Abstract

Catering was among the sectors most affected by the pandemic. The effects caused by the health emergency, and the post-pandemic recovery have brought to light unresolved problems and controversial endemic patterns specific to the sector. And the shadow of undeclared work is a reality that continues to claim victims, with the aggravating circumstance that it is a phenomenon that features difficulties in terms of detection and measurement. The Italian National Institute of Public Policy Analysis (INAPP), together with Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, as part of the survey “Data collection activity aimed at reconstructing the cognitive framework of the characteristics of undeclared and irregular work involving foreigners in Italyµ, oversaw a focus group in January 2024 on undeclared work in the catering sector in Rome, which involved employers, local administrators, and trade union representatives, as well as civil-society organisations committed to protecting the rights of migrant people. The goal of the focus group, starting from the analysis of the features of undeclared and irregular work, as well as from the evaluation of public interventions, is to outline legislative and policy interventions to stem such phenomenon