Complaints to the Pensions Ombudsman rose by 43% last year, and the number of complaints relating to the construction industry almost trebled.
The Pensions Ombudsman says that in some cases, employers working in the construction industry simply did not invest pension money given to them in good faith by workers.
In other cases, employees were not made aware of their entitlements.
Pensions Ombudsman Paul Kenny says that in 2007 his office dealt with 35 complaints in relation to the construction industry. Last year, that figure rose to 101.
A significant number of those came from eastern Europeans who moved to Ireland when the building trade was booming and who were not made aware of their rights.
Employers found to have breached their obligations can face criminal conviction and a district court fine of up to €5,000.
Mr Kenny said that with the rising number of redundancies in the construction sector, more workers have been examining their entitlements, only to realise that these have not been put in place.
He said he is also concerned that the growing number of liquidations in the sector may make it more difficult to secure monies owed, particularly from smaller firms.
