NYC Local Law 144 Compliance Guide 2026: Bias Audits, Disclosures & Candidate Notices

NYC Local Law 144 Compliance Guide 2026: Bias Audits, Disclosures & Candidate Notices

New York City Local Law 144 — formally codified at NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-870 through 20-875 — is the nation's first municipal law specifically regulating the use of automated employment decision tools (AEDTs) in hiring. Enacted in 2021 and in full effect since July 5, 2023, LL144 imposes three distinct compliance requirements on every employer and employment agency that uses AI or algorithmic tools to screen job candidates or employees for promotion in New York City.

This guide covers everything you need to know to comply in 2026: what the law requires, who must comply, how to satisfy each of the three requirements, what penalties apply, and the most common mistakes employers make that expose them to DCWP enforcement.

For the official text of the law, see the NYC Commission on Human Rights Local Law 144 page. For EmployArmor's full compliance tools, see our NYC LL144 law page.

What NYC Local Law 144 Requires: The Three Requirements

LL144 imposes three distinct, sequential requirements. All three must be satisfied — satisfying only one or two does not bring you into compliance.

Requirement 1: Annual Bias Audit Before deploying an AEDT on candidates or employees in NYC, you must commission and complete an independent bias audit of the tool. This audit must be conducted by an independent auditor who has had no employment or financial relationship with you or your AEDT vendor for at least the two years prior to the audit. The audit must analyze the tool's selection rates across race/ethnicity, sex, and intersectional categories, calculate adverse impact ratios, and produce a summary of results.

Requirement 2: Public Disclosure Posting The bias audit summary must be posted on your company's publicly accessible website before the AEDT is used on any candidate or employee in NYC. The posting must remain accessible for at least six months after the tool is last used. The disclosure must include: (a) the date of the most recent bias audit, (b) the summary of results including selection rates by demographic group, and (c) the name and contact information of the independent auditor.

Requirement 3: Candidate and Employee Notice At least 10 business days before an AEDT is used to evaluate a candidate or employee, you must provide that individual with written notice. The notice must inform them that an AEDT will be used, identify what type of data the AEDT uses, and explain how they can request an alternative selection process or accommodation.

All three requirements must be satisfied for each AEDT you use. If you use three different AI hiring tools — an ATS resume screener, an AI video interview platform, and a predictive scoring model — each tool requires its own bias audit, each must have results posted separately, and each candidate evaluation must generate its own notice.

Who Must Comply With NYC Local Law 144

Employer Threshold

NYC LL144 applies to employers and employment agencies. There is no minimum employee count. Unlike many federal employment discrimination laws (which apply only to employers with 15 or more employees under Title VII, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e), LL144 applies regardless of company size. If you are a two-person startup using an AI resume screening tool to hire in NYC, you must comply.

Tool Threshold: What Is an AEDT?

The law applies to "automated employment decision tools" (AEDTs), which the law and its implementing regulations at 6 RCNY § 5-300 define as any computational process — including one derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence — that issues simplified output such as a score, classification, or recommendation that is used to substantially assist or replace discretionary decision-making in employment decisions.

Tools that are typically AEDTs:

• AI resume screening tools that score or rank applicants
• Automated video interview analysis platforms that score candidates on communication, competency, or fit
• Predictive hiring tools that assign probability-of-success scores
• Chatbot-based screening tools that score candidate responses
• Personality or cognitive assessment tools with algorithmic scoring

Tools that may not be AEDTs:

• Basic ATS platforms that only store and search resumes without scoring or ranking
• Job board search functions without algorithmic ranking
• Simple keyword filters configured entirely by humans without ML
• Human-conducted structured interviews without AI scoring

The implementing rules at 6 RCNY § 5-300 provide additional guidance on what constitutes "substantially assist or replace discretionary decision-making." When in doubt, treat the tool as an AEDT and comply — the cost of an unnecessary audit is far less than the cost of a DCWP violation.

