PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) _ The owner of several Rhode Island restaurants and bars has agreed to pay $303,000 in back wages and damages to cooks, dishwashers and other low-wage workers.

The Providence Journal reports (http://bit.ly/1FNB0lt ) the settlement between Gianfranco Marrocco and the U.S. Labor Department comes after a two-year investigation into how the Marrocco Group managed overtime at four restaurants, two bars and a boutique hotel in Providence.

Michelle Garvey, the district director of the Labor Department’s wage division, says it found 146 workers who were putting in long hours without being paid the required overtime compensation.

A message seeking comment from Morrocco was left Wednesday morning at company’s corporate offices.