# New York City Local Law 144 of 2021 on Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT) and DCWP implementing rules - **Record type**: Policy instrument - **Jurisdiction**: New York (United States) - **Instrument type**: Act / statute - **Status**: In force - **Binding**: Yes - **Issuing body**: New York City Council; rules by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection - **Adopted**: 2021-12-11 - **In force**: 2023-01-01 - **Applies from**: 2023-07-05 ## In brief NYC Local Law 144 (automated employment decision tools) is a binding act of New York (United States), issued by New York City Council; rules by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. It has been in force since 1 January 2023; its first obligations applied from 5 July 2023. 5 obligations are recorded against it, each with its source reference. ## Summary Employers and employment agencies may not use an automated employment decision tool to screen candidates or employees for hiring or promotion in New York City unless the tool has had an independent bias audit within the past year, a summary of the audit results is published, and candidates receive at least ten business days' notice of the tool's use, the job qualifications assessed, and how to request an alternative process or accommodation. The bias audit calculates selection and scoring impact ratios by sex, race/ethnicity and intersectional categories. Enforcement began 5 July 2023. ## Scope Employers and employment agencies using AEDTs for candidates or employees residing in New York City. ## What organisations must do Commission an annual independent bias audit, publish the summary and distribution date on the careers site, give ten business days' notice to candidates, and keep audit and notice records. ## Key dates 2021-12-11: enacted; 2023-01-01: effective; 2023-07-05: enforcement began under final DCWP rules. ## Penalties Civil penalties of USD 500 for a first violation and 500–1,500 for each subsequent violation; each day of use and each missing notice is a separate violation. ## Notes on dates Dates are taken from the linked official source; a reviewer should confirm in-force and application dates before relying on them. ## Obligations recorded against this instrument (5) - **Employers and employment agencies must obtain an independent bias audit before using an automated employment decision tool** (NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(a)(1); 6 RCNY Section 5-301) — 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. - Binding: yes - Applies from: 2023-07-05 - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/obligations/us-new-york-city-local-law-144-bias-audit - **Employers and employment agencies must publish a summary of the bias audit results** (NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(a)(2); 6 RCNY Section 5-302) — 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. - Binding: yes - Applies from: 2023-07-05 - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/obligations/us-new-york-city-local-law-144-publish-audit-summary - **Employers and employment agencies must notify candidates and employees before an automated tool is used** (NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(b)(1) and (b)(2); 6 RCNY Section 5-303) — 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. - Binding: yes - Applies from: 2023-07-05 - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/obligations/us-new-york-city-local-law-144-candidate-notice - **Employers and employment agencies must let candidates request an alternative selection process or accommodation** (NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(b)(1); 6 RCNY Section 5-303) — 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. - Binding: yes - Applies from: 2023-07-05 - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/obligations/us-new-york-city-local-law-144-alternative-process-request - **Employers and employment agencies must disclose the data collected and their retention policy for the tool** (NYC Administrative Code Section 20-871(b)(3); 6 RCNY Section 5-303) — 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. - Binding: yes - Applies from: 2023-07-05 - Record: https://aipolicytracker.org/obligations/us-new-york-city-local-law-144-data-policy-disclosure ## Provenance - **Permanent id**: AIPT-POL-0224 (https://aipolicytracker.org/id/AIPT-POL-0224; never changes or gets reused) - **Record page**: https://aipolicytracker.org/policies/us-new-york-city-local-law-144-automated-employment-decision-tools - **Official source**: https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/about/automated-employment-decision-tools.page - **Source document**: Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT) - **Published by**: NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection - **Review status**: verified - **Confidence**: high - **Facts last confirmed**: 2026-09-26 - **Confirmed by**: Bhaskar Bhatt (see https://aipolicytracker.org/reviewers) - **Retrieved**: 2026-10-27 - **Licence**: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ - **Cite as**: AIPolicyTracker (2026). "New York City Local Law 144 of 2021 on Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT) and DCWP implementing rules" [AIPT-POL-0224, record version 1, verified 26 September 2026 by Bhaskar Bhatt]. https://aipolicytracker.org/id/AIPT-POL-0224 (accessed 27 October 2026). > This record is a structured summary with a link to the official text. It is not legal advice. Open the official source before relying on any date or duty. How current each record type must be is published at https://aipolicytracker.org/verification; what a record must carry at all is published at https://aipolicytracker.org/coverage.