Regulates use of artificial intelligence-based systems for electronic monitoring regarding employment and public services.

S4075

SENATE, No. 4075

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MAY 4, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� ANDREW ZWICKER

District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senators Singleton, Diegnan, B.Smith, Moriarty, Cryan and
Johnson

SYNOPSIS

���� Regulates use of artificial intelligence-based
systems for electronic monitoring regarding employment and public services.

�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

regulating
the use of AI-based systems
for
electronic monitoring regarding employment and public services
and
supplementing Title 34 of the Revised Statutes
.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� �Authorized representative�
means a representative designated by an employer or an employee, including an
attorney, and, in the case of an employee, any recognized bargaining
representative or majority representative of the employee.

���� �Automated benefit or service
decision system� or �ABSDS� means any computational process, algorithm, or
automated system, which utilizes information about a service beneficiary
together with machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, artificial
intelligence, or similar methods to produce outputs, including data,
assumptions, predictions, scores, classifications, metrics, rankings, profiles,
recommendations, inferences, conclusions, or other information, which are used
make decisions regarding the provision to a service beneficiary of public
benefits or services.� An �automated benefit or service decision system� does
not include a spam filter, firewall, antivirus, or other software not used to
produce those outputs.

���� �Automated employment decision
system� or �AEDS� means any computational process, algorithm, or automated
system, which utilizes information about an employee or applicant together with
machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, artificial intelligence,
or similar methods to produce outputs, including data, assumptions,
predictions, scores, classifications, metrics, rankings, profiles,
recommendations, inferences, conclusions,
or other
information,
which are used by an employer to make employment-related
decisions about an employee or applicant for employment.� An �automated employment
decision system� does not include a spam filter, firewall, antivirus, or other
software not used to produce those outputs.

���� �Automated services agreement�
means any agreement under which a public entity buys, leases, or otherwise
obtains the use from a vendor of an ABSDS, AEDS, or EMT subject to the
provisions of this act, or of any new technology likely to result in a significant
reduction of the amount of employment

for public employees of the
public entity.

���� �Biometric information� means
data or information generated by the processing, measurement, or analysis of an
employee�s or applicant�s biological, physical, or behavioral characteristics
for the purpose of uniquely identifying an individual, including fingerprints,
voice prints; scans or records of eye retinas or iris images; gait; facial
maps, geometries, or templates; facial recognition, voice analysis or emotion
recognition technology; genetic information; or other unique biological,
physical, or behavioral patterns or characteristics.� �Biometric information�
does not include photographs, audio or video recordings, or data or information
generated from photographs, or audio or video recordings.

���� �Commission� means the New
Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission.

���� �Commissioner� means the
Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.

���� �Department� means Department
of Labor and Workforce Development.

���� �Electronic monitoring tool�,
or �EMT�, means any system
, application, instrument, or
device
to collect, or facilitate the collection of, data or information
about an employee or applicant for employment, by means other than direct
observation by a natural person, including by monitoring computer, wire, phone,
or other communications, obtaining biometric information, conducting video or
audio surveillance, or utilizing geolocation, electromagnetic tracking,
photoelectronic or photo-optical systems, or obtaining data or information from
third parties, including data brokers, about employees or applicants for
employment.� �EMT� does not include a system, application, instrument, or
device used exclusively to implement the administrative and physical data
security practices required pursuant to subsection c. of section 5 of this act.

���� �Employment-related decision�
means a decision made, or action taken, by an employer or public employer that
affects an employee�s terms or conditions of employment, including whether an
applicant is hired.� For independent contractors or job applicants, this means
the equivalent of these decisions based on an individual�s contract with or
relationship to the employer or public employer.

���� �Essential work
functions" means the fundamental duties of a position based upon work
duties actually performed over the duration of employment, as revealed by
objective evidence, including the amount of time workers spend performing each
function, the terms of any applicable collective bargaining agreement, workers�
past and present work experiences and performance in the position in question,
and the employer�s or public employer�s reasonable, nondiscriminatory judgment
as to which functions are essential.� Past and current written job descriptions
may be evidence as to which functions are essential, but shall not be the sole
basis for this determination.

���� "Independent
auditor" means a person or entity that conducts an objective and impartial
impact assessment of an AEDS or EMT.� A person is not an independent auditor of
an AEDS if they currently or at any point in the five years preceding the
impact assessment: are or were involved in using, developing, offering,
licensing, or deploying the AEDS being assessed; have or had an employment
relationship with a developer or deployer of the AEDS being assessed, or have
or had a financial interest in a developer or deployer that produces, uses,
sells or offers for sale, uses or licenses the AEDS being assessed.

���� �Information about an employee
or applicant� or �employee or applicant information� means any data or
information that identifies, relates to, describes, is reasonably capable of
being associated with, or could reasonably be linked with, a particular employee
or applicant, regardless of how the data or information is collected, inferred,
or obtained, including, but not limited to:

���� (1)�� biometric, health, or
wellness data or information;

���� (2)�� data or information
related to workplace activities including human resources data and information
such as qualitative and quantitative data and information regarding employee
work performance;

���� (3)�� workplace communications
and interactions of the employee; and

���� (4)�� audiovisual data and
information.

���� �Public benefits or services�
means benefits or services provided by a public body or funded by a public
entity or the federal government.

���� "Public employee"
means any employee of a public entity, whether employed on a full or part-time
basis.� As used in this act, the term �employees� includes �public employees,�
and all provisions of the act that apply to �employees� apply to �public
employees,� unless otherwise specified.

���� �Majority representative�
means the exclusive majority representative either certified by the commission
or recognized by the public employer.

���� "Public employer"
means a public entity that employs public employees.

���� �Public entity� means the
State of New Jersey, or any of its counties, municipalities, or other political
subdivision, or any school district, special district, or authority, including
a bi-state authority, or any commission, board, branch, authority, or agency of
a public entity.

���� �Service beneficiary� means an
individual applying for, or receiving, public benefits or services.

���� �Terms and conditions of work�
includes, but is not limited to, wages, benefits, or other compensation, work
hours, work schedule, performance evaluation, hiring, firing, time off,
discipline, promotion, demotion, work tasks and responsibilities, assignment of
work, access to work, training, and educational opportunities, productivity
requirements, and workplace health and safety.

���� �Vendor� means any person or
entity who develops or produces for sale or lease an AEDS, ABSDS or EMT to an
employer.� �Vendor� includes any agent, contractor, or subcontractor of the
vendor.

