Jeanette Lazelle, Deputy Commissioner for Worker Protection
Jeanette Castagnola Lazelle is a dedicated public servant with over two decades of experience at the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL), currently serving as the Deputy Commissioner for Worker Protection. Her career is marked by a profound commitment to advancing workers' rights, empowering vulnerable populations, and driving strategic organizational change.
Commitment to Workers' Rights: Born to a union seamstress mother and a union food processing worker father, Jeanette's roots ground her commitment to workers' rights. In her current role as Deputy Commissioner, she oversees and provides leadership to four enforcement units with over 400 employees, reflecting the communities they serve and upholding the mission to protect New York State's workers. Areas of enforcement include:
- Enforcing health and safety laws through the Division of Occupational Safety & Health, conducting inspections, issuing citations, and enforcing new regulations like the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Act.
- Conducting wage and hour investigations through the Division of Labor Standards, addressing minimum wage, overtime, child labor, and more, as well as licensing employment agencies and regulating child performers. This division handles the entire process from investigation to collections.
- Enforcing prevailing wage laws for public work projects and, with recent expansion, private construction projects receiving public subsidies, via the Bureau of Public Work & Prevailing Wage Enforcement. This includes the implementation of new requirements like contractor registration and electronic certified payroll submissions.
- Ensuring services and protections are available to all workers, especially immigrants, through the Division of Compliance & Education (DOCE). DOCE conducts "Know Your Rights & Train the trainer" educational events, focusing on visiting farmworkers and employers to explain labor laws, and actively engages in anti-labor trafficking efforts. Jeanette’s work specifically addresses the needs of immigrant, undocumented, and low-wage earners, who often have little confidence in government, by providing swift enforcement, retaliation protection, and ensuring timely collection of wages and penalties.
Leadership and Policy Influence: Jeanette has progressed through a series of increasingly responsible leadership positions within Worker Protection, including Associate Commissioner for Worker Protection, Director of the Division of Immigrant Policies and Affairs, NYS Monitor Advocate and Labor Standards Investigator. Her leadership responsibilities include policymaking for labor laws, evaluating and providing feedback to the Governor’s office on proposed labor laws, and proposing new initiatives that expand workers’ rights. She is also tasked with promoting the Worker Protection mission internally and externally and educating stakeholders on labor laws. She actively pursues leadership development, having completed the Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government in June 2025 and the New York State Leadership Institute in March 2023. She was awarded the 2018 Center for Women & Government Change Maker Award and the 2025 Frances Perkins Leadership Award.