Who must comply with NYC Local Law 144?

Employers and employment agencies that use an automated employment decision tool to substantially assist or replace discretionary decisions for hiring or promotion of candidates or employees in New York City. This includes many AI-powered resume screeners, assessment tools, and ranking features inside common ATS platforms.

What are the penalties for violating Local Law 144?

$500 for a first violation and each additional violation on the same day, and $500 to $1,500 for each subsequent violation. Each day a noncompliant AEDT is used counts as a separate violation, and failing to provide required candidate notice is a separate violation on top.

Does an AI feature inside my ATS trigger the audit requirement?

It depends on whether the feature functions as an AEDT: whether it substantially assists or replaces your discretionary screening decisions. Scoping which of your tools actually trigger LL144 is the first step, and it is exactly what a readiness assessment is for.

Does the RunAIAudit $249 Readiness Report satisfy the LL144 bias audit requirement?

No. LL144 requires an independent bias audit performed by an independent auditor. The Readiness Report tells you whether LL144 applies to your stack, what your gaps are across LL144, Illinois HB 3773, and EEOC guidance, and prepares you to engage an independent auditor without overbuying.

NYC Local Law 144 Bias Audit: Cost + Requirements (2026)

Quick answer: Independent LL144 bias audits are custom-quoted — pricing scales with how many automated employment decision tools (AEDTs) you use and how clean your applicant data is. For one tool, plan for a four-to-five-figure engagement, repeated every year. Noncompliance runs $500–$1,500 per violation per day, and NYC's enforcement agency (DCWP) committed to proactive enforcement in 2026 after a December 2025 New York State Comptroller audit criticized its complaint-only approach.

Who has to comply

LL144 (in force since 2023) applies to employers and employment agencies that use an automated employment decision tool — software that uses machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or AI to substantially assist or replace discretionary decisions — to screen candidates or employees for jobs in New York City.

You do not need to be headquartered in NYC. Hiring for NYC-based roles is enough.
Many teams trigger LL144 through their ATS without realizing it: resume rankers, "best match" scores, AI assessments, and video-interview scoring can all qualify as AEDTs.
Small companies are not exempt. There is no headcount floor in LL144.

What LL144 actually requires

Independent bias audit, every year. An independent auditor must test the tool for disparate impact — selection or scoring rates and impact ratios broken out by sex and by race/ethnicity, including intersectional categories — no more than one year before each use of the tool.
Published results. A summary of the most recent audit results and the tool's distribution date must be publicly posted on the employment section of your website.
Candidate notice. NYC candidates and employees must be told, at least 10 business days before the AEDT is used, that it will be used, which qualifications it assesses, and how to request an alternative process or accommodation.

What it costs in 2026

Line item	Typical cost	Notes
Independent bias audit	Custom-quoted; commonly four to five figures per year	Scales with the number of AEDTs and data complexity. A single tool with clean applicant-flow data is the cheapest case; multiple tools, vendor data gaps, or messy historical data push quotes up. Get at least two quotes.
Data preparation	Internal time, often the hidden cost	Pulling selection data by sex and race/ethnicity categories out of your ATS is usually the slowest step. Vendor-supplied "distribution data" may be usable in limited cases, but auditors decide what they can rely on.
Published summary + notices	Minimal dollars, real diligence	Posting the results summary and sending compliant 10-business-day notices is cheap — missing them is a separate violation each.
Doing nothing	$500 first violation; $500–$1,500 each subsequent, per violation, per day	Each day of noncompliant AEDT use is a separate violation, and notice failures stack on top. One noncompliant tool used through a single quarter can theoretically stack into six figures.

Enforcement shifted in 2026. A December 2025 New York State Comptroller audit found DCWP had been enforcing LL144 only on complaints. DCWP committed to proactive enforcement in 2026. The "nobody's checking" era is the thing that ended.

The cheapest compliant path for a small employer

Most 10–50-person companies overspend in one of two directions: they buy a full audit for a tool that turns out not to be an AEDT, or they ignore LL144 because enterprise compliance platforms start at five figures. The cost-rational sequence is:

1. Scope first. Determine which of your tools actually function as AEDTs, whether you're hiring for NYC roles, and whether Illinois HB 3773 (in force since Jan 1, 2026) also touches you.
2. Fix the free items immediately. Candidate notices and your published-results page cost almost nothing and eliminate per-day notice violations.
3. Buy the audit right-sized. Engage an independent auditor only for the tools that are in scope, with your data already prepared — that is what keeps the quote at the low end.

Step 1, done for you: the $249 Readiness Report

We map your hiring stack against NYC LL144, Illinois HB 3773, and EEOC guidance: whether you need an independent audit at all, your prioritized gap list, ready-to-send notice templates, and the exact prep an auditor will ask for. Founder-reviewed, delivered fast, 30-day money-back guarantee.

Get your Readiness Report — $249 one-time

To be clear: the Readiness Report is not the LL144 independent bias audit itself — it tells you whether you need one and gets you ready to buy it without overpaying. Ongoing monitoring plans are available after the report.

Common questions

How much does a Local Law 144 bias audit cost?

Independent audit firms quote custom pricing that scales with the number of AEDTs in scope and how clean your applicant data is. For a single tool, expect a four-to-five-figure engagement per year; multiple tools or messy historical data cost more. Always get at least two quotes.

Who counts as an "independent auditor"?

Someone who was not involved in using, developing, or distributing the tool, has no employment relationship with you or the vendor, and no financial interest in either. Your own HR team or the tool's vendor cannot audit their own tool.

What are the penalties?

$500 for a first violation and each additional violation on the same day; $500–$1,500 for each subsequent violation. Each day of noncompliant use is a separate violation, and missing candidate notice is its own violation on top.

My ATS "has AI features" — am I covered by LL144?

It depends on whether the feature substantially assists or replaces your discretionary screening decisions. A ranking score you rely on to cut the pile probably qualifies; a spell-checker does not. Scoping this is exactly what our Readiness Report does.

Does the $249 Readiness Report satisfy the audit requirement?

No — and be skeptical of anything cheap that claims it does. LL144 requires an independent bias audit by an independent auditor. The report tells you whether you need one, fixes your notice and disclosure gaps, and preps your data so the audit you do buy costs less.

We also have employees in Illinois. Does this page apply?

Illinois HB 3773 is a separate law, in force since January 1, 2026, covering employers with even one Illinois employee. It bans AI-driven discrimination and requires employee notice. It does not require an LL144-style audit, but the exposure analysis overlaps — the Readiness Report covers both.

NYC Local Law 144 bias audit: what it costs and what's actually required (2026)