Two years after his boss shorted him thousands of dollars in pay for his construction work, Marcos Tlacopilco won in court. When he learned the judge had ordered his former boss to pay him $12,000, Tlacopilco, a father of four who also ran a fish shop in the Italian Market, was overcome with relief.

But nearly five years later, Tlacopilco hasn’t gotten his money. He doesn’t expect to ever get paid in full. “I trust the law in the U.S. and when I see this kind of issue, they make me feel like something is wrong with the system,” said Tlacopilco, who is 49.

Researchers at Temple Law’s Sheller Center for Social Justice estimated that every week 130,000 Philadelphia workers get illegally cheated out of their pay by their bosses. But most won’t take action to get what they’re owed. These workers are largely low-wage; many are undocumented. Some don’t know their rights or aren’t sure how to get help. They fear getting fired or reported to immigration enforcement — both illegal forms of retaliation.

Yet even when they do file a wage theft claim at the city Department of Labor or in court, it can take years to get the money they’re due, if they even get paid at all. Enforcing court judgments and city labor determinations is a problem all over the country, including in Philadelphia, despite its powerful wage theft law that gives the Department of Labor the ability to revoke or suspend business licenses of employers who steal pay.