$34,000) after travelling to Ireland expecting to start jobs that never materialised. The awards have now been upheld by Ireland’s Labour Court after the company’s appeals were found to be out of time.

The case involving Tatenda Ncube and Brenda Mubaiwa is part of a wider dispute involving Zimbabwean workers recruited by Unity Healthcare.

Zimbabweans Travelled To Ireland For Promised Jobs

Ncube and Mubaiwa had been offered employment by Unity Healthcare, which had a contract with Tusla to provide emergency care for vulnerable children.

They were told they would work at a centre in Virginia, County Cavan.

Nine Zimbabwean workers eventually took cases to Ireland’s Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), saying they were left without work or enough money to cover basic expenses.

The WRC awarded the group a combined €273,780 (approximately US$306,004). Each worker received €30,420 under the awards, which represented the maximum amount the commission could order in the circumstances. The WRC described the treatment as “particularly egregious”

The workers also said delays in receiving documents from Unity Healthcare prevented them from taking up alternative employment.

Labour Court Rejects Company’s Appeal

Unity Healthcare challenged the awards involving Ncube and Mubaiwa.

However, the Labour Court found that the appeals had been submitted one day after the statutory 42-day deadline.

Company director Bruce Magama told the court that he believed solicitors were handling the appeals, but they informed him two days before the deadline that they would not do so.

The court did not accept this as sufficient grounds for an extension.

Deputy chair Niamh McGowan said:

“No valid explanation to properly account for the delay has been furnished.”

The court also found that the circumstances did not amount to “exceptional circumstances”.

More Zimbabwean Cases Still Pending

The Labour Court has published decisions on the first three appeals. One other award, involving Silibaziso Nondo, was overturned after the court found she had already secured employment elsewhere before the relevant claim period.

Decisions on the remaining six cases are still pending.

For Zimbabweans seeking opportunities abroad, the case provides another example of what can happen when promised employment arrangements change after workers have already relocated.