Geographic Scope: When Does NYC Have Jurisdiction?

LL144 applies when the AEDT is used to evaluate candidates for positions that are, or will be, located in New York City. This includes:

• In-person NYC positions
• Remote positions where the employee will be based in NYC
• Hybrid positions with an NYC work location

It does not apply to positions located entirely outside NYC, even if the employer has an NYC office and even if the candidate applies through an NYC-headquartered company's website.

Requirement 1: The Annual Bias Audit — What It Actually Involves

Who Can Conduct the Audit

The single most important requirement about the auditor is independence. NYC Admin. Code § 20-871 defines an independent auditor as a person or entity that has had no employment or financial relationship with the employer, the employment agency, or the AEDT vendor for the two years prior to the audit. This independence requirement is strict:

• Your internal HR team cannot conduct the required audit
• Your AEDT vendor cannot audit their own tool
• A consultant who has previously worked with you cannot conduct the audit
• A firm with a financial stake in your continued use of the AEDT cannot audit it

The auditor must be identified by name in the published audit summary. This public identification creates accountability and allows the DCWP to verify the auditor's independence.

What Statistical Tests the Audit Must Include

Under 6 RCNY § 5-300, the bias audit must calculate:

Selection Rates by Category. The audit must calculate the rate at which each demographic group is selected (passed through the AEDT to the next stage) for each race/ethnicity category, for male and female candidates, and for intersectional combinations of race/ethnicity and sex. The required demographic categories are defined in the regulations.

Adverse Impact Ratio (AIR). The audit must calculate the adverse impact ratio for each category: the selection rate for the group divided by the selection rate for the most-selected group. An AIR below 0.80 (the "4/5ths rule") traditionally indicates adverse impact, though the DCWP does not mandate any automatic remediation based solely on the ratio — the ratio must be reported.

Intersectional Categories. The audit must separately analyze intersectional categories: Hispanic female, Hispanic male, Black/African American female, Black/African American male, Asian female, Asian male, and so forth. This intersectional analysis is more granular than most internal diversity reviews.

Historical Data Requirement. The audit should be based on data from the employer's actual use of the AEDT. If the employer does not have sufficient historical data (defined in the rules), the audit may use test data — but this must be disclosed, and the results may be less defensible in an enforcement action.

How Often Must the Audit Be Conducted

At minimum annually: within 12 months of the most recent prior audit. If you deploy a materially updated version of your AEDT — new model version, new training data, substantially changed scoring logic — a new audit may be required before that updated version is used on candidates. The regulations do not define "material update" with precision, so when your vendor releases a new model version, ask them whether the update is material and document their response.

The annual requirement is per tool. If you use three AEDTs, each requires its own annual audit. A single firm-wide audit does not satisfy the requirement for multiple tools.

What EmployArmor's Bias Audit Tool Does

EmployArmor's bias audit tool coordinates every step: identifying a qualified independent auditor, collecting the required historical or test data from your AEDT, running the mandated statistical analysis, generating the audit summary in the required format, and archiving the results. See the full tool for details.

Requirement 2: Public Disclosure Posting — What to Post, Where, and When

What the Disclosure Must Include

NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(b) specifies that the employer must make the following information publicly available before the AEDT is used:

1. Date of the most recent bias audit. The calendar date on which the independent auditor completed the audit.

2. Summary of results. This must include the selection rates for each demographic category and the adverse impact ratios. The DCWP expects the full statistical summary, not just a statement that the audit was completed.

3. Independent auditor information. The name and contact information of the auditor who conducted the audit.

4. Distribution date of the AEDT. The date the AEDT was first used by the employer (or, for a new AEDT, the date it will first be used).

Where to Post It

The disclosure must be posted on your company's publicly accessible website — a location where anyone can view it without logging in, creating an account, or paying. A careers page, a compliance page, or a dedicated AEDT disclosure page all work. The disclosure cannot be behind an employee portal, an applicant login wall, or an intranet.

