LONDON — Kirankumar Rathod arrived in the UK from India in May 2023 with his wife and daughter, after paying an immigration agent £22,000 ($29,213) for a promised job as a health care assistant. However, his life quickly spiraled into chaos when the company that sponsored his visa failed to provide any work and ultimately fired him.
On September 9, an employment judge ruled that Clinica Private Healthcare, a small London clinic with only nine employees, must pay Rathod the salary he was owed until the case is fully resolved.
This incident highlights a larger issue affecting migrant health care workers in the UK. After the government opened a special visa route in February 2022 to address a labor shortage, many workers have found themselves without jobs due to sponsorship certificates for non-existent positions. Although exact numbers are unclear, an analysis by Nikkei Asia of Home Office data revealed that nearly 90,000 care worker visas were granted in 2023, excluding dependents. Of these, 41% were from South Asia, with 21% specifically from India.
Sarmila Bose, head of employment at the nonprofit Work Rights Centre, which represented Rathod, described the ruling as a significant development for many migrant carers who have been exploited by unscrupulous employers.
Health and care worker visa applications require sponsorship from employers approved by the Home Office. Sairah Javed, a supervising solicitor for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), criticized the government’s lack of oversight in the sponsorship process.
“The issue lies in the immigration system, which does not allow migrant workers to leave an exploitative employer and find new opportunities,” said Javed. “It is morally wrong to invite people to care for our elderly under a system that offers them no protection against exploitation.”
Javed noted that JCWI receives about 80 calls each month from workers in similar situations, while Bose’s organization received over 60 inquiries in the first half of the year alone.
“Each person who came to us indicated that many more are facing the same challenges,” Bose added.
Poor regulation has left many visa holders vulnerable to exploitation by employers like Clinica and has also created opportunities for visa fraud. Clinica’s license to sponsor workers was revoked in June 2024 after the Home Office expressed concerns about the number of sponsorship certificates it had issued for care workers, despite being listed as a pharmacy and private health center.
Documents obtained by Nikkei showed that Clinica had assigned 217 sponsorship certificates. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
A report released in March by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) criticized the Home Office for underestimating demand, which has led to the influx of many low-skilled workers who are vulnerable to exploitation.
The register of licensed sponsors nearly tripled from 30,000 in December 2020 to 95,000 by November 2023, and by June 2024, it had increased to 102,167.
The ICIBI also found that the Home Office’s risk control measures were “totally inadequate,” with only one compliance officer for every 1,600 licensed sponsors. This lack of oversight meant that some companies obtained licenses with minimal checks. In one case, a company secured 275 sponsorship certificates for a care home that did not exist, while another company assigned 1,234 certificates despite having only four employees.
Some victims may hesitate to come forward due to fears of deportation.
“If they lose their job, they risk being deported from the UK, which discourages them from challenging their employers,” said Ben Brindle, a researcher at the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory.
Recent changes to UK immigration policy, including a ban on care worker migrants bringing immediate family members since March, have led to a decline in visa applicants, though the sponsorship requirement remains in place.
A Home Office spokesperson told Nikkei that “all accusations of illegal employment practices are thoroughly investigated, and those found to be operating unlawfully may face prosecution.”
Rathod’s case offers hope to others in similar situations. While proceedings are ongoing, Bose indicated that the employment judge’s grant of temporary relief suggests that Rathod’s claim of unfair dismissal is likely to succeed.
“The threshold for interim relief is higher than just a reasonable prospect of success,” Bose noted.
For Rathod, this initial step comes at a crucial time.
“This has been an incredibly stressful period for me, both emotionally and financially,” he said. “While Clinica denied me work and income, I struggled to support my family.” He described the ruling as a “massive relief.”
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