NYC Local Law 144 Explained: What Employers Using AI Hiring Tools Must Do

New York City's Local Law 144 applies to employers and employment agencies that use an automated employment decision tool (AEDT) to screen candidates for hiring or employees for promotion in the city. The tool must have had a bias audit by an independent auditor within the past year, a summary of the results must be publicly available, and candidates and employees must receive the required notices. The city's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) began enforcing the law on 5 July 2023. A December 2025 audit by the New York State Comptroller found enforcement ineffective, and DCWP agreed to improve it, so employers should expect more scrutiny. This guide explains the main duties. It is general information, not legal advice, and it reflects the position as of October 2026.

Read the official DCWP pages for the rules, definitions and forms: Automated Employment Decision Tools (AEDT) on nyc.gov.

What counts as an AEDT

In broad terms, an AEDT is a computational process, derived from machine learning, statistical modelling, data analytics or artificial intelligence, that produces a simplified output such as a score, classification or recommendation, and is used to substantially assist or replace discretionary decision making for employment decisions. A resume screening tool that scores and ranks applicants can fall within it. A simple keyword filter or a spreadsheet may not, depending on how it works and how it is used.

The question that matters is how the output is used. If a score or ranking materially shapes who advances, treat the tool as in scope until advice says otherwise.

The three core duties

1. A bias audit

• Done by an independent auditor.
• Completed within one year before the tool is used.
• Calculates selection or scoring rates and impact ratios across categories of sex, race and ethnicity, and intersectional categories, as the rules set out.
• Based on data from the tool's use or, where permitted, test data.

The method is related to the idea in the four-fifths rule, though the law does not set a pass or fail threshold. It requires the audit and the publication.

2. Publish a summary

A summary of the most recent bias audit and the date the tool was first used must be available on the employer's or employment agency's website, in a clear way.

3. Give notice

Candidates and employees who live in the city must be told that an AEDT will be used, what job qualifications and characteristics it will assess, and how to request an alternative process or an accommodation, where available. There is also a requirement to say that information about the data collected and its retention is available on request. The rules specify when and how notice must be given, so read them before you design your process.

Penalties and enforcement

Civil penalties apply per violation, with each day of use of a non-compliant tool treated as a separate violation, and failure to give notice treated separately. Penalties commonly cited are a first violation up to 500 and repeat violations from 500 to 1,500, per violation. Check the current amounts on the DCWP page.

The New York State Comptroller published an audit of enforcement in December 2025, concluding it had been ineffective in several respects, including complaint handling and review of audits. DCWP agreed to make improvements. See the Comptroller's report: Enforcement of Local Law 144 on osc.ny.gov. Commentators have read it as a sign that enforcement may become more active, but no one can promise that. Plan on the basis that the law applies.

A practical plan for employers

1. List every tool that scores, ranks or recommends candidates or employees in New York City: resume screeners, assessments, interview tools, chat screeners.
2. Decide for each whether it substantially assists or replaces a discretionary decision. Record the reasoning.
3. Ask the vendor whether a current, independent bias audit exists, which categories it covers and whether it fits your use. Do not assume a vendor's audit covers your deployment.
4. Publish the summary and the tool's first-use date.
5. Write and send the candidate and employee notices, and set up an alternative process or accommodation route.
6. Keep records of the audit, the notices and the decisions.
7. Repeat the audit annually and when the tool or its use changes materially.
8. Keep a person responsible for decisions, and review outcomes. See AI hiring audit checklist.

What the law does not do

Local Law 144 requires an audit, notice and publication. It does not tell you what result is acceptable, and it does not replace anti-discrimination law. Federal, state and city laws still apply to hiring decisions made with or without a tool, and other places have their own rules. See AI hiring compliance in 2026 for the wider picture, and candidate AI disclosure for how to explain tools to candidates.

Where we fit

Resume World scores applicants against criteria you set, shows the evidence behind each score and leaves the decision to a person. It does not make an employer compliant. A bias audit by an independent auditor and the candidate notice are employer obligations under the law. If you use it for roles in New York City, plan the audit, publication and notice as part of your own process. See compliant AI hiring.

Questions to ask your own team

• Which roles are filled in or from New York City?
• Which tools touch those roles?
• Who owns the audit, the website summary and the notices?
• When does the current audit expire?
• How do candidates ask for an alternative?