NAPLES, FL-- You worked for weeks expecting a paycheck--but your employer never delivered.

It's called wage theft. It's an increasing problem in our poor economy.

Maybe your employer went out of business, or maybe they just never gave you your final paycheck.

Either way, under state and federal law, they still have to pay you for the time you worked.

"You do hard work and honest work and you deserve honest pay," said Nick Chittenden.

He spent weeks working on a housing development in Naples.

"We call up Friday afternoon to meet with boss. He says we'll meet Saturday. Saturday turned to Tuesday to next Friday and so on," said Nick.

He and the rest of his crew never received their pay.

"It's not just us. It's happened to so many groups. They just flip contractors," said Chittenden.

"When you're hired by an employer to do a job, you have to understand that that employer has to pay you for the time you are working for them," said attorney Carmen Dellutri.

Dellutri says he gets lots of calls from clients who haven't received their last paycheck.

"Florida has a statute which says if an employer does not pay you your wages, you are entitled to sue them and get your attorneys fees paid. And that's something to be aware of if you're an employer," said Dellutri.

Dellutri says the courts are so overwhelmed with employment cases, you might get results faster by trying to work it out yourself.

"Write them a letter saying you know I worked 30 hours last week you told me you're not going to pay for them. Please reconsider your position and write me the check. You can send it to this address and there's no hard feelings," said Dellutri.

Chittenden said he tried working it out. Now he's getting an attorney.

"The amount of work you do and the time you invest, you could have been somewhere else having the paycheck come in," said Chittenden.

We tried to get a hold of Nick's employer. They referred us to another subcontractor who did not answer our calls.

The US Department of Labor is hiring another 250 new investigators to concentrate on enforcing labor laws.