Dos Taquitos Mexican Restaurant of Raleigh, N.C., is to pay 26 employees $48,125 in back wages after it violated the Fair Labor Standards Act's minimum wage, overtime, child labor and record-keeping provisions.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division, which conducted the investigation, finds that employees were paid fixed salaries regardless of the number of hours worked, resulting in pay rates below the federal minimum wage at $7.25 per hour. Dos Taquitos also did not pay overtime compensation at time and one-half the employees' regular rates for more than 40 hours in a workweek, and a 14-year-old employee worked more hours that are acceptable under the FLSA's Child Labor Regulation No. 3. This provision limits the total hours and times of day 14- and 15-year-old employees may work. The DOL finds that Dos Taquitos did not maintain accurate records of hours worked, wages paid and proof of dates of birth for workers under 18, as well.

"The Wage and Hour Division is committed to protecting low-wage employees in the restaurant industry where we have found widespread FLSA violations," says Richard Blaylock, director of the Wage and Hour Division's Raleigh District Office. "Employers must not profit by exploiting some of our most vulnerable workers. This case should serve as notice to other employers who may not be paying their employees in accordance with federal law."