The Pulse
California Signs Four New AI Protections for Workers
On September 30, 2026, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed four California bills addressing AI-related employment decisions, layoff notices and workplace surveillance. The measures require human review for certain AI-assisted discipline and terminatio
AI.info Team · Written with AI ·
July 1, 2027, is when California’s new limits on AI-assisted firing decisions take effect—nine months after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed them on September 30. The package includes four bills addressing automated discipline, layoff disclosures and workplace surveillance. Newsom’s announcement described the worker measures as first-in-the-nation protections.
SB 947 requires a human check on AI discipline
Senate Bill 947 bars employers from relying solely on an automated decision system to discipline or terminate an employee. When an employer primarily relies on an AI system, a human reviewer must corroborate its output with relevant information, such as evaluations, personnel records or work product. If the reviewer cannot corroborate the output—or finds it inaccurate, incomplete or misleading—the employer cannot use it to make the disciplinary or termination decision.
Employees must receive written notice when an employer primarily relies on an automated decision system for such a decision. They can also request an objective description of the employee data the system used. The law allows enforcement by the Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors, and provides for a $500 civil penalty per violation. The enrolled bill sets July 1, 2027, as its operative date.
“No worker should ever be fired or disciplined by a robo boss.”
Sen. Jerry McNerney, the bill’s author, said this in a statement after Newsom signed SB 947.
SB 951 adds an AI explanation to layoff notices
Senate Bill 951 adds information to notices already required under California’s WARN law. When a covered employer gives notice of a mass layoff, relocation or termination caused wholly or substantially by AI or other automation, the notice must identify the affected jobs, the functions to be automated and the type of technology involved. The state Employment Development Department must publish notice summaries and quarterly statewide summaries of reported technology displacements.
The measure does not create a general notice requirement for every job affected by automation. It amends the existing WARN process, which generally requires 60 days’ notice for mass layoffs, relocations or terminations at covered establishments. The bill text also directs the department to report to the Legislature by January 1, 2028, on AI’s effects on business hiring practices.
Two bills target surveillance at work
Assembly Bill 1883 bars employers from using AI-powered workplace surveillance tools to recognize or infer a worker’s emotional state or collect neural data. The law defines neural data as information generated by measuring activity in a worker’s central or peripheral nervous system. It includes an exception for surveillance tools used to ensure safety.
Assembly Bill 1331 prohibits employers from monitoring or surveilling employees with workplace-surveillance tools in a workplace bathroom, except in specified circumstances. The bill also gives employees the right to leave behind workplace-surveillance tools they carry when entering a bathroom, subject to exceptions. Together, the measures address different practices: AI systems that infer sensitive information about workers, and monitoring in a space where employees expect privacy.
The package falls short of labor’s broader demands
California labor groups sought a wider set of workplace rules. CalMatters reported that the bill was weakened during the legislative process: it does not cover independent contractors, and provisions sought by labor advocates for an appeals process and a worker lawsuit to compel compliance were removed.
The enacted rules still require employers to put a human reviewer between an AI system’s output and a firing or disciplinary decision when the system is primarily relied upon. For AI-related layoffs covered by WARN, the state will also receive details about the affected work and technology—and publish summaries of those notices.