NYC Delays Enforcement of Law Regulating Automated Employment Decision Tools

As we reported in a prior alert, earlier this year, New York City passed a law regulating employers’ use of automated employment decision tools. An automated employment decision tool (AEDT) is defined by the law 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 that impact natural persons.” Under the law, employers may not use AEDTs unless two requirements are met. First, the AEDT must have been subject to a bias audit no more than one year before the AEDT is used. Second, before using the AEDT, employers must make publicly available on their website the results of the most recent bias audit and the distribution date of the AEDT.

While the law was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2023, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection just announced that it will not enforce the law until April 15, 2023. The Department reports that the delay in enforcement is due to the high volume of comments it received on the proposed rules it published to implement the law, and that the Department will be holding additional public hearings to solicit feedback on the proposed rules.

We will continue to monitor developments regarding this law. If you have any questions regarding compliance with the law, please contact Amanda M. Baker at abaker@fglawllc.com or any other attorney at the Firm.

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