AI Regulation Guide · New York City
NYC Local Law 144 (AEDTs): who's covered, what it requires
NYC Local Law 144 (AEDTs) carries 6 tracked obligations for companies in scope. This guide lists who is covered, the duty tiers, and every obligation with its deadline and statutory citation — all from Shieldra's versioned regulation pack, verified 2026-07-29.
By the Shieldra Compliance Team · Last updated 2026-07-29
Who does NYC Local Law 144 (AEDTs) apply to?
Out of scope only if: No NYC nexus reported. LL144 reaches employers and employment agencies using an AEDT 'in the city', which DCWP reads as: the job location is an NYC office at least part time, the job is fully remote but associated with an NYC office, or the employment agency using the tool is located in NYC — with an outside agency covered when the role meets one of the first two prongs (NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-870–20-871; DCWP AEDT FAQ § I.4). Re-run this screen if you open an NYC office, associate a remote role with one, or take on NYC agency work.
New York State pointers (informational only): no state AEDT statute exists and no employment-AI bill has been enacted — but A9581/S8706 (annual AI employment-impact reporting for employers with 50+ employees) passed the 2026 session and awaits the Governor’s action through December 31, 2026, while the AEDT-style analogs died at the June 5, 2026 adjournment. The NY RAISE Act (GBL Art. 44-B, duties from January 1, 2027) binds only frontier developers that trained models with more than 10^26 operations and expressly excludes deployers and API users, and the LOADinG Act (State Technology Law Arts. 4–5) binds New York government bodies only — neither creates duties for a private SMB, including as a customer of a frontier lab.
- Are you screening for your own positions, or on behalf of other employers?
- Do you hire for, or promote employees into, any role that is (a) based in a New York City office at least part-time, or (b) fully remote but associated with an NYC office — or are you an employment agency located in NYC, or an agency outside NYC filling such NYC-based or NYC-associated roles?
- In hiring or promotion for those roles, do you use any computational tool derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence that issues a simplified output about candidates or employees — a score, tag or classification, ranking, or recommendation?
- Does that simplified output substantially assist or replace your discretionary decision-making — i.e., do you (i) rely solely on the output with no other factors considered, (ii) weight it more than any other criterion in your set, or (iii) use it to overrule conclusions drawn from other factors, including human decision-making?
- Is the tool used to assess people who have actually APPLIED for a specific position (submitting the required information or items in the format you require), or employees being considered for promotion?
- Has each such tool had an impartial bias audit by an INDEPENDENT auditor completed within the last 12 months — calculating selection or scoring rates and impact ratios separately across sex categories, race/ethnicity categories (EEO-1 Component 1), and intersectional categories?
- Is a summary of the most recent bias audit — audit date, data source and explanation, unknown-category count, and the applicant numbers, selection or scoring rates, and impact ratios for all categories — plus the tool's distribution date posted clearly and conspicuously on the employment section of your website?
- Do NYC-resident candidates (and promotion-track employees) get notice at least 10 BUSINESS DAYS before the tool is used on them — that an AEDT will be used, the job qualifications and characteristics it will assess, and instructions for requesting an alternative selection process or accommodation?
- Do you post on the employment section of your website the type of data the tool collects, its source, and your data-retention policy, PLUS instructions for making a written request — and answer written requests within 30 days?
What are the duty tiers under NYC Local Law 144 (AEDTs)?
Covered AEDT — active compliance gaps (NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-871–20-872)
Citation: NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-871–20-872 — https://www.dfs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/04/NYC_Council_Automated_Employment_Decision_Tools.pdf
The one-year bias audit and the public summary posting are PRECONDITIONS: § 20-871(a) makes AEDT use without them unlawful per se, and each day of such use is a separate violation (§ 20-872(b)); each missed 10-business-day notice or data-practices disclosure is a further separate violation (§ 20-872(c)). Penalties: up to $500 for a first violation and each additional same-day violation, $500–$1,500 for each subsequent violation, with no statutory cure period. Unanswered compliance questions are treated as gaps — confirm each control before relying on this screen. DCWP has enforced since July 5, 2023, and the December 2025 NY State Comptroller audit faulting its weak enforcement has DCWP committed to tightening.
