Regulon — CA-SB-947 · CA SB 947 (Workplace ADS)

2026-02-02 introduced Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.

2026-02-03 From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 5. From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 5.

2026-02-18 committee referral Referred to Coms. on L., P.E. & R. and P., D.T., & C.P.

2026-03-26 committee referral From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on L., P.E. & R.

2026-03-26 Set for hearing April 8. Set for hearing April 8.

2026-04-08 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. (Ayes 3. Noes 1.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. (Ayes 3. Noes 1.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P.

2026-04-08 From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. (Ayes 3. Noes 1. Page 3794.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P. (Ayes 3. Noes 1. Page 3794.) (April 8). Re-referred to Com. on P., D.T., & C.P.

2026-04-09 Set for hearing April 20. Set for hearing April 20.

2026-04-21 From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 2.) (April 20). From committee: Do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 7. Noes 2.) (April 20).

2026-04-22 Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

2026-04-24 Set for hearing May 4. Set for hearing May 4.

2026-05-04 May 4 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file. May 4 hearing: Placed on APPR. suspense file.

2026-05-08 Set for hearing May 14. Set for hearing May 14.

2026-05-14 From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (May 14). From committee: Do pass as amended. (Ayes 5. Noes 2.) (May 14).

2026-05-14 Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading. Read second time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

Summary

CA SB 947 regulates the use of automated decision systems (ADS) in employment by prohibiting employers from using ADS for certain purposes — including inferring protected status, conducting predictive behavior analysis, and targeting workers for exercising legal rights — and by requiring human oversight for disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decisions. Employers must provide affected workers with a detailed written postuse notice and grant data access rights. The bill is enforceable by the Labor Commissioner, through private civil actions by workers (including punitive damages and attorney's fees), or by a public prosecutor. Collective bargaining agreements may explicitly waive these protections if they provide equivalent algorithmic management protections.

Enforcement & Penalties

Enforcement Authority

The Labor Commissioner enforces this part, including investigating alleged violations, ordering temporary relief, issuing citations, and filing civil actions using procedures set forth in Labor Code Sections 98.3, 98.7, 98.74, and 1197.1. Alternatively, any worker or their exclusive representative who has suffered a violation may bring a civil action in superior court. A public prosecutor may also bring a civil enforcement action pursuant to Labor Code Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 180) of Division 1. The collective bargaining exemption applies where the agreement explicitly waives this part in clear and unambiguous terms and provides protection from algorithmic management.

Penalties

An employer who violates this part is subject to a civil penalty of $500. In any civil action brought in superior court, the petitioner may seek appropriate temporary or preliminary injunctive relief, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs. Workers may also bring a civil action for damages caused by the adverse action, including punitive damages. Statutory civil penalties do not require proof of actual monetary harm.

Who Is Covered

"Employer" means any person who directly or indirectly, or through an agent or any other person, employs or exercises control over the wages, benefits, other compensation, hours, working conditions, access to work or job opportunities, or other terms or conditions of employment, of any worker. This shall include all branches of state government, including all cities, counties, charter counties, municipalities, charter municipalities, cities and counties, special districts, transit districts, the University of California upon agreement by the regents, the California State University, community college districts, school districts, or any other governmental entity.

"Employer" includes a labor contractor of a person defined as an employer under paragraph (1).

"Worker" means any natural person who is an employee of, or an independent contractor providing service to, or through, a business or a state or local governmental entity in any workplace.

What Is Covered

"Automated decision system" or "ADS" means any computational process derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence that issues simplified output, including a score, classification, or recommendation, that is used to assist or replace human discretionary decisionmaking and materially impacts natural persons. An automated decision system does not include a spam email filter, firewall, antivirus software, identity and access management tools, calculator, database, dataset, or other compilation of data.

Compliance Obligations 13 obligations · click obligation ID to open requirement page

S-02 Prohibited Conduct & Output Restrictions · Deployer · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1522(a)(1)-(4)

Plain Language

Employers are categorically prohibited from using automated decision systems for four purposes: (1) to prevent compliance with or violate any employment, labor, safety, or civil rights law; (2) to infer a worker's protected class status under FEHA; (3) to conduct predictive behavior analysis on a worker — which encompasses systems that predict, infer, or modify a worker's behavior, beliefs, intentions, personality, or emotional state; and (4) to identify, profile, predict, or take adverse action against a worker for exercising their legal rights. These are absolute prohibitions with no safe harbor or exception.

Statutory Text

(a) An employer shall not use an ADS to do any of the following: (1) Prevent compliance with or violate any federal, state, or local labor, occupational health and safety, employment, or civil rights laws or regulations. (2) Infer a worker's protected status under Section 12940 of the Government Code. (3) Conduct predictive behavior analysis on a worker. (4) Identify, profile, predict, or take adverse action against a worker for exercising their legal rights, including, but not limited to, rights guaranteed by state and federal employment and labor law.

