Collecting Middle Eastern and North African Data in New York
New York State Executive Law Section 170-h (EL 170-h) requires state agencies to include additional demographic categories for Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) individuals when collecting ancestry and ethnic origin data. Until agencies comply, they are required to provide periodic progress reports about the implementation status of EL 170-h.
This page provides the required progress report on the New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL)’s work toward implementing the collection of MENA demographic data.
NYSDOL completed an inventory of the forms and systems to which MENA demographic categories must be added. NYSDOL is currently working closely with the Office of Information and Technology Services (ITS) to update the identified forms and systems.
Currently, NYSDOL’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) System, through which customers are able to apply for and manage their benefits, is undergoing a multi-year upgrade that prevents NYSDOL from updating the current system to include the MENA demographic categories required by EL 170-h. At this time, the system design and development stages of the UI upgrade project are complete. NYSDOL, ITS, and the project vendor are leading an extensive testing process to ensure that the system performs properly and meets all security requirements. NYSDOL will explore adding the required MENA demographic categories after the UI System upgrade has successfully launched and NYSDOL, along with ITS, has determined it can be safely updated.
NYSDOL also collects customer demographic information through its Office of Workforce Development (OWD). Following identification of the appropriate OWD forms and programs that must be updated with the required MENA demographic categories, NYSDOL has completed work on how to appropriately include those categories on both OWD paper forms and digital systems. NYSDOL is currently working closely with ITS and outside vendors for its OWD systems to complete all MENA-related updates.
This progress statement will be updated every six months until implementation of EL 170-h is complete. If required, the next update will be posted by November 1, 2026.