Science-backed AI hiring compliance · NYC Local Law 144 & EU AI Act

Two regulations. One partner. Hire compliant and hire better.

If you use AI anywhere in hiring and recruit in New York or the EU, the rules now apply to you. We help you meet them, and we treat the work as a chance to strengthen how your team actually hires: clearer decisions, a fairer process, and a better candidate experience along the way.

NYC Local Law 144
NYC Admin. Code § 20-870
Enforcement active
1,111 days since enforcement began (Jul 5, 2023). Annual bias audits and candidate notice are already required.
EU AI Act: high-risk (recruitment)
Annex III · 4(a)
136 days
Until high-risk obligations apply to hiring systems on December 2, 2026.
One job: make you compliant

Check. Fix. Cover.

Three services, kept deliberately simple: we find every compliance gap you have, we close them before your deadline, and we keep you covered as the rules and your tools change.

01 · CHECK · 2 WEEKS

Compliance Score

We find every gap. A complete picture of your exposure under LL144 and the EU AI Act, in two weeks.

  • Inventory of every AI tool touching hiring decisions
  • Pass/fail gap list against both laws
  • Fix plan with owners, dates, and costs
  • Quick wins you can ship the same week
Fixed fee · quoted in one call
02 · FIX · 6–10 WEEKS

Compliance Fix

We close every gap on the list and hand you the proof: audit-ready, notice-compliant, deadline met.

  • Bias audit arranged with an independent auditor and completed
  • Candidate and worker notices live in your ATS
  • An oversight protocol your recruiters actually run
  • The audit file and published results page, done
Fixed scope · priced from your Check
03 · COVER · ONGOING

Compliance Cover

We keep you compliant as tools, laws, and your team change. You hire; we watch the rules.

  • Annual LL144 audit cycle managed end-to-end
  • Re-check on every new tool or vendor swap
  • Notices and published results kept current
  • Quarterly review of oversight quality
Annual plan · quarterly billing
Why one engagement covers both

One engagement. Both laws. Solved.

Every requirement on each side is handled inside Check, Fix, and Cover: nothing bought twice, nothing missed.

NYC · Local Law 144
Annual independent bias audit
Candidate notice, 10 business days
Published audit results
One engagement
01 · Check
02 · Fix
03 · Cover
Both laws solved
EU · AI Act
Effective human oversight · Art. 14
Deployer duties mapped · Art. 26
Monitoring, logs & worker notice

New York City: Local Law 144

In force · enforcement since Jul 5, 2023
Annual independent bias audit10 business days' candidate noticePublic summary of audit results

Where you likely stand

If an automated employment decision tool screens, scores, or ranks candidates for a NYC role, including remote roles reporting into NYC, you need a bias audit from an independent auditor within the last year, a published results summary, and notice to candidates before the tool is used. Most teams we meet are missing at least one of the three, usually notice, and it's very fixable, often within weeks.

How we help in NYC

  • Bias-audit coordinationWe get your data and documentation ready and manage the independent auditor end-to-end, so the audit becomes a routine checkpoint, not an annual scramble. Independence rules mean we never audit tools we advise on, by design.
  • Candidate notice implementationNotice language, timing, and alternative-process requests built into your ATS flow.
  • Published-results pageThe public summary, formatted to the DCWP rule, hosted and maintained.

European Union: AI Act

High-risk obligations apply Dec 2, 2026
Recruitment AI = high-risk · Annex IIIDeployer duties · Art. 26Effective human oversight · Art. 14

Where you likely stand

AI used to recruit or select candidates in the EU is classified high-risk. As a deployer you'll need to use tools per the provider's instructions, assign competent human oversight, monitor operation, keep logs, and inform workers. The deadline is real, but so is the runway. With a plan started now, most teams can meet their deployer duties comfortably before December, and come out of it with a hiring process they trust more, not less.

How we help in the EU

  • Human oversight design (Art. 14)Built with your recruiters, not imposed on them: oversight that adds real judgment to decisions instead of friction, and holds up under scrutiny.
  • Deployer obligation mapping (Art. 26)Every duty translated into an owner, a cadence, and an artifact: a plan your team can actually run before Dec 2.
  • Provider-status risk checkA friendly but rigorous look at whether your customizations crossed the line from deployer to provider. It's better to know now, while there's time to adjust.
Why behavioral science

The tool gets audited. The risk lives in how people use it.

A bias audit checks the algorithm. It cannot check the recruiter who accepts the algorithm's ranking 97% of the time without reading a single profile.

The EU AI Act names the failure mode directly: oversight must guard against automation bias, the documented human tendency to defer to machine output. Law firms handle the documents. We design the decision process: when humans review, what they see, what forces genuine judgment rather than rubber-stamping, and how override behavior is measured over time.

That's the difference between compliance you can file and compliance you can defend, and it's also why this work pays for itself: a team that reviews AI output well simply makes better hires.

Who you work with

Built at the intersection of hiring practice and behavioral science.

PeopleNotResumes is led by Carla Burger, who pairs a decade in technology talent acquisition with an Executive MSc in Behavioural Science now underway at the London School of Economics. We've sat on the recruiter's side of the ATS, and we study the decision science regulators are now writing into law. We're based in Austin and London, the same footprint as the statutes we cover.

Talent acquisition, inside techOperator experience across sourcing, assessment, and HR-tech stacks.
Behavioural science, LSEExecutive MSc; research focus on decision quality and AI trust calibration.
Alongside your counsel, not instead of itWe build the operational layer; your lawyers get evidence they can stand behind.
Straight answers

AI hiring compliance, in plain terms.

What is NYC Local Law 144?

NYC Local Law 144 is a New York City law regulating automated employment decision tools (AEDTs). Employers using an AEDT for NYC roles need an independent bias audit within the past year, a public summary of the audit results, and notice to candidates at least 10 business days before the tool is used. It has been enforced since July 5, 2023.

Does the EU AI Act apply to recruiting?

Yes. AI systems used to recruit or select candidates are classified as high-risk under Annex III of the EU AI Act. Employers deploying them must ensure competent human oversight, monitor and log operation, follow the provider's instructions, and inform workers, with high-risk obligations applying from December 2, 2026.

What counts as an automated employment decision tool (AEDT)?

An AEDT is a computational process, drawn from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence, that substantially assists or replaces human decision-making in hiring or promotion. Resume screeners, candidate scoring, and ranking features inside your ATS commonly qualify.

What does a bias audit actually measure?

A Local Law 144 bias audit calculates selection or scoring impact ratios across sex and race/ethnicity categories to test whether the tool treats groups differently. The audit must be done by an independent auditor, and a summary of results must be published.

What makes PeopleNotResumes science-backed?

Our methods come from behavioural science: the compliance work is grounded in peer-reviewed research on automation bias and decision quality, applied through training at the London School of Economics. Regulators wrote human oversight into both laws; we design oversight the way the research says it actually works.

Are you a law firm?

No. We are a behavioural-science compliance consultancy. We build and run the operational side of compliance and work alongside your legal counsel, who remain your source of legal advice.

Start here

Know every gap you have in two weeks.

The Compliance Score covers both jurisdictions at one fixed fee and ends with a complete fix plan you own either way, whether you close the gaps with us or on your own.

Book your Compliance Score