D-01 Automated Processing Rights & Data Controls · D-01.5 · Deployer · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1522(a)(5)

Plain Language

Employers may not use individualized worker data as ADS inputs or outputs to inform compensation decisions unless they can affirmatively demonstrate that any resulting compensation differences for substantially similar work are based on cost differentials in performing the task or that the data was directly related to the tasks the worker was hired to perform. The burden of justification falls on the employer. 'Individualized' is defined broadly to include data specific to groups or tiers of individuals with particular personal characteristics, behaviors, or biometrics — not just individual-level data.

Statutory Text

(5) Use or rely upon individualized worker data as inputs or outputs to inform compensation unless the employer can clearly demonstrate that any differences in compensation for substantially similar or comparable work assignments are based upon cost differentials in performing the task involved, or that the data was directly related to the tasks that the worker was hired to perform.

H-01 Human Oversight of Automated Decisions · H-01.6 · Deployer · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1522(b)-(c)

Plain Language

Employers may never rely solely on an ADS for disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decisions. When an ADS output is used to assist such a decision, a human reviewer must conduct an independent investigation and compile corroborating evidence — which may include supervisory evaluations, personnel files, work product, peer reviews, or witness interviews. Critically, if the human reviewer cannot corroborate the ADS output or concludes it is inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, the employer is prohibited from using that output to discipline, terminate, or deactivate the worker. This goes beyond standard human-in-the-loop requirements by requiring affirmative corroboration, not merely human review.

Statutory Text

(b) (1) An employer shall not rely solely on an ADS when making a disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision. (2) If an employer uses an ADS output to assist in making a disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision, the employer shall direct a human reviewer to conduct an independent investigation and compile corroborating or supporting information for the decision. For purposes of this paragraph, "other information" may include, but is not limited to, any of the following: (A) Supervisory or managerial evaluations. (B) Personnel files. (C) Work product of workers. (D) Peer reviews. (E) Witness interviews, that may include relevant online customer reviews. (c) If an employer cannot corroborate the ADS output, or the human reviewer has concluded that the ADS output is inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, the employer shall not use the ADS output to discipline, terminate, or deactivate a worker.

Other · Deployer · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1522(d)

Plain Language

Employers may not use customer ratings as the only or primary data input for any employment-related decision — a category that spans wages, scheduling, performance evaluations, hiring, discipline, promotion, termination, task assignment, and workplace safety decisions. Customer ratings may still be used as a secondary or supplementary input, but they cannot be the sole or dominant factor driving ADS-assisted employment decisions.

Statutory Text

(d) An employer shall not use customer ratings as the only or primary input data used to assist the employer to make employment-related decisions.

D-01 Automated Processing Rights & Data Controls · D-01.1 D-01.2 · Deployer · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1522(e)-(f)

Plain Language

Workers have the right to request and receive a copy of the most recent 12 months of their own data that was primarily used by an ADS to make a disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision. This right is limited to one request per 12-month period. When providing the data, employers must anonymize any personal information belonging to customers, other workers, or other individuals — the worker receives their own data but not anyone else's identifiable information. This is a data access right specific to ADS-related employment decisions, not a general right to all data the employer holds.

Statutory Text

(e) A worker shall have the right to request, and an employer shall provide, a copy of the most recent 12 months of the worker's own data primarily used by an ADS to make a disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision. A worker is limited to one request every 12 months for a copy of their own data used by an ADS to make a disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision. (f) For purposes of safeguarding the privacy rights of consumers, workers, and individuals, when an employer is required to provide worker data pursuant to this part, that worker data shall be provided in a manner that anonymizes the customer's, other worker's, or individual's personal information.

H-01 Human Oversight of Automated Decisions · H-01.1 H-01.3 · Deployer · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1524(a)-(b)

Plain Language

When an employer uses an ADS to assist in a disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision, it must provide the affected worker with a written postuse notice at the time the decision is communicated. The notice must be a standalone plain-language document in the worker's routine communication language, delivered via an accessible method. It must disclose: (1) that an ADS was used; (2) that a human reviewer independently investigated and corroborated the output; (3) contact information for a human the worker can reach for more information and to exercise data access rights; and (4) that retaliation for exercising rights under this part is prohibited. This is a post-decision notice — not a pre-decision notification — which is unusual compared to most automated decision notice frameworks.

Statutory Text

(a) An employer that uses an ADS to assist in making a disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision shall provide the affected worker with a written postuse notice at the time the employer informs the worker of the decision. The notice shall comply with all of the following: (1) It shall be written in plain language as a separate, stand-alone communication. (2) It shall be in the language in which routine communications and other information are provided to workers. (3) It shall be provided via a simple and easy-to-use method, including an email, hyperlink, or other written format. (b) The post-use notice shall contain all of the following information: (1) That the employer used an ADS to assist the employer in the disciplinary, termination, or deactivation decision with respect to the worker. (2) That a human reviewer conducted an independent investigation and compiled evidence to corroborate the ADS output. (3) Contact information for the human that the worker may contact for more information about the decision and the worker's right to access a copy of their own data and corroborating evidence that was used in the decision. (4) That the employer is prohibited from retaliating against the worker for exercising their rights under this part.

