Applebee’s finally pays autistic employee after nearly a year of unpaid work

'Our first thought was ‘how many other people are in this situation?'

The Applebee's restaurant in Plainville, Connecticut. (Mike Mozart/Flickr)

An autistic man who worked at an Applebee’s restaurant in Rhode Island will finally get his hard earned money.

Twenty-one year old Caleb Dyl began working as a prep-cook at the food chain in August 2014 but his parents say he was never paid for his work, WPRI-TV reports.

Dyl has autism and was first placed in an unpaid position by the state’s Resources for Human Development and was supposed to be hired to a part-time paid position in August.

“Somewhere there was a communications breakdown between the people supporting [Caleb] and Applebee’s themselves,” Viki Dyl told the station. “That’s what we want to make sure that doesn’t happen. Our first thought was ‘how many other people are in this situation?’”

Applebee’s, the perky food chain known for its "bold" happy hour and appetizer specials, first agreed to pay Mr Dyl for 166 hours until his parents disputed that number.

"In this case, a series of unintended errors resulted in Caleb not being paid for approximately seven weeks of part-time employment," an Applebee's spokesman orginally told ABC News. "This is unacceptable, and once notified, our restaurant owner quickly ensured a check was sent to Caleb’s home. Our franchise has partnered with local service agencies for years to provide unique and valuable employment opportunities to individuals with special needs."

The chain’s regional director told WPRI-TV on Monday that the company will now offer him a complete paycheck for his entire 480 hours of work.

"If you give him a task laid out with procedures he can follow, he will follow those procedures," Bob Dyl, Caleb's father, told ABC. "He’s very diligent."

The state Department of Labor and Training will continue to investigate the situation.