Obtaining a forgotten ESS password

When employees log on to Employee Self-Service (ESS) for the first time, they set up forgotten password help. This is a series of questions and answers that only the employee might know, such as childhood nickname or first car. If employees forget their password, they can answer these security questions to gain access to reset their password.

Passwords must adhere to the following guidelines:

Must be at least eight characters in length.
Must contain at least one number.
Must contain at least one letter.
Must be different from last four passwords used for this employee.
Should be something the employee will remember.

Important: Passwords are case sensitive, meaning capitalization matters. If your password is "MyPassword" and you enter "mypassword" the system will not accept it.

To obtain a forgotten ESS password

At the Logon screen, click Forgot your password?

The Forgot My Password page appears.

Important: Do not press Enter while on this page. If you press Enter, it will clear anything you've entered and you will need to re-enter your information.
- In the User ID field, enter your seven-digit employee ID.
Click the Continue button.
Answer each of the security questions.

Note: Your answer must match the answer you provided when you set up forgotten password help. However, security answers are not case sensitive, so capitalization does not matter. If you initially specified that you grew up on "Main Street" the system would accept "main street" if you entered it here.
Click the OK button.

The Password Reset page appears.
In the New Password and Confirm Password fields, enter the new password you want to use.
Click the Change Password button.

A message appears, confirming that your password has been changed successfully.
Click the link to sign in using your new password.
Note: If you DO NOT have a user ID or password, do the following:
- All City employees (except for DOE employees) please contact NYCAPS Central Help Desk at EmployeeSupport@dcas.nyc.gov or (212) 487-0500.
- DOE employees please contact HR Connect at (718) 935-4000.

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Last revised: July 12, 2010