Наша миссия

Наша миссия состоит в том, чтобы помочь мигрантам и британцам, живущим в неблагоприятных условиях, получить доступ к правосудию в сфере занятости и повысить их социальную мобильность. С этой целью каждую неделю в Лондоне и Манчестере мы проводим бесплатные консультационные встречи на нескольких языках. Мы помогаем нашим клиентам бороться с нарушениями трудовых прав, такими как невыплаты заработной платы; мы предоставляем консультации по возможностям трудоустройства и пособиям, а также помогаем им сохранить свой иммиграционный статус, когда они в этом нуждаются.

Мы также признаем важность изменения систем, создающих социально-экономические неблагоприятные условия. Мы используем наши передовые знания, полученные при работе с клиентами, чтобы привлечь внимание к проблеме неравенства мигрантов, и работаем с политиками над ее решением.

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The team

Dora-Olivia Vicol

Olivia is co-founder and Director of the Work Rights Centre. A trained anthropologist, she became interested in employment justice during her doctoral study, where she conducted an ethnography of Romanian migrants' trajectories into precarious jobs in London. At the Work Rights Centre she takes the lead in policy development and research, ensuring that staff, projects, and activities further the charity's mission to widen access to justice.

Lora Tabakova

Lora is our Service Provision and Development Manager at the London clinic, leading on casework with clients in the South of England, and partnership building with like minded organisations. She holds qualifications in business administration, customer service, and equality and diversity at the workplace, as well as Level 5 HND in Business Management from Plymouth University. Lora is particularly interested in community engagement, and has contributed to a variety of projects over the years, including the One Million Project, where she was a publishing assistant manager. Outside of WoRC, Lora is enrolled in a BA International Business Management at the University of West London. She speaks Bulgarian and English.

Kasia Figiel

Our Fundraising and Finance Manager since 2017, Kasia has over six years of editorial and project management experience gained working in academic publishing. At WoRC, she is responsible for charity accounts, exploring new fundraising opportunities, and monitoring spend on existing projects. She joined WoRC because she believes that all workers, regardless of their nationality or migration status, should have access to fair employment and decent pay. Kasia speaks Polish and English.

Raluca Enescu

Raluca joined the Work Rights Centre in 2016 as a volunteer, and is now data analyst and Manager of the Manchester clinic. An LSE graduate with years of experience in community engagement, research, and data analysis, she is also currently working for Tower Hamlets HealthWatch as a Community Intelligence Analyst. Raluca joined the Work Rights Centre because she is committed to combating labour exploitation, and granting equal rights of all UK and EU citizens.

Emma McClelland

Emma joined the Work Rights Centre’s communications team in February 2021. A Warwick University graduate, Emma is an advocate for diversity and inclusion and spent three years running a business focused on disability equality. She joined the Work Rights Centre to help amplify its messages about precarious employment and the rights of UK and EU citizens, and to share its beneficiaries’ stories. 

Zac Downs

Zac is a software developer with a long running interest in social affairs. He has been a supporter of the Work Rights Centre since its foundation, and has built its web and print identity. He currently oversees the development of the website, digital tools, and production of promotional materials.

Andrei Savitski

Andrei works in service provision and is about to start his degree in Local Economic Development at LSE. Having joined us in February of 2020, he is passionate about reaching out to Russian and Ukrainian speaking communities. As far as he is aware, WoRC is the only free outlet for members of these communities to resolve employment and employability issues.

Bethany Birdsall

Bethany joined Work Rights Centre in 2020 as a part of London’s service provision team. A fluent Spanish-speaker originally from Minnesota USA, Bethany has been working with migrant and refugee populations in various capacities for over 9 years. Bethany moved to London in 2016 to pursue an MSc in Migration, Mobility and Development from SOAS University London – and has stayed ever since. Outside of WoRC she is an Employment Advisor at the Indo-American Refugee and Migrant Organization (IRMO), one of the leading groups supporting the Latin American population in London. At IRMO, Bethany leads a project supporting migrants and refugees who find themselves underemployed or in precarious or exploitative work.

Serena Fragagnano

With over 7 years experience as a language teacher in UK schools, Serena has joined the Work Right Centre Manchester branch in 2020,  as a Service Provision Assistant to support EU migrants improve their professional mobility. An Italian native speaker, she also speaks English, French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

Magda Saniuk

Magdalena joined the Work Rights Centre in 2021 as a member of the London service provision team. A native Polish speaker, Magdalena has nearly 10 years' experience in retail customer services and management, and brings her insider knowledge of employment rights to the Work Rights Centre. She is passionate about supporting EU nationals in need. 

 

Maria Sofronov

Maria joined the service provision team in 2021. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Law, she oversees a multitude of clients with different needs, and a group of volunteers that assist her with day-to-day tasks. Maria worked as a translator and interpreter for over 10 years and now she is shaping her career with passion and determination for helping people exit precarious work.

Our trustees

Holly Robinson - Chair of Trustees

Holly is a qualified accountant and Finance Business Partner.  She has spent her career working in charities of various sizes, and is committed to the sector and to WoRC as the first organisation to offer free employment-related and social mobility advice to EU nationals facing in the UK.

Laura Chilintan

Having started in the homelessness sector, Laura has years of experience coordinating a project on integration and participation for EU citizens into the UK, for the Law Centres Network. With expertise in project management and a real passion for social mobility, Laura brings precious insight into our strategy for casework development.

Luke Piper

Luke is Head of Policy at the3million, where he oversees and develops policy responses to issues facing millions of EU citizens living in the UK. A non-practicing solicitor with over 10 years of experience advising and assisting clients in all areas of immigration, he brings invaluable expertise in policy influencing, strategic litigation and advocacy. 

Mona Zeineddine

Mona is a communications and advocacy specialist with years of experience in human rights and global development.

As of March 2020, we have welcomed Andrei Decu and Laura Tutu onto our board.

We are also grateful to the people who have helped establish the Work Rights Centre. In particular, we extend our thanks to Adelina Cega and Eliza Galos for co-founding the charity, and to Andra Crivii, Iolanda Costide, and Bogdan Popa for being part of its first governing board.

Jobs

We are currently recruiting for the following positions.

Head of Immigration (apply by 30 April)

Finance and Operations Officer (apply by 17th of April)

Accreditations

WoRC holds the Advice Quality Standard for Advice and Casework in employment, and our advisers are accredited by the Office of the Immigration Services Commissioner to provide Level 1 Immigration advice, limited to the EU Settlement Scheme.

Memberships

We are members of several national and local voluntary associations, because we firmly believe that social justice comes from working together. We have established referral networks with the Free Representation Unit, Law Works and Advocate, and are proud members of the Employment Legal Advice Network. 

We are also active members of local community networks supported by local authorities. To date, we are collaborating with Brent (via CVS, Brent Community Advice Network, Brent Eastern European Network), Barnet (via the Romanian and Eastern European Hub), Bromley (via Bromley by Bow Insights), Enfield (via the Edmonton Community Partnership, and the Bulgarian Centre for Social Integration and Culture), Harrow (Romanian and Eastern European Network), Haringey (Employment Support Team), and Newham (Compost). 

On a national level, WoRC has joined the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO), the Foundation for Social Improvement and the Small Charity Coalition, and is a proud supporter of the Living Wage Foundation.

Our Sponsors

We are grateful to have been funded by grants from The London Community Foundation, Trust For London, The Tudor Trust, The Garfield Weston Foundation and local government funds, as well as by individual private donations. Thanks to Dataplan for payroll services.