NYC Local Law 144

Local Law 144 of 2021 is the New York City law on automated employment decision tools (AEDTs). It is in the New York City Administrative Code at §§ 20-870 to 20-874 (Title 20, Chapter 5, Subchapter 25). The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) adopted rules for the law at 6 RCNY §§ 5-300 to 5-304 (Title 6, Chapter 5, Subchapter T). The law took effect on January 1, 2023, and DCWP started to enforce it on July 5, 2023.

In the city, an employer or employment agency must not use an AEDT to screen a candidate or employee for an employment decision unless these two conditions of § 20-871(a) apply:

• A bias audit of the tool occurred not more than one year before the use.
• Before the use, a summary of the results of the most recent bias audit and the distribution date of the tool are publicly available on the website of the employer or employment agency. The DCWP rules add the date of the most recent bias audit. They also give the location of the three items on the website, and the period to keep the summary of results and the distribution date posted (6 RCNY § 5-303).

A different obligation is the notice in § 20-871(b). The employer or employment agency must notify each employee and each candidate who applied for a position, if it screens that person with the AEDT and that person resides in the city. It must give the notice not less than 10 business days before the tool assesses that person. It must also disclose the type of data collected for the tool, the source of the data, and the data retention policy of the employer or employment agency. Section 20-871(b)(3) and 6 RCNY § 5-304(d) give this obligation.

Modulos has one Framework for the law, MFF-27, that you add to an AI System. The page Operationalizing NYC Local Law 144 in Modulos gives its Requirements and the steps that Modulos recommends.

Primary sources

• Local Law 144 of 2021 (Int. No. 1894-A of 2020), §§ 20-870 to 20-874 of the New York City Administrative Code: record of the New York City Council.
• DCWP rules, 6 RCNY §§ 5-300 to 5-304: Notice of Adoption (PDF).
• DCWP FAQ of June 29, 2023, which is not law: Automated Employment Decision Tools: Frequently Asked Questions. Also the DCWP AEDT page.

Key facts

Legislator

New York City Council (Local Law 144 of 2021, Int. No. 1894-A of 2020)

Enacted

Passed by the Council on November 10, 2021, and returned unsigned by the Mayor on December 13, 2021

Instrument

N.Y.C. Admin. Code §§ 20-870 to 20-874 and DCWP rules 6 RCNY §§ 5-300 to 5-304

In effect

January 1, 2023; DCWP enforcement since July 5, 2023

Enforced by

NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP)

Covers

Employers and employment agencies that use an AEDT to screen candidates for employment or employees for promotion within the city

Modulos Framework

MFF-27, for an AI System of the type AI Application. Use one AI System for each AEDT.

Obligations of the law

Local Law 144 and the DCWP rules give these obligations to the employer or employment agency. The table gives each obligation in short and the page that gives it in full.

Obligation	In short	Source	Full text
Scope	The obligations apply when an employer or employment agency uses an AEDT to "screen candidates for employment or employees for promotion within the city".	§ 20-870, 6 RCNY § 5-300	Scope and applicability
Bias audit	The employer or employment agency must not use the AEDT unless a bias audit occurred not more than one year before the use. The DCWP rules give the calculations and the data that the audit can use.	§ 20-871(a)(1), 6 RCNY §§ 5-301 and 5-302	The bias audit and its data
Results on the website	Before the use, the employer or employment agency must make three items publicly available on the employment section of its website. The items are the date of the most recent bias audit, a summary of results, and the distribution date. It must keep the summary of results and the distribution date posted for not less than 6 months after its latest use of the AEDT for an employment decision.	§ 20-871(a)(2), 6 RCNY § 5-303	Publication and notices
Notice	The employer or employment agency must notify each employee and each candidate who applied for a position, if it screens that person with the AEDT and that person resides in the city. The notice must be not less than 10 business days before the AEDT assesses that person.	§ 20-871(b)(1)–(2), 6 RCNY § 5-304(a)–(c)	Publication and notices
Data transparency	The employer or employment agency must post the type of data collected for the AEDT, the source of the data, and the data retention policy of the employer or employment agency. It must also post instructions for a written request. It must give the information not more than 30 days after a written request. If disclosure is not permitted, it must give an explanation "why disclosure of such information would violate local, state, or federal law, or interfere with a law enforcement investigation".	§ 20-871(b)(3), 6 RCNY § 5-304(d)	Publication and notices
Penalties	A violation of the law or of its rules gives a civil penalty. Section 20-874 keeps other rights to a civil action.	§§ 20-872 and 20-874, 6 RCNY § 6-81	Enforcement section of this page

