A few years ago I left my job. My boss had developed a meth problem and was killing the company. It was mentally abusive to work there. When I left, I was not paid for vacation time nor about a week's wages. I contacted the attorney general's office and they took my details and handled everything for me. After "about 4-6 weeks" I received a check for the money I rightfully earned and most certainly deserved. A very painless process that only involved a few phone calls and a few emails.
I would venture to guess there are similar laws protecting hard-working people in all states and other countries. Every once in a while "the system" and "the man" work for the little guy!
If you think the system is working, ask someone who's waiting for a prompt.