LO
Policy mandateProcess & self-service2023-04-06
Employers may not use an automated hiring tool unless it had a bias audit within the past year by an auditor independent of the tool, under New York City's rules
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Event date / reported
2023-04-06
Evidence stage
Policy mandateRegulation, subsidy or public procurement is requiring or funding adoption — the mirror of a constraint. It shows adoption is being required, not that it has happened, so one mandate is never enough on its own; two independent ones are.
Tasks this bears on
Challenging and auditing models
Independently testing someone else's model — whether it works, where it fails, whether it treats groups unfairly — and documenting it for a regulator or auditor.
New task✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
New York City. The final rule implementing the city's law on automated employment decision tools says an employer or employment agency may not use or continue to use such a tool if more than one year has passed since its most recent bias audit; that a bias audit must at a minimum calculate the selection rate and impact ratio for each category; and that an auditor is not independent if it is or was involved in using, developing or distributing the tool. The tools it covers include machine learning, statistical modelling and data analytics. It applies to hiring and promotion in one city.
What this means
The rule turns checking a model into recurring work for someone who did not build it: every hiring tool in the city needs an independent bias audit each year. It is work created by automation, and it requires a person who understands models.
What it does not yet show
A rule for hiring tools in one city; it does not measure how many audits are done or who does them.
What you can check
Open the NYC DCWP notice of adoption for automated employment decision tools and find "may not use or continue to use an AEDT if more than one year has passed since the most recent bias audit".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event, and this stage does not move one on its own: a "Policy mandate" record counts toward a judgement but needs a second, independent record before the judgement rests on evidence. This one is counted; on its own it changed nothing.
Source
New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection — Notice of Adoption of Final Rule, Use of Automated Employment Decision Tools (implementing Local Law 144 of 2021; effective July 5, 2023) · verified 2026-09-29 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-29 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.