In force · 2023
New York City: what Local Law 144 entitles you to
If an automated tool screens you for a job or a promotion in New York City, the employer must tell you, must publish a bias audit of the tool, and must let you ask for a different process.
The ResumeVera team
Checked against the statute and dated. Where a law is not yet in force, or its enforcement is stayed, this page says so rather than describing it as if it applied.
Updated 2026-08-28T06:47:04.845Z
5 min
Section 01
What this page is
This is information for job seekers, not legal advice, and it is current as at August 2026. This area moves quickly, so check the primary source linked at the end before relying on any of it for a decision that matters.
Section 02
What the law covers
Local Law 144 applies to automated employment decision tools used to screen candidates for jobs in New York City, or to evaluate existing employees for promotion. It is the oldest of the rules in this area and the one most other jurisdictions have been measured against.
Section 03
What you are entitled to
Clear and timely notice that such a tool is being used on you. A statement of the job qualifications and characteristics the tool assesses. And notice that you may request an alternative selection process or a reasonable accommodation, which is the closest thing in any of these laws to a right to a human.
If you are already an employee and the tool is being used for a promotion decision, that notice must come at least ten business days in advance.
Separately, the employer must publish a summary of the tool's most recent bias audit, clearly and conspicuously, on its website. That is a public document you can read before you apply, and almost nobody does.
Section 04
How well it is actually enforced
Not very, on the city's own auditor's assessment. On 2 December 2025 the New York State Comptroller published an audit concluding that the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection's enforcement has been ineffective, citing failures in complaint intake and compliance review.
Three quarters of test calls made to 311 about these tools were misrouted and never reached the department. The department's own survey of 32 companies found a single case of non-compliance, while the Comptroller's auditors reviewing those same companies identified at least 17 potential violations.
Two things follow for you. Do not assume an employer is compliant because nobody has stopped them. And expect this to tighten, because that is usually what happens after an audit like it.
Section 05
What to actually do
Before applying to a New York City employer, look for the bias audit summary on their site. If a tool is used on you, the notice should tell you how to request an alternative process, and asking is free.
Pro tips
Do these
Check the date on anything you read about AI hiring law. Several widely cited statutes have been postponed, repealed or replaced.
A disclosure rule tells you what is happening. It does not usually give you a right to a different process.
None of these laws gives you a right to see your own score or ranking.
Knockout questions, not resume parsing, are what genuinely rejects an application automatically.
Asking a recruiter directly costs nothing, and how they answer tells you something either way.
Avoid these
Delete these
Assuming a law described in an article from last year is still in force. Three of the eight jurisdictions we track have moved.
Expecting to be shown your score. No jurisdiction on this page grants that.
Treating a disclosure requirement as a right to a human reviewer. Only New York City comes close, and it is a request rather than a guarantee.
Believing a model deleted your application when a knockout question is the likelier explanation.
Rewriting a resume for software rather than for a reader. The changes that help a parser help a person too.
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How this guide is maintained
We review this guide every quarter and after any change to the hiring rules or portal behaviour it describes. It was last reviewed on 2026-08-28T06:47:04.845Z. Figures come from named sources, shown beside the number. Where we are estimating rather than measuring, we say so.
By the numbers
10
business days of notice before an automated tool is used on an existing employee for a promotion
New York City Local Law 144
Public
the employer must post a summary of the tool's most recent bias audit on its website
New York City Local Law 144
Dec 2025
when the New York State Comptroller found enforcement of the law ineffective
Office of the New York State Comptroller audit, 2 December 2025
17
potential violations auditors found among 32 companies the city had cleared but one
Office of the New York State Comptroller audit, 2 December 2025
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A sample resume in the real checker. The 82 and the sub-scores are what the scorer returns for it.
Sources & further reading
The formatting guidance and figures on this page draw on the following authoritative sources.
- New York City DCWP, Automated Employment Decision Tools, The city's own guidance on the bias audit, the candidate notice and the alternative process.
- Office of the New York State Comptroller, audit of DCWP enforcement (2 December 2025), Concluded enforcement has been ineffective, with three quarters of 311 test calls misrouted and at least 17 potential violations found among companies the department had cleared.
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