Who has the obligations

Local Law 144 gives its obligations to the employer or employment agency that uses the AEDT (§ 20-871(a) and (b)). A vendor "that developed or distributes the AEDT" has no obligation unless it is also an employer or employment agency that uses the AEDT. In § 20-870, an employment decision is "to screen candidates for employment or employees for promotion within the city".

• In the city: the law and the rules give no definition of "in the city". The DCWP FAQ (I.4), which is not law, gives three conditions for the location of the position or of the employment agency. One condition is sufficient:
  1. For the job location: it is "an office in NYC, at least part time".
  2. The position is "fully remote but the location associated with it is an office in NYC".
  3. For an employment agency only: the employment agency is in NYC. Or it is not in NYC, but condition 1 or 2 applies.
• Candidates and employees: the DCWP FAQ (I.6, not law) tells employers and employment agencies that the obligations do not apply to the use of an AEDT to "scan a resume bank, conduct outreach to potential candidates, or invite applications". They apply when the AEDT assesses a candidate for employment or an employee being considered for promotion.
• Vendors: the DCWP FAQ (V.1, not law) gives this text: "The vendor that created the AEDT is not responsible for a bias audit of the tool". The employer or employment agency must not use the AEDT unless a bias audit occurred not more than one year before the use (§ 20-871(a)). The DCWP FAQ (V.2, not law) tells employers and employment agencies that they are "ultimately responsible for ensuring a bias audit was done before using an AEDT".
• Notice: in § 20-871(b), the employer or employment agency must notify each employee and each candidate who applied for a position. This applies if it screens that person with the AEDT for an employment decision and that person resides in the city.

The page Scope and applicability gives each test in full. The page Publication and notices gives the notice.

Obligations that the law does not give

Local Law 144 does not give these two obligations to an employer or employment agency. The items below give their sources: the DCWP FAQ (not law) for the results of a bias audit, and 6 RCNY § 5-304(a) for the alternative selection process.

• No specified tasks because of the results: the DCWP FAQ (II.2), which is not law, tells employers and employment agencies that the law "does not require any specific actions based on the results of a bias audit". The statute and the rules set no minimum impact ratio. But employers and employment agencies "must comply with all relevant Anti-Discrimination laws and rules to determine any necessary actions based on the results of a bias audit" (FAQ II.2). The page The bias audit and its data gives more information.
• No alternative selection process: 6 RCNY § 5-304(a) gives this rule: "Nothing in this subchapter requires an employer or employment agency to provide an alternative selection process". The page Publication and notices gives the instructions that the notice must include.

Enforcement and penalties

DCWP enforces Local Law 144. The DCWP FAQ (VII.2, not law) gives this text: "DCWP enforces the Law's prohibition on AEDT use without a bias audit and required notices".

Section 20-872(a) gives the civil penalties. A person that violates a provision of the subchapter or "any rule promulgated pursuant to this subchapter" is liable for a civil penalty:

Violation	Civil penalty in § 20-872(a)
A first violation, and each additional violation on the same day as the first violation	Not more than $500
Each subsequent violation	Not less than $500 and not more than $1,500

The law counts violations as follows:

• Each day on which an AEDT is used in violation gives a separate violation of § 20-871(a) (§ 20-872(b)).
• Each notice that the employer or employment agency does not give to a candidate or employee in violation of § 20-871(b)(1), (2), or (3) is a separate violation (§ 20-872(c)). Section 20-871(b)(3) gives a limit: "Information pursuant to this section shall not be disclosed" if disclosure violates local, state, or federal law, or interferes with a law enforcement investigation. If the employer or employment agency does not disclose the information of § 20-871(b)(3) because of this limit, that is not a violation. But it must give the explanation of 6 RCNY § 5-304(d)(3) (Data transparency disclosures).
• A violation of a DCWP rule also gives a civil penalty (§ 20-872(a)). Examples are 6 RCNY § 5-303(c) on the results after the latest use and 6 RCNY § 5-304(d) on the data disclosures.

