Groped & offered cash for sex, ‘no boyfriend’ rules and sleeping on lilos – dark reality of life working as holiday rep
HEADING to the Mediterranean to spend your summer working at a party destination sounds like a dream, but all too often it turns into a nightmare for young Brits.
The Home Office has warned that teenagers heading out to Europe for a summer season are at risk of being exploited as “modern slaves” thanks to low pay and poor working conditions.
Border Force staff have been placed in 22 airports across the UK and talked to over 1,000 Brits in a bid to prevent them from being taken advantage of by club owners when they take on roles as ‘reps’ abroad.
They have been especially targeting holidaymakers heading out to Ibiza and the Balearic Islands as part of Operation Karetu.
However, the problems are found further afield, too, including in holiday hotspots like the Greek islands.
Shockingly, former reps reveal how they have been told to brush off sexual assault, been left to sleep on lilos and sunbeds in cockroach-ridden accommodation and been forced to head home after struggling to survive on pennies.
Kate Goldstone from Border Force told The Sun: “We know that these season abroad jobs are touted online as being really glamorous, but the reality is that young people going out to work them face risks of being exploited.
“People we speak to at the airport always seem to know a friend of a friend who had a bad experience – but think it won’t happen to them.”
Ruby, who worked as a rep in Zante for two months in 2022 aged 22, tells The Sun: “Some of the things I witnessed while out there were traumatising.
“I saw a male friend told to break up a fight, which led to him being seriously injured and having to go to hospital for a smashed up skull.
“He was sent into a mass brawl on the docks after the four-hour booze cruise.
“It shouldn’t have been his job, but there was barely any security on the boat party I worked on.
“I was expected to go into work just hours after witnessing this and there was no support given for the shock me and others were in.
“There was so much stuff that happened that I just felt like it was so out of my depth.
“It felt like living in another world like you were in this bubble, where different rules seemed to apply, and you had to be ok with everything, even if it wasn’t ok.”
Ruby initially found work waitressing in a bar for €30 for six hours, before securing a spot on a boat party for €40 a night for another six-hour shift.
It meant she was earning £6.50 an hour, which was above the Greek minimum wage.
But it wasn’t the glamorous nightlife work that is touted on social media.
Pressure to ‘lead boys on’
“Getting hired was all about how you looked, which made things feel pressurised,” she said.
“You felt flattered that you were seen as attractive and that was used to get us to do everything possible.
“The owners had bad tempers, and you constantly didn’t know where you stood. There was definitely a power dynamic issue.
“We had to wear swimming costumes or bikinis while working on the boats.
“If we didn’t get enough girls on the boat party, there was pressure to flirt with the boys on board and lead them on so they had the best experience.”
Have you been expolited while working a season abroad? Get in touch by emaiing thea.jacobs@the-sun.co.uk
Sun loungers as beds
Even off shift, things weren’t great, as accommodation in Zante was sparse.
Ruby knew one girl who was physically assaulted by their boyfriend in workers’ accommodation, but nothing was done and police weren’t called.
She said: “Before I went out, I didn’t have any of the conversations about what could be bad or go wrong. I was just so excited to go.
“It was really hard to find accommodation, and when I did it was this tiny room with three single beds in so close together we could hold hands.
“We were each charged €300 a month for it, and at points we had girls sleeping on the floor on lilos and on the balcony as well.
“Other people were having to sleep on sun loungers on the beach because there was nowhere else for them to go.
“Everyone wanted to rent to tourists, not staff, so we got barely any space.”
Working for pennies
Newcastle lass Chloe Redpath, 19, was sold the dream about living and working in Zante but struggled to find work – and when she did she discovered the bosses would fire within weeks.
The company she went out with guaranteed accommodation and claimed it would help with working arrangements, but didn’t.
She said: “It was made out that getting work would be easy, but it was the opposite.
“The waitressing job I had paid just five euros an hour, which meant I had to work six hours just to afford dinner and one drink.
“It’s not what it’s portrayed as at all. They make it look like it’s a fun time partying and working.
“But in reality, they want you to work seven days a week. The only way to earn decent money is if you sell tickets because you get commission.”
Chloe worked initially selling tickets, but as it was May she struggled to find punters. She then worked shifts in a restaurant but it wasn’t sustainable as she couldn’t speak Greek.
“The local staff didn’t like me being there,” she said.
“They were really rude. I ended up going home way earlier than I planned because everything was so difficult.”
Cockroach infestations
In Ayia Napa, foreign workers have taken pictures of their cockroach-infested accommodation and unclean apartments.
Danish tourist Emilie Polusen, 24, told The Sun how disgusted they were when a company had promised them clean and safe housing – only for it to prove anything but.
She had headed out to the party destination on Cyprus through the same company as Geordie Chloe.
“We arrived and their were cockraoches all over the balcony and some were inside as well,” Emilie said.