���� 2.��� No employer or public
entity, vendor, or contractor acting on behalf of the employer or public entity
shall:

���� a.���� Use, deploy, develop,
produce, sell, or offer for sale an AEDS or ABSDS, or use data or information
collected or produced by the AEDS or ABSDS, or use data or information obtained
from an EMT or other surveillance of employees or service beneficiaries, that causes,
contributes to, or results in, a violation of any provision of a recognized
collective bargaining agreement or any State or federal labor or employment law,

or that undermines, inhibits,
threatens, punishes, or interferes with, employees, service beneficiaries, or
applicants exercising their rights under this law, a collective bargaining
agreement, or any of those laws, including using an AEDS or ABSDS, an EMT, or
other surveillance of employees to identify, profile, predict, or result in a
negative assessment of, employees or service beneficiaries who exercise, or
will exercise, those rights;

���� b.��� Use, deploy, develop,
produce, sell, or offer for sale an AEDS or ABSDS, or an EMT or other
surveillance, in a manner which diminishes, undermines, or interferes with the
health, safety, privacy, dignity, autonomy, or welfare of employees, applicants
for employment, service beneficiaries, or members of the general public;

���� c.���� Conduct, or have
conducted by a third party, electronic, audial, visual, or other monitoring or
surveillance of employees in bathrooms or private areas, including, but not
limited to, rooms for eating and other breaks, sick rooms, wellness rooms,
locker rooms, dressing rooms, and areas designated for lactation, provided that
the prohibitions of this subsection shall not apply to climate control, fire
safety, or similar systems.� Employees shall have the right, when in those
rooms or areas, or on off-duty hours, to remove, disable, or decline to carry
workplace surveillance devices the employer requires to be on their person or
in their possession while working;

���� d.��� Conduct, or have
conducted by a third
party, an EMT or
other
surveillance of an employee when the employee is off duty, on leave, or on a
meal or rest break, or during other time not designated for the performance of
essential work functions;

���� e.���� Require an employee to
install or download software or applications used to electronically monitor the
employee, including by location, provided by, or on behalf of, the employer,
into any personal device or personal property of the employee, including, but
not limited to, vehicles, cell phones, computers, tablets, or wearables, or
require the employee to wear or attach to clothing or accessories devices that
monitor an employee, and the employee shall have the absolute right to refuse,
without retaliation, any employer request or requirements to install or
download the software or application.� The applications and devices shall be
disabled outside of the activities, locations and times needed for those
functions, and removed when employment ends;

���� f.���� Require an employee to
have a device that collects or transmits data physically implanted, or
subcutaneously installed, in the employee�s body, or require an employee to
disclose to the employer the identity of, or any password for any personal
device or account, including any social media account, of the employee, or
otherwise provide access to the account or device;

���� g.��� Conduct, or have
conducted by a third party, electronic, audiovisual or other monitoring, remote
sensing or tracking, or other surveillance, of a residence, personal vehicle,
or property owned or leased by an employee or applicant for employment;

���� h.��� Use, deploy, develop,
produce, sell, or offer for sale, an EMT or other surveillance or an AEDS or
ABSDS in a manner that harms or is likely to harm the health or safety of
employees, by setting, or facilitating the setting of, productivity quotas or
performance standards that are likely to contribute significantly to harming
worker health and safety;

���� i.���� Take adverse employment
action against an employee on the sole basis of data collected via continuous
incremental time-tracking tools, including keystroke logging, idle-time
trackers, or mouse-movement monitors;

���� j.���� Use, deploy, develop,
produce, sell, or offer for sale, an EMT or other surveillance of an employee,
service beneficiary, or applicant for employment, or use, deploy, develop,
produce, sell, or offer for sale, an AEDS or ABSDS, to obtain, infer, analyze, or
use in making a hiring decision or other employment-related decision or
decision regarding public benefits or services, any data or information about
the employee�s, service beneficiary�s, or applicant for employment�s being in or
perceived to be in a classification, or having or being perceived to have a
characteristic, protected under section 11 of P.L.1945, c.169 (C.10:5-12), or
information about present or past union membership or advocacy or any other
classification or characteristic, other than unlawful behavior, of the employee
or applicant for employment which is not directly related to work performance
or work qualifications, or of any other classification or characteristic of a
service beneficiary which is not specifically required to confirm the identity
of the beneficiary or determine eligibility for public benefits or services.�
An employer or public entity may not, in providing employee, applicant, or
service beneficiary data or information for the AEDS or ABSDS or in directly
making employment-related decisions or decisions about public benefits or
services, use data or information about employee, applicant, or beneficiary
classification or characteristics as identified in this subsection.� It
shall not be a violation of this subsection for an ABSDS
to retain and use information essential to providing specific public services,
such as student academic records in educational services and individual health
information in health services, and information specifically required to
determine eligibility for the public benefits or services
;

���� k.��� Transfer or otherwise
disclose biometric, health, or wellness data or information, however obtained,
to any third party or government entity unless required to do so under State or
federal law; use biometric, health, or wellness data or information in making
an employment-related decision or decision regarding public benefits or
services; or retain biometric, health, or wellness data or information of an
applicant for employment who has not been hired or a former employee after
employment ends, or after the service beneficiary no longer receives services
or benefits; or

���� l.���� Make an
employment-related decision which adversely affects an employee or applicant
for employment, or an action which adversely affects a service beneficiary, in
retaliation against the employee, applicant, or beneficiary for disclosing, or
filing a complaint with a State agency, for a violation by the employer or
public entity of any provision of this act, or taking an adverse action in
retaliation against the employee, applicant or service beneficiary for
exercising any rights provided by this act.

���� 3.��� An employer or public
entity, or vendor acting on behalf of an employer or public entity shall not
implement the use of an AEDS or an EMT or other surveillance of employees, or
use an AEDS or information obtained through the EMT when making
employment-related decisions regarding employees or applicants for employment,
unless all of the following conditions are met:

���� a.����
The EMT or
other surveillance, and the AEDS, are primarily
intended and demonstrably verified through appropriate pretesting, validation,
and relevant impact assessments conducted pursuant to this section to accomplish
any of the following allowable purposes:

���� (1)�� assisting an employee to
accomplish essential work functions;

���� (2)�� ensuring the quality of
goods and services;

���� (3)�� making periodic
assessments of employee performance, including to assist in making
employment-related decisions;

���� (4)�� ensuring compliance with
provisions of employment, labor, or other relevant laws;

���� (5)�� protecting the health,
safety, or security of employees and the public; or

���� (6)�� administering wages and
benefits.

���� b.��� The
EMT and
surveillance and the AEDS shall:

���� (1)�� be limited to what is
necessary to accomplish the allowable purposes specified in subsection a. of
this section;

���� (2)�� be used exclusively to
accomplish those purposes;

���� (3)�� use the means least
invasive to employees or applicants for employment needed to accomplish those
purposes;

���� (4)�� be limited to the
smallest number of employees and least amount of data and information needed to
accomplish those purposes, and

���� (5)�� have data and
information collected no more frequently than is necessary to accomplish those
purposes.

���� c.���� The data and
information about an employee or applicant collected by an EMT or other
surveillance or used by the AEDS shall be accessed only by authorized agents of
the employer, the public entity, or the employee or the employee�s authorized
representative.

���� d.��� Prior to deployment or
implementation, an objective and impartial impact assessment of the AEDS or
EMT, including an assessment of the economic impacts on factors such as wages,
hours, benefits, work opportunities, and advancement, has been conducted by an
independent auditor, or, if the AEDS or EMT is to be applied to public
employees, by the department, in which the auditor or the department determines
and affirms in a report, with supporting documentation indicating:

���� (1)�� that the EMT requires
the implementation of procedures to ensure that it is used in a manner that
complies with the requirements of subsections c., d., e., f., and g. of section
2 of this act;

���� (2)�� that the AEDS or EMT
complies with the requirements of subsections a., b., h. i., k. and l. of
section 2 of this act and subsections a. and b. of this section, including the
implementation of effective procedures to remedy potential risks to worker
rights, including privacy, health and safety, dignity and autonomy, and to
prevent inhibiting legally protected activity, including organizing and
collective bargaining.

