The New York City Bias Audit Law: Regulating AI and Automation in HR

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automated employment decision tools are revolutionizing talent management in organizations, providing a scalable and efficient solution to sourcing and retaining top talent. Despite the benefits associated with these systems, such as improved candidate experience, reduced time to hire and cost savings, the systems can also pose risks, particularly in respect to bias or discrimination.

As a result of these risks, the New York City Council has taken decisive action, passing legislation that will soon require bias audits of automated employment decision tools being used in the city. Indeed, Local Law 144, also known as the NYC bias order legislation, will prohibit employers from using automated employment decision tools to evaluate candidates for jobs or employees for promotion in the city unless an independent third party has audited it from 5 July 2023, postponed in December 2022 from the previous date of 1 January 2023 due to a high number of public comments on the legislation. Employers (and employment agencies) will also be required to make a summary of the results of the bias audit publicly available on their websites. Furthermore, they need to notify candidates and employees that they will utilize an employment automated decision tool to judge their application and the characteristics that it considers.

Within the scope of the legislation are employers who use automated resume screeners, game- and image-based assessments scored by algorithms, and automated video interviews. However, since many employers typically outsource these tools from vendors who develop and sell them, they will look to vendors to Commission an audit on their behalf.

At Holistic AI, we have a team of expert auditors who, informed by our auditing frameworks and policy insights, can conduct holistic audits of HR Tech systems, considering the code, data, and outputs. To learn more about the NYC Bias Audit Law and how Holistic AI can help you get compliant, download our White Paper below.