New York City Local Law 144 — Automated Employment Decision Tools: AI Compliance Requirements
NYC Local Law 144 (Int. 1894-A) requires any employer or employment agency in New York City that uses an automated employment decision tool (AEDT) in hiring or promotion decisions to conduct annual independent bias audits, publish the results, and notify candidates before use. An AEDT is any computational process that screens or ranks candidates. Applies to NYC-based roles regardless of where the company is headquartered.
Summary of publicly-available regulatory text as of 2026-08-22. Verify against current official sources before relying on this for compliance decisions. Not legal advice.
Key Facts
January 1, 2023
July 5, 2023
$500 per violation; $1,500 per day for continuing violations (enforced by NYC Dept. of Consumer and Worker Protection)
What Your Business Must Do
5 compliance requirements identified. Critical requirements carry the highest risk of enforcement action.
Annual Independent Bias Audit
CriticalConduct an annual bias audit of each AEDT by an independent third party. The audit must assess disparate impact on candidates by sex, race/ethnicity, and intersectional categories. Audits must be completed within one year before use.
Deadline: July 5, 2023
Admin. Code § 20-871(a)Publish Bias Audit Results
CriticalPost the bias audit summary on your public website, including the date of the audit, the distribution date of the tool, and the scoring rate for each EEO category. Results must remain online for at least six months.
Deadline: July 5, 2023
Admin. Code § 20-871(b)Candidate Notification
High PriorityNotify all candidates and employees that an AEDT will be used to evaluate them, at least 10 business days before use. Include information on what job qualifications the tool screens for and where to request an alternative process.
Alternative Selection Process
High PriorityAccommodate candidates or employees who request an alternative selection process or accommodation instead of AEDT evaluation.
AEDT Data Retention Policy
Medium PriorityRetain records of AEDT use, bias audit results, and candidate notifications for at least three years. Records must be available to DCWP upon request.
Deadline: July 5, 2023
Admin. Code § 20-871(e)Who Does This Apply To?
Applies to any employer or employment agency that: (1) employs four or more employees; (2) uses an AEDT in the hiring or promotion of an employee for a position to be performed, at least in part, in New York City. Covers remote roles if the employee is in NYC or the role can be performed in NYC. "AEDT" means any computational process, derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or AI, that issues simplified output (a score, classification, or recommendation) that is used to substantially assist or replace discretionary employment decisions. Scope covers both screening candidates for roles and evaluating current employees for promotion.
Recent Regulatory Guidance
NYC DCWP Final Rules and FAQ — LL 144 Clarifications
DCWP published final rules clarifying: (1) bias audit must assess impact by EEO-1 categories at minimum (race/ethnicity, sex); (2) employers may use audits conducted for a vendor's product if the audit covers NYC-based use; (3) AEDT definition excludes tools used solely for onboarding, scheduling, or benefits administration (not candidate screening); (4) candidate notice may be delivered via job posting, email, or application portal; (5) "alternative process" means a human-reviewed selection track, not just a different AI tool.
SourceEEOC Guidance on AI and Civil Rights Laws
EEOC published technical assistance confirming that AI hiring tools are subject to Title VII, ADA, and ADEA under existing law. EEOC confirmed employers remain liable for disparate impact even when using third-party AI vendors. Employers using AEDTs for NYC roles must comply with both LL 144 (annual audit, publication, notice) and federal EEO requirements simultaneously. Third-party vendor liability does not eliminate employer liability.
SourceKey Case Law & Precedent
Mobley v. Workday, Inc.
N.D. Cal. · 2023Class action alleging Workday's AI screening tool unlawfully screened out candidates based on protected characteristics (race, age, disability). Directly cited in NYC LL 144 FAQ and Colorado AG guidance. Established theory that AEDT vendors can be held directly liable for discriminatory screening — not just the employers using the tools.
Outcome: Cycle 11 (2026-08-22) correction — the ADEA-certification date was off by exactly one year (web-verified against Holland & Knight, Norton Rose Fulbright, and Fennemore contemporaneous coverage: the real date is 2025-05-16, not 2026-05-16 as this entry previously stated — the same sibling-entry cross-check the entry's own Cycle-8 comment claims to have performed evidently missed this specific date). STILL NOT settled, and litigation has escalated. July 12, 2024: court granted in part/denied in part Workday's motion to dismiss (rejected "employment agency" theory; denied dismissal of disparate-impact claims). 2025-05-16: Judge Rita Lin granted preliminary ADEA collective-action certification, allowing individuals to opt in on age-discrimination claims (potentially millions of 40+ applicants screened via Workday AI tools since Sept 2020); on 2025-07-07 the court held the preliminary collective also includes applicants screened via Workday's HiredScore AI features. 2026-06-22: the court granted in part/denied in part Workday's latest motion to dismiss — California FEHA claims and a proxy-disability-discrimination claim survived. The case is now in discovery, with claims spanning race, sex, age, and disability. No settlement exists; be wary of unofficial "claim" sites soliciting payment/data under this case's name.
Case referenceQuarterly Enforcement Digest
Q1 2026: LL 144 enforcement remains under scrutiny — the NY State Comptroller released an audit on 2 December 2025 concluding that DCWP's enforcement of LL 144 has been ineffective (faulting complaint intake, superficial review of posted bias audits, and missed procedures), which signals pressure for a stricter posture ahead. Major HR platforms continue to publish bias audit summaries. Annual audit renewal cycle: employers who first complied July 2023 must renew yearly. (R134: removed an unverified "Q4 2024 enforcement sweep" claim and the unverified "Portnoy v. LinkedIn" class-action reference. CYCLE 4 2026-08-22: corrected the caseCitations Mobley v. Workday entry, which wrongly claimed the case "settled in 2024" — see fabrication note there; it remains active litigation.)
Digest covers enforcement actions, guidance, and regulatory developments. Last verified: 2026-08-22.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does New York City Local Law 144 — Automated Employment Decision Tools apply to my business?
NYC Local Law 144 (Int. 1894-A) requires any employer or employment agency in New York City that uses an automated employment decision tool (AEDT) in hiring or promotion decisions to conduct annual independent bias audits, publish the results, and… Use Aegis Firma's free scanner to get a personalized assessment in under 5 minutes.
What is the penalty for non-compliance?
The maximum penalty under New York City Local Law 144 — Automated Employment Decision Tools is: $500 per violation; $1,500 per day for continuing violations (enforced by NYC Dept. of Consumer and Worker Protection). Fines are typically scaled by company size, severity of violation, and whether violations were willful or accidental.
How do I comply with New York City Local Law 144 — Automated Employment Decision Tools?
The 5 requirements above cover the core obligations. The fastest path to compliance is: (1) conduct an AI risk assessment, (2) document your AI systems, (3) implement transparency disclosures where required. Aegis Firma generates all required documents automatically.
Official Source
https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/about/automated-employment-decision-tools.pageLast updated: 2026-08-22 — verify at source before relying on this information.
Don't leave compliance to chance
Aegis Firma scans your AI tools, tells you exactly which regulations apply, and generates all required documents — in 30 minutes.
Start your free compliance scan