Lawyers Flag Employers' Concerns with Calif. Workplace AI Bill
While a California bill on AI in the workplace “aims to protect workers, employers have expressed concerns about how it might affect business efficiency and innovation,” JacksonLewis attorneys Joseph Lazzarotti and Sierra Vierra blogged Wednesday.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
SB-7 by Sen. Jerry McNerney (D) is one of many privacy bills scheduled for a Senate Appropriations Committee vote on Friday. It would regulate how automated decision systems (ADS) are used in the workplace. In addition, it “seeks to ensure that employers use these systems responsibly and that AI only assists in decision-making rather than replacing human judgment entirely,” the lawyers wrote.
Among other requirements, it would prohibit using automated decision-making technology to “infer or collect sensitive personal information, such as immigration status, religious or political beliefs, health data, sexual or gender orientation, or other statuses protected by law,” the attorneys said.
“These limitations could significantly limit an employer’s ability to use ADS to streamline human resources administration, even if the ADS only assists but does not replace human decision making.” The California Consumer Privacy Act permits collection of such information, they noted.