Similar experience here, but with different area of the NY state government. Last year our company had a screw-up with a part-time employee that resulted in us

Similar experience here, but with different area of the NY state government. Last year our company had a screw-up with a part-time employee that resulted in us getting a workers comp penalty of a few thousand dollars for not carrying the proper amount of insurance. We sent the workers comp board a letter explaining the screw-up, and how we've rectified the issue promptly (we fixed it as soon as we were notified by NY state). After two months, they had adjusted most of the penalties down to almost nothing and had resolved the whole issue to our complete satisfaction. The whole process was completely fair and just. We also never had any issue getting someone on the phone to talk to, and the NY state web site was very easy to use in terms of tracking our situation and getting updates.