���� (3)�� that the AEDS or EMT
complies with the requirements of subsection j. of section 2 of this act,
including that the auditor or the department, with respect to classifications
and characteristics identified in that subsection of employees or applicants
for employment, considers, identifies, and describes any disparities in the
data used to train or develop the AEDS that may result in the outputs of the
AEDS having a disparate, adverse impact on employees or applicants, and that
the auditor or the department determines that the AEDS includes provisions to
effectively remedy any such disparate, adverse impact; and

���� (4)�� that the AEDS or EMT
requires the implementation of effective procedures for monitoring, feedback,
and ongoing human oversight
, including full compliance
with the requirements of section 9 of this act,
as needed to prevent or
remedy any potential discriminatory, biased, inaccurate, or harmful outcomes.

���� e.���� The vendor has provided
the auditor or the department with access to all information needed to conduct
the impact assessment of either an AEDS or an EMT, including, in the case of an
AEDS:

���� (1)�� all documentation about
its design and development, its technical specifications, the sources of data
used to develop and train it, the individuals involved in its development, and
a historical record of past versions of the AEDS;

���� (2)�� a detailed description
of its intended purpose, deployment context, rationale for use, the categories,
sources, and methods of data it utilizes;

���� (3)�� outputs and the types of
employment-related decisions in which those outputs may be used;

���� (4)�� what the benefits and
effects are of using the AEDS to supplement non-automated decision-making, and
the impacts its use may have on overall efficiency and output for the public
entity or employer that deploys it, including quantified estimates of: the amounts
of cost savings for the employer or public entity; any anticipated reductions
of employment by the employer or public entity; any offset to the employment
reductions caused by new employment related to the human oversight requirements
of section 9 of this act; and the percentage of the cost savings attributable
to reductions of employment, and these estimates shall be featured prominently
in the summary of the impact assessment submitted to the department pursuant to
subsection g. of this section and section 4 of this act and included in the
notices provided to employees or service beneficiaries pursuant to section 6 of
this act; and

���� (5)�� an analysis of the
accuracy, reliability, validity, and error rates of the AEDS, including the
reasonably foreseeable effects of tuning, retraining, or modification.

���� f.���� The impact assessment
shall be conducted not more than one year prior to deployment.� For an AEDS or
EMT already in use on the effective date of this act, the impact assessment
shall be completed within six months after the effective date.� Impact
assessments shall be updated upon any substantial change in the categories,
sources, quotas, metrics, thresholds, or benchmarks used by the EMT or the
AEDS, or any substantial modification, retraining, repurposing, or updating
which may change outputs of an AEDS.� Any subsequent impact assessment or
update conducted pursuant to this subsection shall be subject, in the same
manner as an initial impact assessment, to all of the requirements of
subsections d., e., g., and h. of this section. �Until those requirements are met,
the AEDS or EMT shall not be permitted to operate.

���� g.��� The report of the impact
assessment shall include all of the information and data used in making its
determinations, including the full data and information provided pursuant to
subsections d. and e. of this section, and shall, within 60 days of its
completion, submitted in its entirety, together with an accessible summary of
the report, to the department, for inclusion in a public registry of impact
assessments maintained by the department, and to the vendor, who shall provide the
report to any employer or public entity seeking to implement the AEDS or EMT.�
Impact assessments in the public registry shall be made available to affected
employees, applicants for employment and their authorized representatives.� Proprietary
information shall not be publicly disclosed unless essential, and then only in
aggregated form.

���� h.��� In the case of an impact
assessment conducted by the department because the AEDS or EMT is to be applied
to public employees, the vendor shall pay the department the full amount of
direct costs of making the impact assessment of the AEDS or EMT.

���� i.���� The employer or public
entity shall provide the employees and their recognized bargaining
representative notification in the manner required pursuant to subsections a.
and b. of section 6 of this act, and the right to have the employer or public
entity respond to concerns raised by the recognized representative of the
employees in the manner provided by subsection c. of section 6 of this act.

���� 4.��� A public entity, or
vendor acting on behalf of a public entity, shall not implement the use an
ABSDS, or use the ABSDS when making decisions regarding provision of public
benefits or services to service beneficiaries, unless all of the following
conditions are met:

���� a.���� An objective and
impartial impact assessment of the ABSDS, including an assessment of its
economic impacts on factors such as wages, hours, benefits, work opportunities,
and advancement, has been conducted by the department, in which the department
determines and affirms in a report, with supporting documentation indicating:

���� (1)�� that the ABSDS complies
with the requirements of subsections a., b., k. and l. of section 2 of this
act, including by requiring the implementation of effective procedures to
remedy potential risks to the rights of service beneficiaries, including
privacy, health and safety, dignity and autonomy, and to prevent inhibiting
legally protected activity;

���� (2)�� that the ABSDS complies
with the requirements of subsection j. of section 2 of this act, including that
the department, with respect to classifications and characteristics identified
in that subsection of service beneficiaries, considers, identifies, and
describes any disparities in the data used to train or develop the ABSDS that
may result in the outputs of the ABSDS having a disparate, adverse impact on
service beneficiaries, and that the department determines that the ABSDS
includes provisions to effectively remedy any such disparate, adverse impact;
and

���� (3) that the ABSDS requires
the implementation of effective procedures for monitoring, feedback, and
ongoing human oversight, including full compliance with the requirements of
section 9 of this act, as needed to prevent or remedy any potential
discriminatory, biased, inaccurate, or harmful outcomes, including incorrect
denials of public benefits or services based on mistaken claims of fraud by
beneficiaries.

���� b.��� The vendor has provided
the department with access to all information needed to conduct the impact
assessment of an ABSDS, including:

���� (1)�� all documentation about
its design and development, its technical specifications, the sources of data
used to develop and train it, the individuals involved in its development, and
a historical record of past versions of the ABSDS;

���� (2)�� a detailed description
of its intended purpose, deployment context, rationale for use, the categories,
sources, and methods of data it utilizes;

���� (3)�� outputs and the types of
employment-related decisions in which such outputs may be used;

���� (4)�� what the benefits and
effects are of using the ABSDS to supplement non-automated decision-making, and
the impacts its use may have on overall efficiency and output for the public
entity that deploys it, including quantified estimates of: the amounts of� savings
for the public entity; any anticipated reductions of employment by the employer
or public entity;
any offset to the employment
reductions caused by new employment related to the human oversight requirements
of section 9 of this act
; and the percentage of cost savings attributable
to reductions of employment, and these estimates shall be featured prominently
in the summary of the impact assessment submitted to the department pursuant to
subsection e. of this section and section 4 of this act and included in the
notices submitted to employees or service beneficiaries pursuant to section 6
of this act; and

���� (5)�� an analysis of the
accuracy, reliability, validity, and error rates of the ABSDS, including the
reasonably foreseeable effects of tuning, retraining, or modification.

