Former staff at one of Melbourne’s most prestigious restaurants say they worked up to 30 hours of unpaid overtime each week, leaving their payslips short hundreds of dollars.

ABC Radio spoke to 6 former staff members, including a former chef at the now-closed Cafe Vue on St Kilda Road, who said he would often work up to 80 hours a week for 40 hours' pay.

The restaurant’s parent company, Vue Group, denies the allegations, saying staff are "at times rostered to do reasonable overtime".