“There were dirty sheets and loads of mould in the bathroom, which really smelt.
“It was disgusting, even the rep looking after us didn’t want to touch the bedding.
“We were eventually moved but it wasn’t much better.
“They put our beds in a kitchen and it didn’t even have air conditioning. It wasn’t what was promised.”
They make it look like it’s a fun time partying and working. But in reality, they want you to work seven days a week
Emilie and pal Emma paid £600 for their accommodation for the month back in August 2021.
But they left early because they struggled to find jobs – despite being told they’d be given help finding somewhere.
“We weren’t given what we were promised,” Emilie said.
“A lot of poeple weren’t and moved out of where they put them originally.
“We were hoping to meet new people working out there but that never happened.
“We ended up going home because couldn’t get a job, and there was no support.
“We’d never go back to Ayia Napa or Magaluf to work after this experience with a company like this one.”
‘No boyfriend’ rules
Several girls who worked in Ibiza spoke to The Sun and said many clubs asked them for their clothing sizes and if they had a boyfriend before being hired.
One said: “If you had a partner, your chances of getting a job were lower than everyone else.
“It’s not a question that should be asked when you look for a job.”
Some claimed owners would take their phones and ask them to entertain friends of the owners on their days off – for no extra pay.
Offered cash for sex
Back in 2018, a Magaluf worker known as Clare told the Home Office that she was regularly groped by punters as part of her role to get drinkers into a bar.
“One man offered me money to have sex,” she said. “I told him no. When I reported it, my boss said to put it behind me.”
She was paid just €100 a week for her role, and had her passport taken from her by her employer – a common thing for workers without a contract.
She left after being violently assaulted by five men.
How to stay safe working abroad
Key advice from Border Force officers to people considering working abroad are:
1. Working while a tourist in the EU is illegal. If you are not an EU national or legally resident in the EU, you need a job offer, work permit and visa. More information is available on gov.uk: www.gov.uk/guidance/check-if-you-need-a-visa-or-permit-foreurope
2. Check you have a visa and a contract before starting your job.
3. Ask about accommodation and find out the rent/costs. Do this before accepting accommodation as part of a job offer.
4. Keep hold of your passport at all times. If it is taken, report it to police. You can contact the local British Consulate for help and advice. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
“The bouncers had to stop it,” she said. “But they told me not to report it to the police.”
Clare also claimed that she had friends who were attacked by drunken roommates after nights out and that bar owners would dismiss employees who were caught working illegally to protect their reputation.
Help available
Operation Karetu was launched in 2018 after the British consul in Mallorca, Lloyd Milen, discovered that 20 British inmates out of a total of 25 in Mallorcan jails were former touts.
Kate Goldstone from Border Force says: “These places are expensive to rent accommodation and to go out in. If you’re only getting €30 a night, you’ll have to work a lot and that’s a form of exploitation.
“Just because you want the job, that doesn’t mean someone had the right to exploit you. People think it’s a rite of passage, but it really isn’t.
“You should never be asked your relationship status when you get a job, and we know that anecdotally people are being asked. These places are targeting young, single and attractive people.
“It might be complimentary to be told you’re really attractive and that’s why you’re getting this job, but it’s what comes after it that can be really problematic.
What is modern slavery?
Slavery continues to be a prominent issue across the world, with almost 50 million people trapped in controlling, involuntary work and exploitation.
Modern slavery is when a person is exploited by others for personal or commercial gain, Anti-Slavery International reports.
In some way, freedom is lost and can be done through many different ways like being tricked, coerced or forced.
Examples of modern slavery include human trafficking, forced labour and debt bondage – where a person has to do something as repayment for some kind of debt.
Others include child slavery, forced marriage and domestic servitude.
People can be vulnerable to modern slavery when certain circumstances force them to take risky decisions out of desperation, or pressured into jobs in exploitative conditions.
Modern slavery happens every day, worldwide.
“There have been cases of people who have been sexually assaulted on the job, and young PR people who are caught up in the drug trade because they’ve said they’re not satisfied.
“It can be a case of an employer saying ‘I’ll let you go, but you have to do this first’.
“We want to make sure everyone is going there with their eyes open to the darker side.
“We just want to make sure everyone knows we are here to help, it’s not about getting you into trouble, it’s about keeping you safe.
“If you get an inkling something isn’t right, it probably isn’t.”
Home Office Minister, Seema Malhotra said: “Every family deserves to know when their loved ones travel abroad – especially for the first time- that they are safe from harm and exploitation.
“We are aware of the risk of many young holidaymakers being forced to work incredibly long hours for little or no pay. This is completely unacceptable.
“Through ongoing Border Force enforcement efforts like Operation Karetu, which is targeting those travelling to the Mediterranean this summer, we are determined to ensure vulnerable young people are properly protected.”