���� c.���� The data and
information used by the ABSDS shall be accessed only by authorized agents of
the public entity or service beneficiary.

���� d.��� The impact assessment
shall be conducted not more than one year prior to deployment.� For an ABSDS
already in use on the effective date of this act, the impact assessment shall
be completed within one year after the effective date.� Impact assessments
shall be updated upon any substantial change in the categories, sources,
quotas, metrics, thresholds, or benchmarks used by the ABSDS, or any
substantial modification, retraining, repurposing, or updating which may change
outputs of an ABSDS.� Any subsequent impact assessment or update conducted
pursuant to this subsection shall be subject, in the same manner as an initial
impact assessment, to all of the requirements of subsections a. b., and e. of
this section. �Until those requirements are met, the ABSDS shall not be
permitted to operate.

���� e.���� The report of the
impact assessment shall include all of the information and data used in making
its determinations, including the full data and information provided pursuant
to subsections a. and b. of this section, and shall, within 60 days of its
completion, be submitted in its entirety, together with an accessible summary
of the report, to the department, for inclusion in a public registry of impact
assessments maintained by the department, and to the vendor, who shall provide
it to any public entity seeking to implement the ABSDS.� Impact assessments in
the public registry shall be made available to affected service recipients,
entities, applicants for employment and their authorized representatives.�

���� f.���� The vendor shall pay
the department the full amount of the direct costs of making the impact
assessment of the ABSDS.

���� 5.��� a.� (1) An employer,
public entity, vendor, or contractor shall ensure that no data or information
about an employee or applicant, or service beneficiary, or applicant for
employment collected by an EMT or other surveillance, and no output of an AEDS,
or data or information used to produce that output, is sold, licensed,
transferred, disclosed, or shared to or with any third party by the employer,
public entity, or vendor, without
the uncoerced written
consent
of the employee, service beneficiary, or applicant for employment, except
that the data or information may be provided to the applicant, service
beneficiary, employee, or an authorized representative, or to a law enforcement
authority or a court when required by law.� All information about an applicant
for employment or public benefits or services, including any applicant video,
shall be destroyed at the request of the applicant.� A vendor shall return to
the employer or public entity and delete all employee, applicant, and service
beneficiary information once the contract between the vendor and the employer
or public entity is terminated.

���� (2)�� An employer, public
entity, or vendor acting on behalf of an employer shall ensure that all
information and data and information about an employee or service beneficiary,
held by the employer, public entity, or vendor is accurate and up to date.� An employer
or public entity shall notify an employee or service beneficiary of any
significant change in the data or information held by the employer or public
entity or vendor.� The notification shall inform the employee or service
beneficiary of the change and the right of the employee, service beneficiary,
or a designated representative, to access to any data or information about the
employee or service beneficiary held by the employer, public entity, or vendor
and make a written request to correct inaccurate information or remove
information being retained or used in a manner that violates the provisions of
this act, and, in addition, the employee or service beneficiary, even if not
notified of any change, shall, at least one time per year, have the right to
have access to the data and information and seek any needed corrections or
removals.� If the employer or public entity does not change or remove the
information as requested, the employer or public entity shall provide a written
explanation of the reason for that decision, and retain copies of the request
and the written explanation, to be available for consideration in any appeal of
an adverse decision made pursuant to section 8 of this act.

���� b.��� An employer or public
entity shall make, keep, and preserve, for not less than three years, true and accurate
records, including complete records of data and information about an employee
or applicant, or service beneficiary, or applicant for employment collected by
an EMT or other surveillance and all data and information used by an AEDS for
outputs concerning the employee, service beneficiary, or applicant, and all
performance evaluations, validation results and impact assessments.� Any data
or information for which an applicant has exercised their right to have
destroyed pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be exempt from the
record retention requirements of this subsection once the records are
destroyed. �The employer or public entity shall destroy the data and
information no later than 37 months after collection unless the employee,
service beneficiary, or applicant has provided uncoerced written consent for
the employer or public entity to retain them.

���� c.���� An employer or public
entity shall establish, implement, and maintain reasonable administrative and
physical data security practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity and
accessibility of employee, service beneficiary, or applicant data and information,
which shall be in compliance with any recordkeeping, data retention, and
security requirements specified by the commissioner. �The employer or public
entity, and any vendor keeping employee, service beneficiary, or applicant
data, shall promptly provide the department and each affected employee or
service beneficiary, a written notice of any security breach, within 48 hours
of the breach, describing the specific categories of data that were, or are
reasonably believed to have been, accessed or acquired by an unauthorized
person, and the steps the employer or public entity and vendor will take to
address the impact of the data breach on affected individuals.� The employer or
public entity and the vendor shall be jointly and severally liable for any damages
caused to the employee, service beneficiary, or applicant for employment by
fraud or theft made possible by a failure of the employer or public entity or
vendor to secure personal data and information of the employee, service
beneficiary, or applicant held by the employer or public entity.

���� 6.��� a.� An employer or
public entity shall not implement an EMT or other surveillance or the use of an
AEDS or ABSDS unless the employer or public entity has provided a written
notice to all affected service beneficiaries and employees, including public
employees making decisions about public benefits or services for service
beneficiaries, and to any recognized bargaining representative of the
employees, at least 60 days prior to implementation. �If the EMT, AEDS, or
SBSDS was in operation on the effective date of this act, the written notice
shall be provided not more than 60 days after the effective date of this act.�
For an employee hired after the effective date of this act, written notice
shall be provided not more than 30 days after the hiring, and the employer
shall obtain a written acknowledgement of receipt of the notice by the
employee.� The notice shall include, except that the notice to service
beneficiaries shall not include the disclosures indicated in paragraphs (5) and
(6) of this subsection, the following disclosures:

���� (1)�� that the use of an AEDS,
ABSDS, or EMT or surveillance is being implemented, and what type of decisions
that will be affected by the AEDS, ABSDS or the EMT or surveillance;

���� (2)�� copies of the summaries
of the impact assessment reports of the AEDS, ABSDS, or EMT conducted by an
independent auditor or the department conducted pursuant to subsection d. of
section 3, or subsection a. of section 4, of the act, and directions on how to
obtain the entire impact assessment report from the public registry maintained
by the department;

���� (3)�� a description of the
data and information that will be collected and the outputs that will be used,
specifying, in the case of an employee or public employee, for which of the
allowable purposes identified in subsection a. of section 3 of this act they will
be used;

���� (4)�� the rights provided by
this section and section 8 of this act to employees and service beneficiaries,
and their authorized representatives, to have access to all relevant data and
information and to contest any disclosure of the notice;

���� (5)�� a description of any
performance standard, productivity quota, or other related measure used in
evaluating employees, including public employees making decisions about public
benefits or services for service beneficiaries, a description of what data and
information is collected, and a description of any adverse consequences or
positive incentives associated with the standards or quotas; and

���� (6)�� the obligation
stipulated in subsection c. of this section that an employer or public entity,
upon a request of the recognized bargaining representative of the employees, to
respond, in the manner specified by that subsection, to concerns raised the
representative regarding the AEDS, ABSDS, EMT, or surveillance.

