The Law in One Paragraph
NYC Local Law 144 (effective July 5, 2023): employers and employment agencies in New York City cannot use an Automated Employment Decision Tool (AEDT) to substantially assist or replace discretionary decision-making for any New York City employment action unless they have: (a) conducted an independent bias audit within one year of the tool's use; (b) published a summary of the audit results on their website; and (c) given candidates at least 10 business days' notice before use, including information about the tool's characteristics and data retention policy. Enforced by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).
What Is an AEDT?
NYC DCWP defines an AEDT as: "any computational process, derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence, that issues simplified output, including a score, classification, or recommendation, that is used to substantially assist or replace discretionary decision making for making employment decisions regarding candidates or employees."
In practice: HireVue scoring, Sapia scoring, Modern Hire scoring, Paradox screening, and VidCruiter scoring all meet this definition. The key phrase is "substantially assist or replace discretionary decision-making." A tool that produces a score or rank that recruiters use to filter candidates qualifies.
Metaview: likely not an AEDT
Metaview is an interviewer-assistant tool: it transcribes and summarises human-conducted live interviews, generating structured notes for the recruiter. If Metaview's output does not produce a hiring-decision score or ranking, it may fall outside the AEDT definition. Verify per your specific use case and get vendor confirmation in writing.
The Bias Audit Requirement
The bias audit must be performed at least annually. If you deploy the AEDT for the first time in January 2026, the first audit must be complete and published before January 2027.
The auditor must be independent of both the employer and the AEDT vendor. The DCWP rules make clear that the vendor cannot audit its own tool. Many vendors publish audits using their own data teams; these may not satisfy the "independent" requirement under NYC rules. Verify that the audit was performed by a genuinely independent third party.
The audit must calculate and disclose: selection rate per race/ethnicity group, selection rate per sex, impact ratio (selection rate of each group compared to the most selected group), and sample size. Intersectional reporting (race x sex combinations) is also required where sample sizes permit.
The employer (not the vendor) must publish a summary of the audit results on the employer's public website. The summary must include the date of the most recent audit, the name and contact information of the independent auditor, and the required metrics.
Candidate Notice Requirement
At least 10 business days before an AEDT is used to evaluate a candidate, the employer must provide the candidate with:
- 1.The characteristics the AEDT evaluates (e.g., language-based personality traits, competency scores)
- 2.The job qualifications or characteristics being assessed (e.g., "communication effectiveness, problem-solving approach")
- 3.The types of data the AEDT collects (e.g., video recording, audio, text responses)
- 4.The employer's data retention policy for candidate AEDT data
- 5.How to request an accommodation (an alternative assessment if a candidate prefers not to use the AEDT)
The 10-business-day window is from the time the notice is delivered to the candidate to the time the AEDT assessment begins. Build this into your ATS workflow: if you send the interview invitation and the candidate can immediately start the assessment, you are not providing the required notice period.
Penalties
First violation
$500
Per DCWP enforcement action
Subsequent violations
$500-$1,500
Per violation; each day of continued violation is a separate violation
Private plaintiff risk
Ongoing
AEDT non-compliance cited in class-action filings as evidence of disparate-impact
Vendor-by-Vendor AEDT Audit Publication Status (April 2026)
| Vendor | AEDT audit status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| HireVue | Published | Annual audit on Trust Center. Covers selection rates by race/ethnicity/sex. |
| Sapia.ai | Published | Annual FairChoice methodology audit. Published publicly. |
| myInterview | Published | Published with methodology transparency. |
| Modern Hire / Canvas | Legacy published | Legacy Modern Hire audit published. 2025/2026 Canvas audit: verify directly. |
| Paradox (Olivia) | Not published | Not publicly available. Request directly before NYC deployment. |
| VidCruiter | Not published | Not publicly available. Request directly. |
| Spark Hire | Not published | Not publicly available. |
| Willo | Not published | Not published. Primarily UK/EU market, limited NYC exposure. |
| Metaview | N/A (likely) | Interviewer-assistant tool; does not produce a hiring-decision score. Likely outside AEDT definition; verify per use case. |
| Talview | Not published | Not publicly available. |
Verified from vendor public sites and NYC DCWP public documentation, April 2026. Status may change; verify before procurement and at each annual renewal.
7-Step AEDT Compliance Workflow for Employers
Vendor audit collection
Request the most recent bias audit from your AI interviewer vendor. Verify it was conducted by an independent auditor (not the vendor's own team). Confirm it covers the required metrics and is within 12 months.
Independent audit engagement
If your vendor's audit is not independently qualified, or if you use multiple AI decision tools, engage your own independent auditor. The auditor must be independent of both you (the employer) and the vendor.
Selection-rate data gathering
The independent auditor requires selection-rate data by demographic group. Confirm your HR data has the demographic fields (race/ethnicity, sex) needed for the required DCWP metrics, and that you can extract interview-stage selection data.
Audit summary drafting and publication
Draft the DCWP-compliant audit summary including the auditor's name, contact information, audit date, and required metrics. Publish on your public website (not intranet). Record the URL for DCWP compliance documentation.
Candidate notice template creation
Draft the 10-business-day candidate notice. Include: AEDT characteristics evaluated, job qualifications assessed, data types collected, retention policy, and accommodation request process. Have employment counsel review.
ATS workflow integration of notice
Configure your ATS so that the candidate notice is delivered automatically at the right point in the workflow, with the 10-business-day window enforced before the assessment link activates.
Annual audit calendar
Set calendar reminders for annual audit renewal before the anniversary of your AEDT deployment. The audit must be within 12 months of use; a missed renewal creates immediate non-compliance.
Common Mistakes
- !Treating the vendor's audit as sufficient without verifying that the auditor qualifies as "independent" under DCWP rules.
- !Not publishing the audit summary on a public-facing website (intranet pages do not satisfy the requirement).
- !Using overly generic candidate notice language that doesn't specify the actual characteristics evaluated.
- !Applying the law only to job postings with "New York" in the title. The law applies to any NYC-resident candidate, regardless of how the posting is worded.
- !Failing to provide an alternative assessment path for candidates who decline the AEDT.
- !Missing the annual renewal deadline, which creates a new violation even if the original deployment was compliant.
Disclaimer
This page contains general information about NYC Local Law 144 as of April 2026. It is not legal advice. NYC DCWP may issue additional rules or enforcement guidance. Consult qualified employment counsel for jurisdiction-specific advice before deploying any AI-driven hiring tool for New York City positions.