NYC Local Law 144 (automated employment decision tools): requirements, deadlines and compliance actions

An automated employment decision tool may not be used to screen candidates or employees for hiring or promotion in New York City unless it has been the subject of a bias audit by an independent auditor within the year before use. The audit calculates selection rates and impact ratios by sex, race/ethnicity and their intersections, and scoring-rate comparisons for tools that score rather than select, using the employer's historical data or, where insufficient, test data as the DCWP rules allow.

Practical action: Commission an annual independent bias audit for each tool, supplying historical outcome data by protected category, and calendar the twelve-month expiry.

Evidence examples: Independent bias audit report; Audit data extract and category mapping

Framework mapping (original, editorial): NIST AI RMF 1.0 MEASURE 2.11, MEASURE 1.3; ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Annex A.6.2.4; Clause 9.2

Open the obligation page →NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(a)(1); 6 RCNY Section 5-301 Verified 26 Sep 2026 (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)

Before using an automated employment decision tool, the employer or employment agency must make a summary of the most recent bias audit results and the distribution date of the tool publicly available on the employment section of its website. Under the DCWP rules the summary states the audit date, the data source and type, the number of applicants or candidates in each category, and the selection or scoring rates and impact ratios, and must remain posted for at least six months after the tool was last used.

Practical action: Post the audit summary and distribution date on the careers page before go-live and refresh it with each annual audit.

Evidence examples: Published bias audit summary with distribution date

Framework mapping (original, editorial): NIST AI RMF 1.0 GOVERN 4.2, MEASURE 2.11; ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Annex A.8.3, A.8.5

Open the obligation page →NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(a)(2); 6 RCNY Section 5-302 Verified 26 Sep 2026 (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)

Candidates and employees who reside in New York City must be told, at least ten business days before an automated employment decision tool is used to assess them, that such a tool will be used in the hiring or promotion decision, and which job qualifications and characteristics the tool will assess. The DCWP rules allow the notice to be given on the careers page, in the job posting, or by mail or email, and require that it reach the person before the tool is applied.

Practical action: Insert the tool notice and the assessed qualifications into job postings and application confirmations at least ten business days before screening.

Evidence examples: Candidate notice text and delivery record; Notice timing log per requisition

Framework mapping (original, editorial): NIST AI RMF 1.0 GOVERN 5.1, MANAGE 4.1; ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Annex A.8.5

Open the obligation page →NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(b)(1) and (b)(2); 6 RCNY Section 5-303 Verified 26 Sep 2026 (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)

The advance notice to candidates and employees must allow them to request an alternative selection process or a reasonable accommodation. The DCWP rules make clear that the law itself does not require the employer to provide an alternative process, but the request route must exist and accommodation requests remain governed by disability and human-rights law. Instructions for making the request must be included in the notice.

Practical action: Provide a request mechanism in the candidate notice and record how each request was handled under the accommodation policy.

Evidence examples: Alternative-process and accommodation request log

Framework mapping (original, editorial): NIST AI RMF 1.0 GOVERN 5.1, MANAGE 4.1; ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Annex A.9.2

Open the obligation page →NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(b)(1); 6 RCNY Section 5-303 Verified 26 Sep 2026 (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)

Unless already disclosed on the website, an employer or employment agency must provide, within 30 days of a written request from a candidate or employee, information about the type of data the automated employment decision tool collects, the source of that data, and the employer's or agency's data retention policy. The DCWP rules allow this information to be posted publicly instead of answered case by case.

Practical action: Publish a short data notice for the tool covering data types, sources and retention, or set up a 30-day response process for written requests.

Evidence examples: Data collection and retention notice for the tool; Request response log

Framework mapping (original, editorial): NIST AI RMF 1.0 MAP 2.2, MEASURE 2.10; ISO/IEC 42001:2023 Annex A.7.2, A.8.5

Open the obligation page →NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(b)(3); 6 RCNY Section 5-303 Verified 26 Sep 2026 (a factual check against the official source, not a legal review)