���� b.��� Employers or public
entities shall give employees, and any recognized bargaining representative of
the employees, at least 60 days written notice before the implementation of any
significant changes in the EMT, AEDS, or ABSDS or in the employer�s or public
entity�s use of an EMT or surveillance or use of an AEDS or ABSDS.

���� c.���� If a recognized
bargaining representative of the employees, within 30 days of receiving a
notice pursuant to subsection a. or b. of this section, notifies the employer
or public entity of specific concerns they have of an AEDS, ABSDS, EMT, or
surveillance not being in compliance with the provisions of this act, other
law, or applicable collective bargaining agreement, including whether the
impact assessment was accurate in deeming the AEDS, ABSDS, EMT, or surveillance
to be in compliance, the employer or public entity shall not implement the AEDS,
ABSDS,� EMT, or surveillance until the employer or public entity has provided the
representative of the employees with a written response to the specific
concerns which includes any modification of the AEDS, ABSDS, or EMT which the
employer or public entity agrees is needed for compliance, or an explanation of
why the employer or public entity believes no modification is necessary to be
in compliance.� If the employee representative is not satisfied with the response,
the representative may seek relief in an administrative action pursuant to
section 18 of this act, in a civil action pursuant to the provisions of section
19 of this act, or in a grievance or arbitration procedure outlined in an
applicable collective bargaining agreement.

���� d.��� The employer or public
entity shall not make any employment-related decision which has an adverse
impact on an employee if the decision is based, in whole or in part, on a
productivity quota or performance standard that was not previously disclosed to
the employee pursuant to paragraph (5) of subsection a. of this section.

���� 7.��� All notices required to
be provided to employees or service beneficiaries pursuant to section 6 of this
act, and all summaries of impact assessment reports required to be included
with those notices, shall:

���� a.���� Be written in clear,
plain language easily understood by workers without technical expertise;

���� b.��� Be translated into any
language spoken by at least five percent of the employer�s or public entity�s
workforce;

���� c.���� Be provided in hard
copy form and, if possible, in electronic form;

���� d.��� Be posted conspicuously
in the workplace and made continuously available to workers and their
recognized bargaining representative; and

���� e.���� Disclose that employers
and entities are prohibited from retaliating against employees or applicants
for employment for exercising their rights under this act.

���� 8.��� a.� In the case of an
employer or public employer who, with respect to public employees, uses an EMT
or other surveillance, or uses an AEDS, to make, or assist in making, an
employment-related decision which adversely affects an employee, or in the case
of a public entity which uses an ABSDS in making a decision to reduce public
benefits or services to a service beneficiary, the employer or public entity
shall, at least 10 days before the decision takes effect, provide the service
beneficiary or employee and any recognized bargaining representative of the
employee with a written notice, which:

���� (1)�� describes and explains
the reasons for the decision;

���� (2)�� provides access to all
relevant data and information about the decision, including a comprehensive
explanation of how the EMT, ABSDS, or AEDS are being used in making the
decision; and

���� (3)�� explains that the
employee, applicant for employment, service beneficiary, or an authorized
representative shall have: the right to access all relevant data and
information; the right to contest the decision through the procedures indicated
in subsection b. of this section; and, if the employee, service beneficiary, or
applicant is not satisfied with the outcome of that procedure, the right to
seek relief in an administrative action pursuant to section 18 of this act, in
a civil action pursuant to the provisions of section 19 of this act, or, if an
employee is represented by a recognized bargaining representative, in a
grievance or arbitration procedure outlined in an applicable collective
bargaining agreement.

���� In the case of an applicant
for employment or public benefits or services, an employer or public entity
that uses an AEDS or ABSDS to make, or assist in making, a decision to reject
the application shall provide the written notice described in this subsection
not later than the time that the decision is made.

���� b.���
Upon a request from the employee, service beneficiary,
applicant for employment or an authorized representative made not more than 30
days after the employer or public entity provides the written notice required
by subsection a. of this section, or not more than 30 days after the adverse
decision is implemented if the required notice is not given, the employer or
public entity shall:

���� (1)�� permit the employee,
service beneficiary, applicant or authorized representative to review and copy
any data and information collected or used to make the decision, and related
personnel files; disclose complete data and information regarding the impact assessments
of the EMT, the ABSDS, and the AEDS conducted pursuant to section 3 of this act
and oversight of the EMT, the ABSDS, and the AEDS conducted pursuant to section
9 of this act, including whether the output of the AEDS or the ABSDS was
modified in the oversight process, and if so, how; provide copies of the
summaries of the impact assessment reports and disclose how to access the full
assessment reports on the public registry maintained by the department; and
provide a clear, complete explanation of how the AEDS or the ABSDS produced any
outputs related to the decision, including information about the weighting of
factors and the data, algorithms, and other processes involved in making the
decision;

���� (2)�� permit the employee,
service beneficiary, or applicant for employment to make an appeal to: seek the
correction of any inaccurate, incomplete or biased data or information; contest
any adverse decision in which data or information was considered which was
erroneous, incomplete or biased or which was collected, retained or used by the
EMT, ABSDS, or AEDS in a manner which violates the provisions of this act; or
contest any adverse decision in which the decision was otherwise made in a
manner which violates the provisions of this act; and

���� (3)�� designate a human
reviewer who is an employee of the employer or public entity and who is
required to objectively evaluate all evidence, has sufficient authority,
discretion, resources, and time to evaluate the decision, has sufficient
training and expertise to have a full understanding of the data, algorithms,
and other processes involved in making the decision, and has the authority to
modify or overturn the decision, including the correction of any inaccurate,
incomplete or biased data or information.� The reviewer shall consider the
appeal made by the employee, service beneficiary, or applicant for employment
regarding any of the matters indicated in paragraph (2) of this subsection and
issue a determination which shall be the final outcome of the procedure of this
subsection for an appeal made to the employer or public entity.� An employee,
service beneficiary, or applicant for employment who is not satisfied with this
final outcome of the procedure may seek relief in an administrative action
pursuant to section 18 of this act, in a civil action pursuant to the
provisions of section 19 of this act, or, if the employee is represented by a
recognized bargaining representative, in a grievance or arbitration procedure
outlined in an applicable collective bargaining agreement.

���� 9.��� a.� An employer or
public entity shall not rely solely on data or information about employees or
service beneficiaries collected through an EMT or other surveillance, or
outputs of an AEDS or ABSDS, or information from third parties, including data
brokers, when making employment-related decisions, or in the case of a public
entity, when making employment-related decisions about its own employees, or
making decisions about public benefits or services for service beneficiaries.�
Any data or information collected through an EMT or other surveillance, or used
to produce, or be part of, outputs of an AEDS or ABSDS, shall be corroborated
by internal reviewers designated by the employer or public entity pursuant to
subsection b. of this section and shall be subject to review and challenge by
the affected service beneficiary or employee or their authorized
representative, as provided in paragraph (2) of subsection a. of section 5 of
this act or subsection b. of section 8 of this act.� No decision affecting the
terms or conditions of employment or the provision of public benefits or
services may be based exclusively or determinatively on AEDS or ABSDS outputs,
or data and information collected by an EMT or other surveillance.