EmployArmor's NYC LL144 Public Disclosure Page tool generates a compliant disclosure page that you can embed directly on your site — formatted correctly with all required fields.

When to Update It

The posting must be updated within 30 days after a new bias audit is completed. You cannot continue using an AEDT with a year-old disclosure after the annual audit is completed — the updated results must go live within 30 days of the new audit's completion date.

The posting must remain on your website for at least six months after the AEDT is last used. If you discontinue a tool, don't take down the disclosure immediately — it must stay up for six months.

Common Posting Mistakes

• Posting audit results only in a PDF that requires download (acceptable, but should be crawlable)
• Omitting the auditor's name or contact information
• Posting the date the audit was scheduled rather than the date it was completed
• Not updating the posting within 30 days of a new annual audit
• Removing the posting immediately after discontinuing the AEDT

Requirement 3: Candidate and Employee Notice — The 10-Day Rule

The 10 Business Day Requirement

Before using an AEDT to evaluate a candidate or employee, you must provide them with written notice at least 10 business days before the evaluation occurs. This is not 10 calendar days — it is 10 business days, which means approximately two weeks. This timing requirement must be built into your hiring workflow.

For an AEDT used early in the process — such as an AI resume screener that evaluates every applicant who submits an application — the notice should go out when the application is received, or immediately upon confirmation of receipt, so that 10 business days pass before the screening occurs.

What the Notice Must Include

Under NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(c) and 6 RCNY § 5-300, the notice must inform the candidate or employee of:

1. That an AEDT will be used. The notice must affirmatively state that an automated employment decision tool will be used in their evaluation.

2. What type of data the AEDT uses. Not all technical details are required, but the candidate must understand what kind of information the AEDT processes — resume text, video interview responses, personality assessment answers, and so forth.

3. How to request an alternative selection process or accommodation. Candidates must be told that they can request that a different selection method be used if they have an objection to the AEDT, and they must be given a way to make that request (contact information, a form, or a process).

Delivery of the Notice

The notice can be delivered by email, physical mail, or any other written means. If it is included in an application acknowledgment email, it must be clearly identified — not buried in a block of text. If the candidate provides their email at application, email delivery is the most practical approach.

EmployArmor's Candidate Disclosure Notices tool generates compliant notices pre-populated with your company's AEDT information and provides delivery tracking to document compliance.

Employee Notices

LL144 applies not only to external job candidates but also to current employees being evaluated for promotion. If your performance management system or promotion recommendation algorithm qualifies as an AEDT, employees must receive notice before each evaluation cycle — with the same 10-business-day minimum lead time and the same required content.

Penalties: $375/Day and $1,500/Day — Per Tool, Per Day

NYC Admin. Code § 20-875 establishes the civil penalty structure for LL144 violations:

• First violation: $375 per day for each day the violation continues
• Subsequent violations: $1,500 per day for each day the violation continues

These penalties apply per AEDT, per violation type. An employer using two AEDTs without any public disclosure posted is committing separate violations for each tool. An employer that has no disclosures and has never sent candidate notices is facing multiple simultaneous violations — all accruing daily.

How Penalties Compound

Consider an employer using three AEDTs — a resume screener, an AI video interview tool, and a predictive scoring model — with no bias audits, no public disclosures, and no candidate notices. That employer is committing nine simultaneous violations (three tools × three violation types). At first-violation rates, that is $3,375/day. After the first notice from DCWP, every subsequent day is at the $1,500/day rate — $13,500/day across all violations.

Over 90 days from first notice to resolution, the penalty exposure can exceed $1.2 million for a mid-size employer.

The DCWP has discretion to negotiate settlements and has done so in early enforcement actions, but the statutory daily accrual structure means delay is extremely costly.

Use EmployArmor's penalty calculator on our bias audit tool page to estimate your specific exposure.

