Sixta Leon knows the meaning of hard work. A lifelong New Yorker, Sixta raised her 5 children while working as a housekeeper. As the head of household, Sixta works hard each day to take care of her loved ones, and earn enough to get by. When the pandemic hit, Sixta faced a significant setback. As families locked their doors to outsiders entering their homes, she lost her housekeeping jobs, her only source of income. Despite her long-standing contributions to our community, Sixta could not afford rent, medical care, or personal protective equipment (PPE).

Fortunately, thanks to the invaluable assistance provided by compassionate and diligent New York State DOL employees, Sixta's crisis was corrected. They guided her through the process of accessing the excluded worker fund, which proved to be a lifeline for her. They helped Sixta secure the $14,820 she was rightfully entitled to under New York law’s excluded workers fund.

Yet not all are so lucky. New York is facing a crime wave—but it’s not the one Governor Hochul fearmongers about. Across our State, working people are exploited daily by employers who steal their wages and benefits, miscalculate time worked, expose them to unsafe conditions, cheat the unemployment insurance fund, or otherwise take advantage of them in ways that break the law. As a result, working New Yorkers lose out on $3 billion in wage theft every year.

Years of underfunding in public agencies during the previous two administrations have left the NYS Department of Labor (DOL) overwhelmed and unable to enforce labor laws fully. As a result, this problem lands squarely on the desks of DOL employees, who face the daunting task of addressing a growing backlog of cases and new violations each year.

Despite these challenges, DOL employees persevere in their mission to protect workers and seek justice for victims of wage theft. In fact, they are currently working through a staggering $79 million in back pay owed to confirmed victims of wage theft who reported to the DOL. In 2023, each DOL investigator was responsible for a whopping 72,884 workers across the New York workforce. These investigators are chipping away against a colossal mess left on their desks by state legislators,........

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