���� b.��� An employer or public
entity shall establish meaningful human oversight of all employment-related
decisions or decisions about public benefits or services made utilizing data or
information collected by an EMT or other surveillance or AEDS or ABSDS outputs.�
The oversight shall include:

���� (1)�� designation of internal
reviewers who are employees of the employer or public entity, and have
sufficient training and expertise in the operation of whichever is used of the
EMT, the ABSDS, or the AEDS, familiarity with the most recent impact
assessments of the EMT, the ABSDS, or AEDS, and sufficient understanding of
their use to identify potential errors, biases, or inaccuracies produced by
their use;

���� (2)�� authority and discretion
for the reviewers to dispute, revise, or reject AEDS or ABSDS outputs or data
or information collected by an EMT or other surveillance suspected, or found,
to be inaccurate, discriminatory, or otherwise invalid;

���� (3)�� a requirement that a
human decision-maker review the data and information collected by an EMT or
other surveillance and the AEDS and ABSDS outputs, exercise independent
judgment, and consider information beyond AEDS and ABSDS outputs and data and
information collected by an EMT or other surveillance, including, in the case
of an employee, supervisory evaluations, personnel files, employee work
product, or peer reviews, when making consequential employment-related
decisions; and

���� (4)�� a requirement that the
reviewers have adequate time and resources to conduct the reviews, and are
available for direct communication, in person or by phone or video conference,
to applicants for employment or public benefits or services, service
beneficiaries affected by an adverse decision regarding public benefits or
services, and employees affected by adverse employment-related decisions.

���� 10.� No employer or public
entity shall discharge, or otherwise retaliate against an employee with respect
to any terms and conditions of work, because the employee refused to follow the
output of an AEDS, ABSDS, or other artificial intelligence system, automated
decision system, algorithm, or other similar technology, if the following
conditions are met:

���� a.���� the employee holds
independent judgment and discretion in executing their work duties, or the work
duties performed by the employee require licensure or certification by the
State as a condition of employment, or independent accreditation by the
employer or public entity; and

���� b.��� (1)� the employee has
notified a supervisor, manager, or other agent of the employer or public entity
that the employee has made, in good faith and with the knowledge or reasonable
belief based upon professional opinion or educational or work related
experience, a determination that the output from the AEDS, ABSDS, or other
artificial intelligence system, automated decision system, algorithm, or other
similar technology is likely to result in harm to an employee, service
beneficiary, or other individual, damage to physical property, an illegal
action, or an action contrary to the licensure or certification requirements of
the federal government, the State, or other applicable private licensing or
certifying authority which may result in a revocation or suspension of the
employee�s licensure or certification,

but the employer or public entity, refused or otherwise failed to
adjust the output without providing a reasonable written explanation
documenting its reasons for not making an adjustment; or

���� (2)�� the employee has refused
to follow the output in good faith and with the knowledge or reasonable belief,
based upon professional opinion or educational or work-related experience that
the output would cause harm or have an adverse impact, and due to the urgency
of the potential harm or adverse impact, there is not enough time for the
output to be corrected through action of the employer or public entity.

���� 11.� All aspects, actions, or
consequences relating to, or resulting from, a public employer's decision to
enter into an automated services agreement to use an EMT, AEDS, ABSDS, or any
new technology likely to result in a significant reduction of employment, shall
be mandatory subjects of negotiations.

���� 12.� No public employer shall
enter into an automated services agreement during the term that an existing
collective bargaining agreement with the majority representative is in effect.�
No public employer shall enter into an agreement after the end of the term of
the current collective bargaining agreement unless the public employer:

���� a.���� Provides advance
written notice to the majority representative of public employees in each
collective bargaining unit which may be affected by the automated services
agreement, and to the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission, not
less than 30 days before the expiration of the existing collective bargaining
agreement and not less than 90 days before the date that the public employer
seeks to enter into the automated services agreement; and

���� b.��� Offers, in the advance
written notice, the majority representative of the public employees in each
collective bargaining unit which may be affected by the automated services
agreement an opportunity to meet and consult with the public employer to
discuss the decision to enter into an automated services agreement, and, upon a
request of the majority representative, enters into good-faith negotiations
over the impacts of the automated services agreement.

���� 13.� Each public employee
replaced or displaced as the result of an automated services agreement shall:

���� a.���� receive severance pay
and health benefit coverage of not less than one year for any displaced public
employee, and not less than two years for an employee with five or more years
of service;

���� b.��� retain all previously
acquired seniority during that period;

���� c.���� have recall rights
should new employment become available; and

���� d.��� have the right to
receive from the public employer all training needed to fulfill oversight roles
required under section 9 of this act and human roles in dealing with problems
individuals have with AI decisions on public benefits or services and be given
priority for any new employment associated with those roles.

���� 14.� A public employer who
violates any provision of this act, including a failure to negotiate in good
faith as required in section 6 of this act, shall be deemed to have committed
an unfair practice, and any public employee or majority representative organization
affected by the violation may, as an alternative to any other remedy provided
by this act for the violation, file an unfair practice charge with the New
Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission.� If the employee or organization
prevails on the charge, the employee is entitled to a remedy including, but not
limited to, reinstatement, back pay, back benefits, back emoluments, tenure and
seniority credit, attorney's fees, and any other relief the commission deems
appropriate to effectuate the purposes of this act.

���� 15.� Nothing in this act shall
be construed as restricting or limiting any right established or provided for
employees by section 7 of P.L.1968, c.303 (C.34:13A-5.3).� The purpose of this
act is to provide rights in addition to those provided by section 7 of
P.L.1968, c.303 (C.34:13A-5.3).�

���� 16.� The requirements of this act
establish minimum substantive protections governing the use of automated and
surveillance technologies and shall apply to all employees.� The implementation
or material modification of an AEDS, ABSDS, or EMT or any substantially similar
technology that affects employee terms and condition of work shall be deemed a
material change in working conditions.� No provision of this act, or any
regulations adopted to implement or enforce this act, shall be construed as:

���� a.���� requiring an employer
or public employer to reduce, or justifying an employer or public employer in
reducing, protections or rights provided to an employee pursuant to an existing
employer policy or collective bargaining agreement which are more favorable to
an employee that those required by this act;

���� b.��� preventing the employer
or public employer from agreeing, through a new employer policy or collective
bargaining agreement, to provide protections or rights which are more favorable
to an employee than those required by this act;

���� c.���� limiting an employee�s
right to seek or obtain greater protections or rights under a collective
bargaining agreement than the protections or rights provided by this act; or

���� d.��� superseding any law
providing collective bargaining rights for employees, or in any way reducing or
diminishing the obligations of employers under those laws.

���� 17.� No employer or public
entity shall request or require an employee or applicant for employment, or
service beneficiary, to accept any condition of employment or condition of
receiving public benefits or services, which is contrary to the provisions of
this act.� Any waiver of the rights provided in this act shall be null and
void.