Common Compliance Mistakes Employers Make

Mistake 1: Completing the Audit But Not Posting

The bias audit and the public disclosure are two separate requirements. An employer who commissions and receives a completed bias audit but does not post the results on their website has satisfied only Requirement 1. The failure to post is a separate, independent violation.

Mistake 2: Posting the Disclosure But Not Sending Candidate Notices

An employer who correctly posts the bias audit summary but never sends 10-business-day candidate notices has satisfied Requirements 1 and 2 but is violating Requirement 3 for every candidate evaluated. Since AEDTs typically evaluate hundreds or thousands of candidates, this can be a high-frequency violation.

Mistake 3: Wrong Timing on Candidate Notices

Some employers send a general AEDT notice somewhere in their application process — perhaps in the job posting or in an initial confirmation email — without ensuring the 10-business-day minimum gap is met before the AEDT actually evaluates the candidate. If your AI resume screener runs immediately upon receipt of the application and your notice goes out the same day, you have not met the 10-business-day requirement.

Mistake 4: Using an Internal Reviewer as the "Independent" Auditor

Internal HR reviews, diversity assessments, or vendor-provided reports do not satisfy the independence requirement. The auditor must have had no relationship with the employer or vendor for two years prior. Some employers have submitted internal reviews thinking this satisfies LL144 — it does not.

Mistake 5: Treating One Audit as Covering Multiple Tools

Each AEDT requires its own separate bias audit. A single audit covering "our AI hiring process" generally does not satisfy the requirement if multiple distinct tools are involved. Review whether your vendors provide tool-specific audit data or whether you need separate audits for each.

Mistake 6: Not Updating the Public Disclosure After the Annual Audit

After completing the required annual re-audit, many employers forget to update their public posting within the 30-day window. A disclosure showing a prior year's audit date while the new audit results sit in someone's email inbox is a compliance failure.

Mistake 7: Applying Only to External Candidates, Not Employees

LL144 applies to evaluations of employees for promotion. If your promotion recommendation workflow uses an AEDT, it requires its own audit, disclosure, and notice to employees — not just external applicants.

2026 Enforcement Update: DCWP Is Actively Enforcing

The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) began active enforcement of LL144 in 2023. By 2026, DCWP has moved from initial education-focused outreach to active investigation and penalty proceedings.

Enforcement actions have focused on:

• Employers with no public disclosure posted
• Employers with disclosures that are missing required elements (auditor name, selection rates, audit date)
• Employers using AEDTs where no bias audit has been conducted at all

DCWP has the authority to conduct targeted audits of employer websites, receive complaints from candidates and employees, and initiate investigations based on its own monitoring. There is no requirement that a complaint be filed before DCWP can take enforcement action.

If you have not yet audited your LL144 compliance, 2026 is not the year to delay. See our related article on LL144 enforcement actions for details on DCWP's current enforcement posture.

Internal Links: Tools and Resources

EmployArmor provides purpose-built tools for each of the three LL144 requirements:

• Bias Audit Tool — Independent auditor coordination, statistical analysis, and archive
• NYC LL144 Public Disclosure Page Tool — Compliant disclosure page generation and hosting
• Candidate Disclosure Notices Tool — 10-day notice generation, delivery, and tracking

For enforcement context, see our AI hiring lawsuits tracker. For the full law text and interpretation guide, see our NYC Local Law 144 law page.

Frequently Asked Questions: NYC Local Law 144

What is NYC Local Law 144?

NYC Local Law 144 (NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-870 through 20-875, implementing regulations at 6 RCNY § 5-300) is a New York City law that requires employers and employment agencies to: (1) complete an annual independent bias audit before using any automated employment decision tool (AEDT) on candidates or employees in NYC, (2) post the bias audit results publicly on their website before using the tool, and (3) provide written notice to candidates and employees at least 10 business days before the AEDT is used to evaluate them. All three requirements must be satisfied independently.

