Eighty hours a week in the kitchen for a maximum of 200 euros per month .

Chef Yuri Zaupa , 23, from Cornedo Vicentino, tells it in a long post on Facebook. For his work from January to June 2022 in the first local built in northern Italy entirely with recycled containers, he was paid 100-200 euros per month. When he asked to be put in order, the owner replied that "young people must be exploited" .

"In September 2021 I begin my new experience in a recently conceived restaurant in Cornedo Vicentino. I propose my cuisine, with my point of view on Venetian cuisine, or more generally, Mediterranean cuisine - he explains -. My only requirement ? Being in good standing and having a contract that allows me to live peacefully, for the rest I just need to cook ".

“For the first 4 months I decide to accept a ridiculous contract: - he continues - 16 hours part-time, despite my weekly hours being around 80. I grit my teeth: after all, I started my apprenticeship at the age of 14 . I get caught up in the news, I like the place and I agree, once again, to the owner's conditions: keep staff costs low for the first 4 months and then raise salaries and think about offering me a permanent contract. Of course it did not go like this: from January to June 2022 I get paid € 100-200 per month, at my request of course, poor fellow, 'you don't have the right paycheck' ".

In the end, “the same passion that blinded me for 6 months without a paycheck led me to look for work elsewhere. Imagine the owner's face when I announced my departure: . His problem was that he no longer had any pillars to rely on to pay off his debts ”.