���� 18.� a.� An employer who
knowingly and willfully violates any provision of this act, or who discharges,
or otherwise retaliates against an employee with respect to any terms and
conditions of work, because the employee has informed other employees of the
employer about their rights under this act, or has, with respect to any
violation of the provisions of this act by the employer, made a complaint to
the employer, the commissioner, or authorized representative of the employee,
or has instituted, or testified or given information in, a proceeding
concerning the violation, shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense and,
upon conviction for a first violation, shall be punished by a fine of not less
than $1,000 nor more than $5,000 for each employee harmed by the violation or
by imprisonment of not more than 100 days, or by both the fine and
imprisonment, and for second or subsequent violation, a fine of not less than
$2,000 nor more than $10,000 for each employee harmed by the violation or by
imprisonment of not less than 10 days and not more than 150 days, or by both
the fine and imprisonment.� In the case of a discharge or other discriminatory
action against the employee in violation of this act, the employer shall also
be required to offer reinstatement in employment to the employee, correct the
discriminatory action, and pay to the employee any wages lost, or other losses,
due to the discharge or the action, plus liquidated damages of up to 200
percent of the lost wages or other losses.

���� b.��� As an alternative to or
in addition to any other sanctions provided by law for violations of this act,
when the commissioner finds that an employer or public entity has violated this
act, including by taking a retaliatory action against the employee or service
beneficiary in violation of section 2 or section 10 of this act or subsection
a. of this section, the commissioner is authorized to assess and collect
administrative penalties, up to a maximum of $1,000 for a first violation for
each employee harmed by the violation and, for each subsequent violation, up to
a maximum of $5,000 for each employee harmed by the violation, specified in a
schedule of penalties to be promulgated as a rule or regulation by the
commissioner in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act,"
P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.).� When determining the amount of the
penalty imposed because of a violation, the commissioner shall consider factors
which include the history of previous violations, the seriousness of the
violation, and the good faith of the employer or public entity.� No
administrative penalty shall be levied pursuant to this section unless the
commissioner provides the alleged violator with notification of the violation
and the amount of the penalty and an opportunity to request a hearing before
the commissioner or his designee within 15 days following the receipt of the
notice.� If a hearing is requested, the commissioner shall issue a final order
upon making a finding that a violation has occurred.� If no hearing is
requested, the notice shall become a final order upon expiration of the 15-day
period.� Payment of the penalty is due when a final order is issued or when the
notice becomes a final order.� Any penalty imposed pursuant to this section may
be recovered with costs in a summary proceeding commenced by the commissioner
pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274
(C.2A:58-10 et seq.).� Any sum collected as a fine or penalty pursuant to this
section shall be applied toward enforcement and administration costs of the
Division of Workplace Standards in the department.

���� The payment of a fine shall
not be required for a first violation by an employer if the employer shows to
the satisfaction of the commissioner that the act or omission constituting the
violation was an inadvertent error made in good faith and that the employer had
reasonable grounds for believing that the act or omission was not a violation,
and the employer acknowledges that the employer violated the law and corrects
the violation, reinstates the employee, and pays any lost wages owed within 30
days of notice of the violation, as appropriate.

���� c.���� Taking an adverse
employment action against an employee or an adverse action regarding public
benefits or services against a service beneficiary within 90 days of the time
that the employee or service beneficiary makes a complaint or takes an action
regarding a violation of this act shall raise a rebuttable presumption that the
action was knowingly taken in retaliation.

���� 19.� a.�������� If an employee
or applicant for employment is adversely affected by an employment-related
decision made by an employer or public entity in violation of the provisions of
this act, or if a service beneficiary is adversely affected by a decision by a
public entity regarding public benefits or services in violation of this act,�
including any retaliatory action against the employee, service beneficiary, or
applicant in violation of section 10 or section 18 of this act, the employee,
service beneficiary, or applicant may institute a civil action against the
employer or public entity in a court of competent jurisdiction.�

���� b.��� In the case of an
adverse employment-related decision or an adverse decision about public
benefits or services made in which an EMT, other surveillance, AEDS, or ABSDS
was used to make or assist in making the decision, the employee, service
beneficiary, or applicant shall first follow the procedures for contesting the adverse
decisions provided by subsection b. of section 8 of this act, and may institute
a civil action pursuant to this section only if not satisfied with the final
outcome of that procedure. �If liability is found, the court shall order, where
appropriate and to the fullest extent possible:

���� (1)�� An injunction to
restrain any violation of this act which is continuing at the time that the
court issues its order;

���� (2)�� The reinstatement of the
employee to the same position held before the retaliatory action, or to an
equivalent position;

���� (3)�� The reinstatement of
full fringe benefits and seniority rights;

���� (4)�� The compensation for all
lost wages, benefits and other remuneration, with pre- and post-judgement
interest, plus liquidated damages of up to 200 percent of the wages due; and

���� (5)�� The payment by the
employer of reasonable costs, and attorney's fees.

���� In addition, the court or jury
may order: for the first violation of the act, an assessment of a civil fine of
not more than $10,000 and, for a subsequent violation not more than $20,000 for
each individual harmed by the violation which shall be paid to the State
Treasurer for deposit into the General Fund; punitive damages; or both a civil
fine and punitive damages.

���� The employee, service
beneficiary, or applicant for employment shall be entitled to maintain the
action for and on behalf of other similarly situated employees, service
beneficiaries, or applicants, or designate an agent or representative to
maintain the action for and on behalf of all similarly situated employees,
service beneficiaries, or applicants.

���� c.���� Taking an adverse
employment action against an employee or an adverse action regarding public
benefits or services against a service beneficiary within 90 days of the time
that the employee or service beneficiary makes a complaint or takes an action
regarding a violation of this act shall raise a rebuttable presumption that the
action was knowingly taken in retaliation.

���� d.��� Nothing in this section
shall limit the availability of other remedies at law or in equity.

���� 20.� A vendor, employer, or
other deployer of an EMT, ABSDS, or AEDS shall be subject to joint and several
liability and shall share responsibility for any violations of the provisions
of this act which occur in connection with the deployment of the EMT, ABSDS, or
AEDS.� A waiver of the provisions of this section is contrary to public policy
and is void and unenforceable.

���� 21.� The commissioner,
pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt regulations to effectuate the purposes of
this act).

���� 22.� This act shall take
effect 18 months after enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill is designed to
ensure that there are reasonable guard rails on the use of systems using
artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies in places of employment
and for public services.� The bill regulates AI used in electronic monitoring
tools (EMT) to collect and process a wide range of data and information about
workers and job applicants and AI used by automated employment decision-making
systems (AEDS) in making employment-related decisions such as hiring and
firing.� The bill also regulates automated benefit and service decision-making
systems (ABSDS) used in making decisions related to providing public benefits
and services.

The need to regulate AI-based
systems

���� Unregulated, automated systems
in places of employment are not accountable.� Information from hundreds of
sources, often inaccurate or incorporating longstanding biases and prejudices,
can have serious adverse economic impacts on workers and claimants for benefits
and services.� Affected individuals rarely have access to the information used
or any explanation of decision processes that can have such profound effects on
their lives.