What is an automated employment decision tool (AEDT)?

An AEDT is a computational process — including machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or AI — that issues simplified output (a score, classification, or recommendation) used to substantially assist or replace discretionary decision-making in hiring or promotion. Common examples include AI resume screeners, automated video interview scoring platforms, predictive hiring tools, and AI-based personality assessments. Basic ATS platforms that only store resumes without algorithmic ranking are generally not AEDTs.

Does NYC LL144 apply to small employers?

Yes. Unlike Title VII (which applies to employers with 15+ employees), LL144 has no minimum employee threshold. Any employer using an AEDT to evaluate candidates for NYC positions must comply, regardless of company size.

What does "independent auditor" mean under LL144?

An independent auditor is a person or entity with no employment or financial relationship with the employer, employment agency, or AEDT vendor for at least the prior two years. Your HR team, your AEDT vendor, and any consultant with a financial stake in your use of the tool do not qualify.

What must the public disclosure include?

The public disclosure must include: (1) the date of the most recent bias audit, (2) the summary of bias audit results including selection rates and adverse impact ratios by demographic category, (3) the independent auditor's name and contact information, and (4) the distribution date of the AEDT. It must be posted on a publicly accessible section of your website — not behind a login.

What must the 10-business-day candidate notice include?

The notice must inform the candidate: (1) that an AEDT will be used in their evaluation, (2) what type of data the AEDT uses, and (3) how they can request an alternative selection process or accommodation. The notice must be provided at least 10 business days (approximately two weeks) before the AEDT evaluates the candidate.

What are the penalties for violating NYC Local Law 144?

Civil penalties under NYC Admin. Code § 20-875 are $375/day for a first violation and $1,500/day for subsequent violations. Penalties run per AEDT, per violation type, per day. An employer with three AEDTs and no compliance program faces multiple simultaneous daily violations that compound rapidly.

Does LL144 apply to employees being evaluated for promotion?

Yes. LL144 applies to any use of an AEDT in an employment decision — including promotion decisions. Current employees who will be evaluated by an AEDT for promotion must receive the 10-business-day notice and the bias audit disclosure requirements apply equally to employee evaluations.

What is the relationship between LL144 and the EEOC?

LL144 is a NYC administrative law enforced by the DCWP. The EEOC separately enforces Title VII (42 U.S.C. § 2000e) at the federal level, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, sex, and other protected characteristics. An AI tool that fails a bias audit may also be producing the kind of disparate impact that triggers EEOC enforcement, entirely independently of DCWP proceedings. Both agencies have jurisdiction; both can act; satisfying one does not insulate you from the other.

Where can I find more information about LL144?

The NYC Commission on Human Rights Local Law 144 page provides official guidance, the full rule text, and FAQs from the city. EmployArmor's NYC Local Law 144 law page provides a plain-language interpretation and compliance checklist. Our bias audit tool walks you through the compliance process step by step.

Getting Into Compliance: Start Here

LL144 compliance has a clear sequence:

1. Identify your AEDTs. List every tool used in hiring or promotion that may qualify. When in doubt, treat it as an AEDT.
2. Commission bias audits. Engage an independent auditor for each AEDT. EmployArmor's bias audit tool coordinates this process.
3. Post public disclosures. Use EmployArmor's disclosure page tool to generate and post compliant summaries before using each AEDT.
4. Build candidate notice workflows. Integrate EmployArmor's candidate disclosure notices tool into your application process to ensure 10-business-day delivery and tracking.
5. Schedule annual re-audits. Put the re-audit deadlines on the calendar immediately. Set a reminder 90 days before each annual audit is due.

EmployArmor handles steps 1 through 4 and automates the scheduling for step 5. Get your free compliance assessment →

Last updated: March 2026. This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Consult qualified employment counsel for guidance specific to your situation. Statutory references: NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-870 through 20-875; 6 RCNY § 5-300 et seq.