If you hold a subcontract worth $100,000 or more on a New York City supply and services contract, you must submit an NYC subcontractor employment report to the city’s Division of Labor Services within five days after the prime contract is registered with the Comptroller’s Office.1NYC.gov. Who Must File a Supply and Services Employment Report The report captures your workforce broken out by job category, gender, and ethnicity. Which version you file depends on how many people you employ.
Who Has to File, and Which Version
The obligation runs to prime contractors and to every subcontractor whose own subcontract exceeds $100,000 on a covered city supply and services contract. The prime is responsible for identifying covered subcontractors, but each subcontractor files its own report.1NYC.gov. Who Must File a Supply and Services Employment Report
Two versions exist:
- If you have 50 or more employees, file the full Supply and Services Employment Report (the PDF on the SBS website).
- If you have fewer than 50 employees, use the shorter “Less than 50 Employees” online form instead.
One boundary worth flagging: this is the non-construction form. Construction subcontractors file different paperwork with different dollar thresholds, starting at $10,000 for federally assisted contracts and $750,000 for city- or state-funded subcontracts.2NYC.gov. Contract Compliance If your work is construction, use the construction-specific forms on the same SBS page.
Where to Get the Form
The form lives on the NYC Department of Small Business Services Contract Compliance page at nyc.gov/site/sbs/businesses/contract-compliance.page, under the “Supply and Services Contractors” heading. You will see one link for the 50-plus-employee PDF and another for the smaller-employer online form. The same page links to a detailed instruction PDF that walks through each field.2NYC.gov. Contract Compliance
The prime contractor should hand the form down the chain, but do not wait. If you know you are a covered subcontractor and nothing has arrived, download the form yourself.
The Five-Day Deadline
You must submit the completed report to the contracting agency before the fifth day following the contract’s award date, which is the date the Comptroller’s Office registers it.1NYC.gov. Who Must File a Supply and Services Employment Report Five days is tight. In practice, that means keeping your workforce demographic data current year-round rather than pulling it together from scratch after you learn the contract has registered. Ask your prime to notify you the moment registration happens.
Filling Out the Form
The report is a grid. Rows are job categories, columns are gender and ethnicity, and you enter headcounts at each intersection. Totals have to balance across rows and columns.
Company and Contract Information
At the top, enter your legal business name, your federal employer identification number, and the specific contract number for the work. The contract number must match the one registered with the NYC Comptroller’s Office. A mismatched number can get the filing flagged as incomplete. If you hold more than one covered city subcontract, you may need a separate report for each.
Job Categories
The form uses standard equal employment opportunity job categories, typically including:
- Officials and managers (hiring, firing, or policy authority)
- Professionals (advanced education or specialized knowledge)
- Technicians (technical training below a professional degree)
- Sales workers
- Administrative support (clerical and office support)
- Craft workers, operatives, laborers, and service workers
Classify each employee by actual duties, not by internal job title. The instruction PDF has additional guidance for ambiguous roles. Misclassification is one of the most common reasons the Division of Labor Services sends a report back.
The Demographic Grid
Within each job category, report headcount by gender and by ethnic background. Fill every cell, including zeros. Pull the numbers from your HRIS or payroll records and cross-check against your payroll register for the reporting period before you submit. A headcount that does not match payroll will draw a closer look.
Submitting and Handling Follow-Up
You can file with the Division of Labor Services electronically or by mail. Current contact information is on the SBS Contract Compliance page. Some contracting agencies have their own preferred intake process, so confirm the delivery method with the agency before you send anything.
DLS reviews each report for completeness. If it finds math errors, blank demographic fields, or misclassified categories, it will contact you for a correction. Respond quickly. An open compliance inquiry can hold up contract approvals and payments.
What Non-Compliance Costs
A missing or inaccurate report is not just paperwork. The city can withhold payments on the contract until a compliant report is on file, and a pattern of non-compliance can disqualify your company from future city-funded subcontracts. Because the employment reporting rule ties into overall vendor eligibility, a skipped filing can reach beyond the contract in front of you and affect your chances on any NYC project.2NYC.gov. Contract Compliance
Falsifying demographic data is a different category of problem. Knowingly submitting a materially false statement on a government form can carry criminal penalties under federal law. For most subcontractors, the realistic risk is a non-responsibility finding that blocks future awards. Either way, accurate numbers the first time are much cheaper than a correction after the fact.
Records to Keep
Hold onto the payroll records, demographic source data, and copies of each submitted report for at least three years. Federal recordkeeping rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act set a three-year minimum for payroll records and two years for supplemental records like time cards and wage rate tables.3U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 21 – Recordkeeping Requirements Under the Fair Labor Standards Act A three-year retention window also covers you if DLS asks to verify a prior filing.
Treat the demographic data as sensitive. Limit access to the people who actually prepare the reports, encrypt electronic files, and keep physical copies in locked storage.
If You Also Hold a State Subcontract
A city filing does not satisfy a state filing. New York State Finance Law Section 163(4)(g) requires contractors and subcontractors providing consulting services under state contracts to submit Form B: Contractor’s Annual Employment Report, which uses O*NET occupational classifications and reports employees, total hours worked, and amounts payable under the contract for each category.4Office of the New York State Comptroller. Form B – Contractors Annual Employment Report With Instructions Form B is due by May 15 each year for the state fiscal year running April 1 through March 31, and it goes to the contracting state agency, the Bureau of Contracts at the Office of the State Comptroller, and the Department of Civil Service. If your work spans both city and state subcontracts, plan on two separate filings.