Covered AEDT — standing duties (NYC Admin. Code § 20-871; 6 RCNY §§ 5-300–5-304)
Citation: NYC Admin. Code § 20-871; 6 RCNY §§ 5-300–5-304 — https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DCWP-NOA-for-Use-of-Automated-Employment-Decisionmaking-Tools-2.pdf
Controls reported in place, so no active-gap flag — but the audit ages out: re-audit before 12 months pass since the last one, and keep the posting and notice machinery running for every covered tool. The duties are the employer's or agency's own even for vendor-supplied tools (DCWP FAQ § V). LL144 requires no specific action on adverse audit results, but city, state, and federal anti-discrimination law still applies — DCWP refers discrimination claims to the NYC Commission on Human Rights (FAQ §§ II.2, VII.2).
NYC hiring, but no covered AEDT use (NYC Admin. Code § 20-870; 6 RCNY § 5-300; DCWP AEDT FAQ §§ I.4–I.6)
Citation: NYC Admin. Code § 20-870; 6 RCNY § 5-300; DCWP AEDT FAQ §§ I.4–I.6 — https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dca/downloads/pdf/about/DCWP-AEDT-FAQ.pdf
Not covered as answered — the tool sits in the § 20-870 exclusion or outside the 6 RCNY § 5-300 machine-learning/statistical-modeling definition, its output meets none of the three substantial-assist prongs, or use stops at resume-bank scanning, sourcing, or inviting applications (DCWP FAQ § I.6). Document that analysis (especially who sets criteria and weights, and the human-decision role) and re-run this screen whenever tooling, vendor features, or reliance changes — ATS vendors ship ranking features enabled by default. Watch flags: state AEDT analogs are expected back in the 2027 session; seven passed 2026 NY AI bills await signature until December 31, 2026; the RAISE Act (GBL Art. 44-B, from January 1, 2027) is frontier-developer-only with deployers and API users expressly excluded; the LOADinG Act (STL Arts. 4–5) is government-only.
What are the obligations and deadlines under NYC Local Law 144 (AEDTs)?
| Obligation | Who | Deadline | Citation |
|---|
| Annual independent bias audit of each AEDT (audit must be under 1 year old at every use) | employer, employment_agency | in force since 1 January 2023; DCWP enforcement since 5 July 2023 | NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(a)(1); 6 RCNY §§ 5-300–5-302 — https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DCWP-NOA-for-Use-of-Automated-Employment-Decisionmaking-Tools-2.pdf |
| Publicly post the audit summary and the tool's distribution date before use | employer, employment_agency | in force since 1 January 2023; DCWP enforcement since 5 July 2023 | NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(a)(2); 6 RCNY § 5-303 — https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DCWP-NOA-for-Use-of-Automated-Employment-Decisionmaking-Tools-2.pdf |
| Give NYC-resident candidates 10 business days' advance notice of AEDT use | employer, employment_agency | in force since 1 January 2023; DCWP enforcement since 5 July 2023 | NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(b)(1)–(2); 6 RCNY § 5-304(a)–(c) — https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DCWP-NOA-for-Use-of-Automated-Employment-Decisionmaking-Tools-2.pdf |
| Disclose AEDT data types, sources, and retention policy (30-day response duty) | employer, employment_agency | in force since 1 January 2023; DCWP enforcement since 5 July 2023 | NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(b)(3); 6 RCNY § 5-304(d) — https://rules.cityofnewyork.us/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/DCWP-NOA-for-Use-of-Automated-Employment-Decisionmaking-Tools-2.pdf |
| Halt non-compliant AEDT use until audit, posting, and notice gaps are closed | employer, employment_agency | in force since 1 January 2023; DCWP enforcement since 5 July 2023 | NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-871(a), 20-872–20-873 — https://www.dfs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/04/NYC_Council_Automated_Employment_Decision_Tools.pdf |
| Keep a per-tool compliance file (audit, posting, notice, and disclosure evidence) | employer, employment_agency | in force since 1 January 2023; DCWP enforcement since 5 July 2023 | NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-872–20-874; 6 RCNY § 5-303(c) — https://www.dfs.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2022/04/NYC_Council_Automated_Employment_Decision_Tools.pdf |
What should you do about each obligation?
