At age 17 Nina came to the UK in 2019 to look for work. In early February 2020 she found employment as a bar waitress in North London but, with the outbreak of Covid-19, she was put on furlough from 14th March.
She was laid off by her manager in June but realised, when she received her final payment, that things were not quite right. The employer had dishonestly claimed furlough for Nina since 1 March and had therefore paid her less for that month than she deserved. He had also not paid her for her work in February, or given the holiday pay or two weeks’ notice pay to which she was entitled.
Nina tried to raise these issues with her former employer but her messages were ignored. The Work Rights Centre, a charity in Brent, put her in touch with LawWorks. LawWorks found two volunteer lawyers to support Nina with her claim and, although the employer was initially evasive, through a series of negotiations, he finally paid Nina the sum of £658 that she was owed.
Nina says that she does not think she would have managed to receive the money without free legal advice. She says, “The lawyers were like angels. It would have been hopeless without their help. I’d only been in the UK for one year and so had no idea what to do. They supported me by going through everything and told me about every document I needed and what steps to take. I’m really happy with the result.”