An East Coast restaurant chain has been ordered to pay $11.4 million back to more than 1,300 employees over claims it paid staff below minimum wage

• An East Coast restaurant chain failed to pay minimum wages and overtime rates to some workers, the Labor Department says.
• The DOL said some restaurants paid set wages regardless of hours worked, which could reach 65 a week.
• Plaza Azteca has been ordered to pay $11.4 million back to more than 1,300 affected employees.

A restaurant chain with dozens of locations on the East Coast has been ordered to pay $11.4 million back to more than 1,300 employees after a federal agency uncovered a series of apparent labor-law violations.

These include Plaza Azteca failing to pay minimum wages and overtime rates, the Department of Labor said. A consent judgment said that the chain admitted to violating sections of the Fair Labor Standards Act related to minimum wages, maximum hours, and collection of data.