EMPLOYMENT AGENCY (034)

DCA Licensing Center
42 Broadway, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10004
For more information, call 311.

Any person who, for a fee, procures or attempts to procure employment or engagements for persons seeking employment or engagements, or employees for employers seeking the services of employees, requires an Employment Agency license.

***AGENCIES WHICH DO NOT REQUIRE A LICENSE***

• Temporary Employment Agencies: You are the employer and you contract out your employees, all of whom receive a W-2 form from you at the end of the year and you meet criteria of an employer.
• Theatrical Personal Managers: If you believe you qualify as a "Theatrical Personal Manager" but would like confirmation, please submit in writing, to our Legal Division, a letter detailing the exact nature of your business.
• Executive Search Firm Agencies and Certain Employer Fee Paid Agencies: Your agency places only commercial, clerical, executive, administrative, and professional applicants, and never charges the applicant a fee of any kind. If you fit this category, you do not need a license, but you must comply with all sections of the New York State Employment Agency Law relating to Employer Fee Paid Agencies. There are other, very limited types of jobs for which an employer fee paid agency does not need a license. Review the New York State Employment Agency Law to see if you fall under one of these exemptions.

Your agency must do business in New York City in order to be licensed by DCA. If your office is located in New York State, but not within New York City, please call the New York State Governor's Office of Regulatory Reform, Permit Assistance for assistance: (800) 342-3464.

Note: New York City businesses must comply with all relevant federal, state, and City laws and rules. All laws and rules of the City of New York, including the Consumer Protection Law and Rules, are accessible using the Public Access Portal. For convenience, sections of relevant New York State Law and/or New York City Law and Rules are available as a downloadable handout. The New York City Law and Rules are current as of January 2009.

Please note that businesses are responsible for knowing and complying with the most current laws, including any City Council amendments. The Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) is not responsible for errors or omissions in the handout. The information is not legal advice. You can only obtain legal advice from a lawyer.

Below are the requirements for an Employment Agency license. All required documents must be submitted when filing your application. Applications must be filed in person at the DCA Licensing Center, 42 Broadway, 5th floor, in Manhattan between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and on Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

NOTE: Your agency MUST NOT BE LOCATED IN A RESIDENTIAL BUILDING. If your agency will operate in a building that is both commercial and residential, you may place the agency in the commercial part of the building. You must submit a LETTER from the Department of Buildings stating it has no objections to the operation of an employment agency at the proposed premises. This letter must be on the Buildings Department stationery and must state your specific address.

Under New York City law, agencies that place domestic or household workers must provide them with a Statement of Employee Rights and Employer Responsibilities. Download the statement in English and Spanish.

To speed processing, please submit documents in the order listed below.

• Read and sign the Employment Agency Self-Certification of Contract Compliance ("Fee Checklist") (download).

• Basic License Application (download).

*ATTENTION NEW LICENSE APPLICANT: You can complete the Basic License Application online using a fillable PDF file, then print a bar-coded form for scanning into our system once you arrive at the Licensing Center. Learn more 

• For Sole Proprietorships, submit a notarized copy of your Business Certificate. The County Clerk of the borough in which your business is located must certify this certificate. The address appearing on your Business Certificate must be identical to the address for which you are seeking a license. If you are a sole proprietor doing business under your own name, and not a trade or Doing Business As (DBA) name, you do not need a Business Certificate.

• For Partnerships, submit a notarized copy of your Partnership Certificate. The County Clerk of the borough in which your business is located must certify this certificate. The address appearing on your Partnership Certificate must be identical to the address for which you are seeking a license.

• For Corporations, submit a stamped Certificate of Incorporation or a filing receipt. If applicable, you must also submit your corporation's Assumed Name Certificate. These certificates must be stamped by the New York State Secretary of State. For more information, contact the Secretary of State’s Division of Corporations at (518) 473-2492. If your business is an out-of-state corporation, you must obtain a Certificate of Doing Business in Good Standing from your home state’s Secretary of State and file this with an application for Authority to Conduct Business in New York with the New York State Secretary of State. A filing receipt from the New York State Secretary of State will be accepted as proof.

