NYC Local Law 144: Your Rights When AI Screens Your Application

TL;DR: NYC Local Law 144 lets an employer or employment agency use an automated employment decision tool (AEDT) to screen you only if the tool had an independent bias audit in the past year, a summary of that audit is posted online, and, if you live in New York City, you were told about the tool at least 10 business days before it was used. You can ask in writing what data the tool collects and get an answer within 30 days. Find the employer's notice and audit before you apply.

What does NYC Local Law 144 require?

Automated employment decision tool (AEDT): a computational process derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics or artificial intelligence that issues a simplified output, such as a score, classification or recommendation, used to substantially assist or replace discretionary decision making for employment decisions (NYC Administrative Code § 20-870).

Local Law 144 of 2021 added §§ 20-870 to 20-874 to the city's Administrative Code. It took effect on 1 January 2023, and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) began enforcing it, together with its implementing rules (6 RCNY §§ 5-300 to 5-304), on 5 July 2023, according to DCWP's AEDT page.

The law gives employers three duties, and each one gives you something:

The "employment decision" covered is broader than the final offer. The statute defines it as screening candidates for employment or employees for promotion within the city, and DCWP's rule defines "screen" as deciding whether a candidate should be selected or advanced in the process. A tool that only sorts resumes into an interview pile is therefore inside the law, which the rule's own example (an AEDT that screens resumes and schedules interviews) confirms.

Does the law apply to your application?

Four conditions decide it, and the first two are separate: one covers the employer's use of the tool, the other your right to notice.

The tool is used "in the city" when, per question I.4 of the DCWP FAQ, the job is located at least part time in an NYC office, or the job is fully remote but associated with an NYC office, or the employment agency running the tool is in NYC. A remote role attached to a Chicago office falls outside the law even if you live in Brooklyn.

You are owed a notice only if you reside in New York City. The statute limits § 20-871(b) to candidates "who reside in the city." A New Jersey resident applying to a Manhattan job is still covered by the bias-audit and publication duties, so the summary must exist, but the employer owes that candidate no notice.

You must be a candidate. The rule defines a candidate as someone who applied for a specific position in the format the employer requires. FAQ question I.6 says the law does not cover tools used to scan a resume bank, run outreach or invite applications. A recruiter's sourcing tool that finds your LinkedIn profile is out of scope until you apply.

The tool must "substantially assist or replace" the decision. The rule narrows this to three uses of a simplified output (a score, tag, classification or ranking):

1. relying on it alone, with no other factors considered;
2. weighting it more than any other criterion in a set; or
3. using it to overrule conclusions from other factors, including human judgment.

A score weighted equally with five other criteria may fall outside the definition. The employer makes that call, and the law does not require it to publish its reasoning.

Where to find the AEDT notice before you apply

The rule lets an employer give the notice in any of three ways: on the employment section of its website, in the job posting, or by U.S. mail or email, each at least 10 business days before the tool is used. FAQ question VI.2 adds that a website notice does not have to name the position: an employer can post one general notice and start using the tool on any job 10 business days later.

The notice has to tell you that an AEDT will be used, the job qualifications and characteristics it will assess, and, under rule § 5-304(a), how to request an alternative selection process or a reasonable accommodation under other laws, "if available."

Finding it takes effort. In the Null Compliance study (Cornell University, Data & Society and Consumer Reports, presented at ACM FAccT 2024), 155 student investigators checked 391 employers between 24 October and 9 November 2023. They found 18 audit reports and 13 transparency notices. Disclosures sat in website footers, careers FAQs, drop-down menus and PDFs, and investigators searching for up to 30 minutes often failed to find them, after clicking through about 17 pages for notices and 19 for audit reports on average.

A search order that matches where the study found them:

1. The job posting itself, near the equal opportunity statement.
2. The careers site footer and its FAQ or "candidate privacy" page.
3. A search engine query: the company name plus "bias audit" or "automated employment decision tool."
4. Confirmation emails after you apply, which may carry the notice.

If you find nothing, the employer may use no covered tool, may judge its tool outside the "substantially assist" definition, or may be out of compliance. The study's authors called this "null compliance": a missing notice proves little on its own.

How to read a bias audit summary

Rule § 5-303 lists what a summary must contain: the date of the most recent audit, the source and explanation of the data, the number of people in an unknown category, the number of applicants, the selection or scoring rates and the impact ratios for every category, plus the date the employer started using the tool.

Pfizer's published summary for Workday's HiredScore shows the format. HiredScore grades each application A to D against the job requisition. Pfizer's data covers applicants to requisitions with NYC hires open between August 2022 and February 2025:

The selection rate is the share of a group that got the outcome (here, an A). The impact ratio divides a group's rate by the rate of the group with the highest one, so 1.000 marks the benchmark group. The summary also reports 2,953 people whose sex or race/ethnicity was unknown and therefore sit outside the calculations.