DCWP also wrote a penalty schedule, 6 RCNY § 6-81. The text of § 6-81 below is the proposed rule in the DCWP Notice of Public Hearing and Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Rules. That notice gives June 6, 2022 as the date of the public hearing. The adopted text of § 6-81 is not in the sources of this page. In that text, the schedule gives the same penalties for § 20-871(a) and for § 20-871(b):

Violation	Penalty	Penalty on default
"First Violation"	$375	$500
"Second Violation"	$1,350	$1,500
"Third and Subsequent Violation"	$1,500	$1,500

In that § 6-81 text, each "subdivision, paragraph, subparagraph, clause, item, or other provision charged in the Notice of Violation shall constitute a separate violation of the law or rule". The text also gives this definition: "Unless otherwise specified by law, a second, or third and subsequent violation means a violation by the same respondent, whether by pleading guilty, being found guilty in a decision, or entering into a settlement agreement for violating the same provision of law or rule, within two years of the prior violation(s)".

Section 20-874 gives a rule about how to read the subchapter. The subchapter does not limit the right of a candidate or employee "to bring a civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction". It also does not limit "the authority of the commission on human rights to enforce the provisions of title 8". The text of the Modulos Requirement MRF-476 (AEDT applicability determination) identifies Title 8 as the New York City Human Rights Law. Section 20-874 does not give a candidate or employee a new right to a civil action.

On December 2, 2025, the New York State Comptroller made publicly available an audit of the DCWP enforcement of Local Law 144. The audit is information about enforcement. It is not a source of obligations.

How Modulos models it

Modulos has one Framework for Local Law 144: MFF-27 NYC Local Law 144. You add MFF-27 to an AI System of the type AI Application. There is no Framework for Local Law 144 at Organization level.

MFF-27 gives Requirements for one AEDT at a time. Use one AI System for each AEDT. For the Controls that other Frameworks also map, see Control overlap.

Framework mapping

Three layers, one reusable column.

Frameworks

EU AI ActRegulatory

ISO 42001Standard

Requirements

Art. 9.1Risk management

Art. 10.2Data governance

8.2AI risk assessment

Evidence

Risk registerDocument

Test resultsArtifact

Controls

The reusable column

One Control satisfies many Requirements across many frameworks, and keeps the Evidence that proves it.

Risk assessment process

Data validation checks

Reusable

Each layer connects to the Controls column. The same Control can satisfy a regulatory article and a standards clause, and keep the Evidence for the article and the clause.

The page Operationalizing NYC Local Law 144 in Modulos gives the Requirements, the steps, and the items with no Control.

Where to go next

Scope and applicability

The AEDT definition and its tests, the test for use in the city, and who has the obligations.

The bias audit and its data

The independent auditor, the calculations, the 2% exclusion, and the data that the audit can use.

Publication and notices

The results on the website, the notice to candidates and employees, and the data disclosures.

Operationalizing NYC Local Law 144 in Modulos

The Requirements, the steps to set up MFF-27, and the items with no Control.

See it in Modulos

Modulos gives NYC Local Law 144 as MFF-27. With MFF-27, record the bias audit, the results, the notices, and the data disclosures, with one AI System for each AEDT.

Request a demo

Frequently asked questions about NYC Local Law 144

See Frequently asked questions about NYC Local Law 144 for short text and links to the full rules.

Sources of this page

Modulos wrote this page from Local Law 144 of 2021, the DCWP rules, and the DCWP FAQ of June 29, 2023. DCWP adopted the rules with a Notice of Adoption. The NYC Rules page for the rules gives the "Effective date" of the rules as July 5, 2023. The DCWP FAQ is not law. The penalty schedule at 6 RCNY § 6-81 is from a DCWP Notice of Public Hearing and Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Rules. The enforcement section refers to the audit report of the New York State Comptroller of December 2, 2025.

Disclaimer

This page gives general information and is not legal advice. Local Law 144 does not replace anti-discrimination laws, for example federal law, New York State law, or New York City law. Always compare this page with the publicly available text of the law, the DCWP rules, and 6 RCNY § 6-81. Use the text that is in effect at this time, and speak to a lawyer.