• If your business is a SOLE PROPRIETORSHIP or a PARTNERSHIP, the proprietor or each individual partner must submit a Notarized Child Support Certification Form (download).

Note: If this application will be filed by someone other than an owner, partner or corporate officer, the person filing the application must submit an original, notarized Affidavit Granting Authority to Act (download).

• Fingerprints. All sole proprietors, partners, directors, corporate officers, and all stockholders who own 10% or more of a corporate applicant must be fingerprinted. Each person to be fingerprinted must come in person with Photo ID to the DCA Licensing Center at 42 Broadway, 5th floor, in Manhattan. Each person to be fingerprinted must pay a processing fee of $94.25 by Check (corporate or personal) or Money Order, payable to NYC Department of Consumer Affairs. (Cash will not be accepted.) Your fingerprints will be checked for any criminal records that you may have. Note that a conviction will not necessarily prevent you from being granted a license. However, failure to reveal a conviction can constitute grounds for the denial of your application.

• A copy of the Continuous Third Party Bond, properly signed and notarized, must be submitted.You must also submit a bond receipt showing that the bond has been paid in full and does not expire before the end of the licensing period. The bond must name the Department of Consumer Affairs as the Certificate Holder. For a list of bonding companies in the area, click here.
  • $5,000 Bond for Regular Agencies
  • $10,000 Bond for Agencies engaged in modeling, theatrical and/or recruitment of domestic or household employees from overseas

• Qualifying Experience Record (QER) (download). Note: If the individual you describe on the "QER" is a person other than yourself or another principal, this application must be accompanied by an Agency Manager Permit by said individual.

A person can acquire the required two-year experience in three ways:

• Three (3) blank samples of all contracts and proposed applications to be used by your agency for each employment category in which you will place applicants. All contracts must contain the agency’s address and your individual, partnership, trade, or corporate name. Download a model contract in English and Spanish. Download a model receipt in English and Spanish.

• SECTION 185 AND 186 OF ARTICLE 11 OF NEW YORK STATE GENERAL BUSINESS LAW MUST ALSO BE PRE-PRINTED ON ALL CONTRACTS.

If you will never charge applicants a fee within a specific category, for each such category a signed “fee paid” letter from a principal of the agency is required stating: “None of our (name category) applicants will ever be charged a fee. All fees will be paid to this agency by their employer.” You must also submit a sample of all contracts for which you intend to enter with the employer. Each employment category must be represented either by an applicant contract or an employer contract in conjunction with a “fee paid” letter as described above.

• Proposed Applications Must Not Contain Any Questions Considered Discriminatory or Highly Personal by the New York State Division of Human Rights. The following are some examples of questions which may NOT be asked.

Modeling agencies do not need to submit proposed application samples if they submit an affidavit stating that all questions asked on their applications are necessary to place models in positions of employment.

• Background Sheet (download).
  
  

• Acknowledgment of Receipt of the New York State General Business Law, Regulation 5 (download).
  
  
• When Your Application Is Accepted: You will be provided with the following documents which, along with all licenses, must be conspicuously posted in your reception area in accordance with Article 11 of the New York State General Business Law (click here to read the law).
  1. DCA's "New York Employment Agencies Law" poster in English and/or Spanish
  2. U.S. anti-discrimination poster
  3. N.Y.S. anti-discrimination poster
  4. Regulation #2 sign
     
     
• In addition to the above, an employment agency "Register Book" must be maintained. The following two companies have provided register books for licensees or have communicated to the Department of Consumer Affairs an interest in doing so. This list must not be considered a recommendation of any company. All applicants are advised to investigate and compare these and other companies before making a decision. This is also not necessarily a complete listing and some companies may provide only certain types of books.

FAIRMONT PRESS
121 Varick Street, 9th Floor
New York, NY 10013
(212) 255-2300

QUICK PRINTING PRESS
356 Broadway
New York, NY 10013
(212) 372-9571

• License Fee. Must be paid by check or money order payable to NYC Department of Consumer Affairs. The chart below lists the amount due depending upon when your license application is filed. Note: An odd year is any year ending in an odd digit; for example, 2005, 2007, etc. An even year is any year ending in an even digit; for example, 2006, 2008, etc.