Three limits matter when you read one of these:

• There is no pass mark. Pfizer's summary says all its ratios are at least 80%, "consistent with the 'bias-free' requirements" of the law. Local Law 144 sets no such requirement. FAQ question II.2 states that the law "does not require any specific actions based on the results of a bias audit." The 80% line comes from the federal four-fifths rule of thumb in 29 CFR 1607.4(D), under which agencies generally treat a rate below four-fifths of the highest group's rate as evidence of adverse impact, and smaller differences can still count.
• Only sex and race/ethnicity are tested. The categories are the EEO-1 component 1 categories, plus intersections. Age and disability are not part of the audit, and categories below 2% of the data may be excluded (FAQ question III.9).
• The audit describes groups, not you. It cannot tell you which grade your resume received or why.

What you control is the input. A grade like HiredScore's reflects what the tool read from your application, and the ATS-friendly resume format guide covers the layout choices that keep text extractable. Before applying, you can run your resume through our free ATS checker to see the text a parser pulls from it.

Requests you can make, and where to complain

Ask for your data information. If the employer's website does not already disclose it, § 20-871(b)(3) entitles you to the type of data collected for the tool, its source and the retention policy, provided within 30 days of a written request. A short email works:

Under NYC Administrative Code § 20-871(b)(3), I request information about the type of data collected for the automated employment decision tool used for [job title, requisition number], the source of that data and your data retention policy. I applied on [date].

Ask for an alternative or an accommodation. The statute says the notice must "allow a candidate to request an alternative selection process or accommodation." The rule then says nothing in it "requires an employer or employment agency to provide an alternative selection process." So you can ask; the employer can decline. A reasonable accommodation for a disability is a separate right under other laws, and the notice must explain how to request it.

Complain about a missing audit or notice to DCWP. Use DCWP's online complaint form (choose "Employment Agency" or "Other") or call 311. FAQ question VII.1 asks you to include the job posting or position, the name and type of tool, any notice you received, and what you think was violated. Penalties under § 20-872 run up to $500 for a first violation and $500 to $1,500 for each subsequent one, and each day of unlawful use counts separately.

Report discrimination to the Commission on Human Rights. DCWP enforces the audit and notice duties only and refers discrimination claims to the NYC Commission on Human Rights, whose page gives one year from the discriminatory practice to file (three years for gender-based harassment). Section 20-874 states that Local Law 144 does not limit your right to bring a civil action.

The state has questioned how well DCWP enforces the law. A December 2025 audit by the New York State Comptroller covered July 2023 to June 2025; according to DLA Piper's summary, 75% of the auditors' test calls to 311 about AEDT issues were routed incorrectly, and DCWP's review of 32 published bias audits found one issue of non-compliance where the Comptroller's team found at least 17 potential issues. DCWP agreed to most of the recommendations. If you call 311, name Local Law 144 and ask for DCWP.

What Local Law 144 does not do

Five limits follow from the statute, the rule and the FAQ:

• It does not ban biased tools. It requires an audit and its publication. Acting on a disparate result is a matter for anti-discrimination law.
• It does not guarantee a human review. You can request an alternative process; the employer is not obliged to provide one.
• It does not cover sourcing. Tools that search resume databases or target job ads are outside it until you apply.
• It does not reach jobs elsewhere. A remote role tied to an office outside the city is not covered, and notice goes only to NYC residents.
• It does not hold vendors responsible. FAQ question V.1 puts compliance on the employer or agency; a vendor may commission an audit, but the employer must make sure one exists.

Status as of 13 October 2026. DCWP's New Laws & Rules page lists no AEDT law or rule change after the rule that took effect on 5 July 2023, and the FAQ is still the June 2023 version. For AI hiring rules outside New York City, including the EU AI Act and Colorado, see our guide to AI resume screening.

Who enforces NYC Local Law 144?+

The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) enforces the bias audit, publication and notice duties. Discrimination claims involving a tool go to the NYC Commission on Human Rights, and DCWP refers them there.

Does Local Law 144 apply to remote jobs?+

Only if the remote job is associated with an office in New York City, per DCWP's FAQ. The employer must also give notice only to candidates who live in the city.

Can I opt out of AI screening in New York City?+

You can ask. The notice must explain how to request an alternative selection process or accommodation, but DCWP's rule says employers are not required to provide an alternative process. Disability accommodations rest on other laws.

What is a good impact ratio in a bias audit?+

The law sets none. Many summaries compare results to the federal four-fifths rule of thumb (0.8), under which a lower ratio is generally treated as evidence of adverse impact, but Local Law 144 does not require any action based on the numbers.

How long does an employer have to answer my data request?+

Thirty days from your written request, for information about the type of data collected, its source and the retention policy, unless the employer already discloses it on its website or disclosure would violate law or interfere with a law enforcement investigation.

Key takeaways

• Local Law 144 regulates the employer's use of a screening tool, not the tool itself: an audit within a year, a posted summary, and a notice to NYC residents 10 business days ahead.
• Coverage turns on where the job is and where you live; a remote job tied to a non-NYC office, or a sourcing tool that finds you before you apply, falls outside it.
• A bias audit summary reports selection rates and impact ratios by sex and race/ethnicity; any "pass" language in it comes from the employer, since the law sets no threshold.
• The concrete request the law gives you is a written answer, within 30 days, on what data the tool collects, from where, and how long it is kept.
• Missing audits and notices go to DCWP; discrimination goes to the Commission on Human Rights within one year.