Annual independent bias audit of each AEDT (audit must be under 1 year old at every use) (NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(a)(1); 6 RCNY §§ 5-300–5-302)
Commission an impartial bias audit of each AEDT from an independent auditor — one who is not and was not involved in using, developing, or distributing the tool and has no employment relationship or direct or material indirect financial interest in you or the vendor (6 RCNY § 5-300) — and re-audit on a rolling basis: you may not use or continue to use an AEDT once more than one year has passed since its most recent bias audit (6 RCNY § 5-301(a)). The audit must at minimum calculate selection rates (or, for scoring tools, the sample median and scoring rates) and impact ratios, separately for sex categories, race/ethnicity categories (EEO-1 Component 1 per 29 C.F.R. § 1602.7), and intersectional categories, and state the number of individuals assessed who fall in an unknown category; a category under 2% of the data may be excluded only with the auditor's stated justification (6 RCNY § 5-301(b)-(d)). Use your own historical data: you may rely on an audit built on other employers' pooled historical data only if you contributed your data or have never used the tool, and on test data only where historical data is insufficient for a statistically significant audit (6 RCNY § 5-302); imputed or inferred demographics are prohibited (DCWP FAQ § III.6). The duty is yours even for an off-the-shelf vendor ATS — DCWP states the vendor is not responsible for the bias audit (FAQ § V). Use without a current audit is unlawful per se: each day of use is a separate violation at up to $500 on the first day and $500–$1,500 each thereafter (§ 20-872), and while LL144 mandates no specific action on adverse results, discrimination exposure under city, state, and federal law remains (FAQ § II.2).
Publicly post the audit summary and the tool's distribution date before use (NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(a)(2); 6 RCNY § 5-303)
Before any use of the AEDT, post clearly and conspicuously on the employment section of your website the date of the most recent bias audit and a summary of its results — the source and explanation of the data used, the number of individuals assessed who fall in an unknown category, and the number of applicants or candidates, selection or scoring rates as applicable, and impact ratios for all categories — plus the AEDT's distribution date, i.e., the date you began using the tool (6 RCNY § 5-303(a)). An active hyperlink clearly identified as a link to the bias-audit results satisfies the duty (§ 5-303(b)), and the posting must remain up for at least 6 months after your latest use of the tool for an employment decision (§ 5-303(c)). Posting is a precondition of lawful use alongside the audit itself: screening without it accrues a separate violation for each day of use, up to $500 on the first day and $500–$1,500 for each subsequent violation (§ 20-872(a)-(b)).
Give NYC-resident candidates 10 business days' advance notice of AEDT use (NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(b)(1)–(2); 6 RCNY § 5-304(a)–(c))
Notify each NYC-resident candidate who has applied for a covered position, and each NYC-resident employee being considered for promotion, at least 10 business days before the AEDT is used on them: that an AEDT will be used, the job qualifications and characteristics it will assess, and instructions for requesting an alternative selection process or a reasonable accommodation under other laws — nothing in LL144 obliges you to actually grant an alternative process (6 RCNY § 5-304(a)). Permitted channels: the job posting, U.S. mail, or e-mail; for applicants, a clear and conspicuous notice on the employment section of your website also complies and use may begin 10 business days after that posting without being position-specific; for promotion candidates, a written policy or procedure distributed to employees suffices (6 RCNY § 5-304(b)-(c)). Each notice not given is its own violation at up to $500 first and $500–$1,500 subsequent (§ 20-872(a), (c)) — a missed notice step across a hiring campaign multiplies exposure per candidate.