���� AI technologies have potential
to be useful tools to improve human decision-making, but only if both the people
making decisions and the people affected by the decisions have active,
well-informed roles in determining how the tools are used.� Because the use of
AI is also another form of automation with obvious potential to displace
workers, the implementation of AI technologies should be subject to requirements
that employers address concerns raised by workers and unions, to seek a balance
between the needs of employers for productive efficiency and the needs of
workers to stay productively engaged and be involved in how the technology is
implemented.� Moreover, the established rights of workers to organize and
bargain for a just share of the benefits of increased productivity must be
protected from the threat of invasive AI-driven surveillance and intimidation.

Prohibited uses of AI-based systems

���� This bill requires that an AI
system, specifically an EMT, AEDS, or ABSDS, cannot be used until it is
screened in an �impact assessment� and approved as being in compliance with the
requirements of the bill by an independent auditor or, if for governmental use,
by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.� Compliance with the bill
includes prohibitions of:

���� (1)�� Surveillance practices
such as monitoring workers in bathrooms, rest areas, locker rooms or other
non-work areas or outside of the workplace, surveillance outside of work times,
or compelling workers to install monitoring software in personal devices, have
tracking devices implanted, or disclose device passwords or social media
accounts;

���� (2)�� Using any AI system or
surveillance in a way that causes, or contributes to, a violation of a
collective bargaining agreement or of a State or federal law, or pressures
employees not to exercise their rights under an agreement or those laws;

���� (3)�� Using an AI system to
set, or facilitate setting, performance standards or productivity quotas likely
to contribute significantly to harming worker health and safety;�

���� (4)�� Using AI systems to
discriminate in employment decisions, including hiring or firing, or decisions
about public benefits or services, by using information regarding any
classification or characteristic of an individual protected under State or
federal law, or information about union affiliation,

or any other
classification or characteristic, other than unlawful behavior, not directly
related to work performance or work qualifications or eligibility for benefits
or services.

Procedures for impact assessments
and approvals of AI-based systems

���� The impact assessment for an
AEDS or EMT must also confirm that it is primarily intended to be used for
specified business purposes like ensuring the quality of goods and services,
assessing employee performance, administering wages and benefits, and complying
with relevant laws, all done with means least invasive to workers, without
compiling or using data not needed for the specified purposes.

���� Vendors of AEDS�s seeking
approval for their use must provide the independent auditor or the department
conducting the impact assessment with:

���� (1)�� Detailed documentation
about AEDS design and development, and sources of the data used to develop and
train the AEDS;

���� (2)�� Its intended purpose,
deployment context, rationale for use, and its outputs and types of employment
decisions in which the outputs will be used;

���� (3)�� An analysis of the
accuracy, reliability, validity, and error rates of the AEDS, including the
reasonably foreseeable effects of tuning, retraining, or modification; and

���� (4)�� What impacts its use may
have on efficiency and output for the employer that deploys it, including
quantified estimates of: the increased earnings and cost savings for the
employer, any employment losses for the workers, any new employment related to
human oversight, and the percent of the increased earnings and cost savings
that are due to reduced employment.

���� The full report of the impact
assessment, and a summary of the report, produced by the independent auditor or
the department, is to be kept in a public registry maintained by the department
and made available to employees and their unions, and employers or public
entities using the AEDS, ABSDS, or EMT.

Notification and disclosure
requirements; right to have employers respond to worker and union concerns

���� The employer or public entity
is required to give written notice to its employees and any union representing
them, 60 days in advance, that it intends to implement the AEDS or EMT.� The
notice is required to include:

���� (1)�� A detailed description
of the AEDS, ABSDS or EMT and how they will be used;

���� (2)�� A copy of the summary of
the impact assessment report and instructions for accessing the entire report
from the public registry;

���� (3)�� Disclosure of the right
to have access to all information relevant to contest any disclosure in the
notice;

���� (4)�� A statement of the
obligation of the employer or entity to address concerns raised by any union of
their employees over any possible lack of compliance with the requirements of
the bill; and

���� (5)�� Descriptions of any
performance standards or productivity quotas used to evaluate workers.

���� Employers are not required to
have performance standards or productivity quotas, but they are not allowed to
take any adverse action against an employee for not meeting a standard or quota
that was not disclosed.

���� An employer or public entity
is required to notify employees of any significant change in the AEDS, ABSDS or
EMT or the way they are used, and provide the same opportunity to raise
concerns regarding potential violations as in the initial implementation.� The
bill requires employers and vendors to keep all information about individuals
accurate and up to date, and give them access to the information and a right to
seek corrections of inaccurate information or information kept in violation of
the bill�s requirements, either when notice is given of a change, or at least
once per year even if there is no change.

Data security

���� The bill prevents the release
of information by an employer, public entity or vendor to third parties without
the individual�s consent in most circumstances, and requires removal of
information when the legitimate need for it ends.� Employers and vendors are
responsible for data security and are jointly and severally liable for damages
caused by any security breach.

Procedures and appeal rights
regarding adverse decisions with AI-based systems

���� Employers and public entities
are required to notify individuals of adverse decisions like a termination or a
denial of public benefits or services at least 10 days in advance and give
affected individuals and their authorized representatives an explanation of the
decision, access to all relevant information, and the right to contest the
decision through a discussion with a human reviewer employed by the employer or
entity and given authority to correct errors, or, if the individual not
satisfied, through an administrative or civil action or a grievance or
arbitration procedure under a collective bargaining agreement.

Human oversight of AI-based
systems

���� �Employers and public entities
are not allowed to rely primarily on data or outputs from an EMT, AEDS, or
ABSDS, or information from third parties like data brokers, when making
decisions about employment, benefits or services, or to make decisions based
exclusively on EMT, AED or ABSDS information or data.� The bill requires users
of those systems to establish meaningful human oversight of them, designating
employees as internal reviewers with sufficient expertise about the systems to
identify potential errors, biases, or inaccuracies produced by their use, and
authority to revise or reject system outputs.

���� The bill also gives all
employees the right to not follow AI outputs which they reasonably believe will
cause harm, after notifying the employer of the problem if there is time to do
so.

Public employer use of AI-based
systems and technologies reducing employment a mandatory subject of bargaining;
rights of displaced workers

���� The bill makes a public
employer decision to implement an EMT, AEDS or ABSDS or a new technology likely
to result in a significant job loss a mandatory subject of collective
negotiation.� The public employer may not implement any of those systems or
technologies during the term of a current contract, but must, at least 30 days
before the contract expires, give at least 90 days� notice before the date of
the implementation and negotiate in good faith over the impact.� Public
employees who are displaced as a result are entitled to:

���� (1)�� Receive severance pay
and health benefits for least one year, or at least two years for employees
with five or more years of service;

���� (2)�� Retain acquired
seniority rights;

���� (3)�� Recall rights;

���� (4)�� The right to any
training needed to fulfill human oversight roles and human roles dealing with
problems individuals have with AI decisions, and priority for any new
employment in those roles.