NEW: Cilantro Mexican Grill Ordered to Pay $100K in Back Wages by Dept. of Labor

NEW: Cilantro Mexican Grill Ordered to Pay $100K in Back Wages by Dept. of Labor

Cilantro Mexican Grill restaurant chain must pay over $100K in wages and damages to 32 underpaid employees following a US Labor Department investigation.

The restaurant failed to pay cooks and servers time and a half when they worked more than 40 hours per week, according to findings by the US Labor Department.

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The company also employed minors, one age 16 and two age 17, who were using their own vehicles to make food deliveries in violation of the child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The investigation was part of an ongoing enforcement initiative by the Wage and Hour Division’s Hartford district office to improve compliance in the Connecticut and Rhode Island restaurant industry.

Cilantro will have to pay $100,000 in back pay to the 32 workers.

“While Cilantro Mexican Grill took action to correct its violations, they should not have occurred in the first place. Rhode Island employers must realize that underpaying workers harms not only the workers but also places at a competitive disadvantage those employers who obey the law. They must also understand that illegally employing minors in potentially risky jobs that are prohibited by the child labor laws needlessly places young workers at risk of injury, and will not be tolerated.” said Michelle Garvey, the division’s district director for Rhode Island and Connecticut.

Cilantro Mexican Grill has seven locations in Rhode Island.