Disclose AEDT data types, sources, and retention policy (30-day response duty) (NYC Admin. Code § 20-871(b)(3); 6 RCNY § 5-304(d))
Post on the employment section of your website, clearly and conspicuously, the type of data the AEDT collects, the source of that data, and your data-retention policy, together with instructions for making a written request for this information — and answer any written request within 30 days (§ 20-871(b)(3); 6 RCNY § 5-304(d)). The only carve-out: information need not be disclosed where disclosure would violate local, state, or federal law or would interfere with a law-enforcement investigation, and you must give the requester an explanation on that basis. Each failure to provide this disclosure is a separate violation under § 20-872(c).
Halt non-compliant AEDT use until audit, posting, and notice gaps are closed (NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-871(a), 20-872–20-873)
§ 20-871(a) makes AEDT use without a bias audit completed within the past year AND a publicly posted results summary (with distribution date) unlawful per se — each day of such use is a separate violation (§ 20-872(b)), so pause AEDT-driven screening for covered roles until the audit and posting are in place. Gaps in the OTHER duties do not bar use: a notice gap accrues one violation per un-noticed NYC-resident candidate (§ 20-872(c)) — pause screening only as to those individuals until 10 business days after compliant notice; a data-disclosure gap is cured by posting the § 5-304(d) information and instructions and answering written requests within 30 days, with no screening halt required.
Keep a per-tool compliance file (audit, posting, notice, and disclosure evidence) (NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-872–20-874; 6 RCNY § 5-303(c))
Maintain a per-tool compliance file that caps your exposure: the current independent bias-audit report and date, the posting URL with dated screenshots (the summary must stay posted at least 6 months after the tool's latest use, 6 RCNY § 5-303(c)), the distribution date, notice templates with send logs or job-posting/website evidence establishing the 10-business-day lead time, and the data-practices disclosure with request-response records. Because § 20-872 makes each day of non-compliant use and each missed notice a separate violation, contemporaneous records are the difference between a bounded and a compounding penalty calculation in an OATH proceeding. LL144 creates no new private right of action, but § 20-874 expressly preserves candidates' and employees' existing rights to sue and the Commission on Human Rights' Title 8 authority — DCWP refers discrimination complaints to CCHR — so retain audit results and reliance decisions with counsel in the loop.
Disclaimer
Compliance guidance, not legal advice. Confirm obligations with counsel. Content version 2026.07.29-2, verified 2026-07-29.
Frequently asked questions
Who does NYC Local Law 144 (AEDTs) apply to?
No NYC nexus reported. LL144 reaches employers and employment agencies using an AEDT 'in the city', which DCWP reads as: the job location is an NYC office at least part time, the job is fully remote but associated with an NYC office, or the employment agency using the tool is located in NYC — with an outside agency covered when the role meets one of the first two prongs (NYC Admin. Code §§ 20-870–20-871; DCWP AEDT FAQ § I.4). Re-run this screen if you open an NYC office, associate a remote role with one, or take on NYC agency work. Coverage turns on the screening questions listed on this page — each obligation then applies its own statutory gate.
When does NYC Local Law 144 (AEDTs) take effect?
in force since 1 January 2023; DCWP enforcement since 5 July 2023
What are the obligations under NYC Local Law 144 (AEDTs)?
Annual independent bias audit of each AEDT (audit must be under 1 year old at every use); Publicly post the audit summary and the tool's distribution date before use; Give NYC-resident candidates 10 business days' advance notice of AEDT use; Disclose AEDT data types, sources, and retention policy (30-day response duty); Halt non-compliant AEDT use until audit, posting, and notice gaps are closed; Keep a per-tool compliance file (audit, posting, notice, and disclosure evidence).
