Regulators are trying to protect you from being fired by AI – here’s how
Regulating AI at work is happening slowly, but it’s still stuck at the state level.
The emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) in workplaces has been on the rise, touching various aspects from daily tasks to recruitment and performance evaluations. A survey conducted by MyPerfectResume in April revealed that 73% of HR professionals utilize AI for hiring decisions, while 52% employ it to inform restructuring and role planning.
Moreover, 51% of hiring managers rely on AI to identify "risky" candidates during candidate screening. However, only 26% of respondents indicated they do not use AI in making layoff decisions.
California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a new bill, named the "No Robo Bosses Act" (SB 947), aimed at safeguarding employees from certain AI-driven workplace decisions. This legislation addresses several concerns, primarily focusing on disciplinary and termination decisions made by automated decision systems (ADS). Employers are required to review any AI decisions concerning employee discipline or termination, providing employees with an explanation of the reasons behind the decision.
This includes any data used for the decision, such as personnel files, evaluations, work product, peer reviews, and witness interviews.
If an employer cannot verify the accuracy, completeness, or legitimacy of the ADS output or if the human reviewer finds the output inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, the employer is prohibited from using the ADS output to make disciplinary or termination decisions. Employees who believe their rights have been violated can file complaints with the California Labor Commissioner.
However, the law does not entirely prohibit the use of automated systems in these determinations and mandates employers to clarify if mass layoffs, relocations, or terminations are caused by AI systems.
Although federal AI regulation remains less specific and focused on voluntary agreements, states like California, Connecticut, and Illinois have taken the lead in establishing preliminary protections for workers. California and New York have been more aggressive in implementing stricter laws, while Illinois became the first state to require third-party audits of AI-driven decision-making systems.
Despite these efforts, AI regulation in hiring and workplace processes may remain a fragmented patchwork across the country until federal legislation catches up.
Written by urgent.news from ZDNet's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
