By Bjarne Kommnick
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Two women look for jobs in the summer and find what they are looking for. But his work ends up becoming a nightmare.
Rogoznica – Gastronomy is not an easy industry. But for two women from Zagreb, their job at the Croatian holiday resort of Rogoznica on the Adriatic coast turned out to be a real nightmare, but not because of the outrageous prices, as the daily newspaper Kosmos reported. The two women, aged 21 and 22, were promised a job with good working conditions, adequate accommodation and food. But they experienced the opposite and are making it public.
Women take jobs in bars – and have to live in overheated housing
The two women found a job at a tourist bar via Facebook that would have appealed to them. They contacted the owner of the restaurant and were accepted for both positions.
In fact, two women from Zagreb just wanted to work in the coastal town of Rogoznic – they suffer torture instead.
© IMAGO/Markus Mainka
But once they arrived, the two women’s anticipation quickly turned to concern. Their attic rooms were overheated, infested with cockroaches, and there was no bathroom for the two of them. One of the two told Kosmos: “We found ourselves confronted with cockroaches and grasshoppers, and a decision to flee as soon as another place could be found was quickly taken.”
Unfulfilled agreements: women have to work two shifts in catering
The two were supposed to use a guest bathroom yards from their bedroom, but their condition was unreasonable. It was also not possible to lock the room at night due to the lack of a key.
And things haven’t improved at her new job either. The two women denounce catastrophic working conditions. In fact, the intention was for the two to work from 4 pm to 1 am. Instead, the operator asked them to work two shifts and come to work in the morning.
Gastro owner does not want to issue employment contract for workers
The agreement with the owner was that the two would receive a salary of 1,400 euros and the restaurant would reimburse their travel expenses. The owner did not want to sign a contract, explains one of the two women: “We already have experience in the business and we demand a daily payment until the contract is signed”.
Then came nonsense. When one of the two women was fired due to discrepancies, a restaurant employee also stole all the money from the woman’s wallet. However, the woman admits that she had already withdrawn money from the cash register for travel expenses. An Austrian also had financial problems when she got the bill for beer and cevapcici while on vacation in Croatia.
Women denounce working conditions in bar – boss criticizes workers
After the incident, she posted a photo on the owner’s Facebook page with the caption: “Sibenik Prison Trip”. Exactly what she means by this is still unclear. However, when questioned by local journalists, she denied that an incident had taken place. Instead, she responded, “In my 40 years on the job, I’ve never met these workers. It’s not funny having to deal with people like that at my age.”
The two women, on the other hand, now want to file a lawsuit against the owner and make the case public. They also want to draw attention to the poor working conditions in the summer catering industry. More recently, tourists in Croatia experienced a real nightmare when a corpse was discovered on the Adriatic coast.