H-01 Human Oversight of Automated Decisions · H-01.1 H-01.2 · Deployer · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1524(c)

Plain Language

When a worker exercises their data access right, the employer must provide a written plain-language document accessible away from the workplace that details: the specific decision the ADS was used for, the specific input data used and output produced by the ADS, any additional corroborating information used, the ADS vendor name and product name, and a copy of any completed impact assessments for that ADS. This is a detailed transparency response triggered by a worker's request — it goes well beyond the initial postuse notice by providing the actual data, outputs, corroborating evidence, and vendor identification. The requirement to produce impact assessments is notable as it effectively requires employers to have conducted such assessments if they exist.

Statutory Text

(c) When responding to a data access request pursuant to this section, an employer shall provide to the worker a written, plain language document using a simple and easy-to-use method that is accessible away from the workplace containing all of the following: (1) The specific decision for which the employer used the ADS. (2) The specific worker input data that the ADS used, and the specific worker output produced by the ADS. (3) Any additional corroborating or supporting information used in addition to the ADS output in making the decision. (4) The name of the vender or entity that created the ADS and the product name of the ADS. (5) A copy of any completed impact assessments regarding the ADS in question.

G-03 Whistleblower & Anti-Retaliation Protections · G-03.3 · Deployer · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1526

Plain Language

Employers are prohibited from retaliating — through discharge, demotion, suspension, or any other form of discrimination — against workers who exercise their rights under this part, including filing complaints with the Labor Commissioner, alleging violations, cooperating with investigations or prosecutions, or taking any action to invoke enforcement. This is a broad anti-retaliation provision covering the full spectrum of worker activity under the bill. Unlike the frontier model whistleblower framework in G-03, this does not require an anonymous reporting mechanism — it is a pure anti-retaliation prohibition applicable to any worker exercising statutory rights.

Statutory Text

An employer shall not discharge, threaten to discharge, demote, suspend, or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against any worker for using or attempting to use their rights under this part, filing a complaint with the Labor Commissioner, alleging a violation of this part, cooperating in an investigation or prosecution of an alleged violation of this part, or any action taken by the worker to invoke or assist in any manner the enforcement of this part, or for exercising or attempting to exercise any right protected under this part.

Other · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1526.1(a)-(e)

Plain Language

This provision establishes the enforcement framework for the bill. The Labor Commissioner may investigate, issue citations, and file civil actions. Alternatively, a worker who has suffered a violation may bring a private civil action for damages including punitive damages. A public prosecutor may also bring an enforcement action. In any civil action, the petitioner may seek injunctive relief, punitive damages, and attorney's fees. Employers who violate this part are subject to a $500 civil penalty. This is an enforcement provision — it creates no new affirmative compliance obligation.

Statutory Text

(a) The Labor Commissioner shall enforce this part, including investigating an alleged violation, and ordering appropriate temporary relief to mitigate a violation or maintain the status quo pending the completion of a full investigation or hearing through the procedures set forth in Section 98.3, 98.7, 98.74, or 1197.1, including issuing a citation against an employer who violates this part and filing a civil action. If a citation is issued, the procedures for issuing, contesting, and enforcing judgments for citations and civil penalties issued by the Labor Commissioner shall be the same as those set forth in Section 98.74 or 1197.1, as applicable. (b) Alternatively to subdivision (a), any worker, or their exclusive representative, who has suffered a violation of this part may bring a civil action in a court of competent jurisdiction for damages caused by that adverse action, including punitive damages. (c) This part may also alternatively be enforced by a public prosecutor pursuant to Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 180) of Division 1. (d) In any civil action brought pursuant to paragraph (a) or (b) in superior court in any county wherein the violation in question is alleged to have occurred, or wherein the person resides or transacts business, the petitioner may seek appropriate temporary or preliminary injunctive relief, including punitive damages, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs as part of the costs of any such action for damages. (e) An employer who violates this part shall be subject to a civil penalty of five hundred dollars ($500).

Other · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1526.2

Plain Language

This savings clause preserves local government authority to enact ordinances providing equal or greater worker protections regarding automated decision systems. It creates no new compliance obligation but signals that employers may face additional local requirements beyond this state law.

Statutory Text

This part does not preempt any city, county, or city and county ordinance that provides equal or greater protection to workers who are covered by this part.

Other · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code §§ 1526.3-1526.4

Plain Language

An employer that complies with the postuse notice requirements under this part is not required to comply with substantially similar ADS notice provisions under other state laws — effectively creating a consolidation safe harbor for notice obligations. However, this safe harbor does not extend to CCPA-related automated decisionmaking regulations adopted by the California Privacy Protection Agency, which remain independently applicable. This is a safe harbor and carve-out, not an independent compliance obligation.

Statutory Text

1526.3. Except as set forth in Section 1526.4, an employer who complies with the requirements related to notice under this part is not required to comply with any substantially similar notice provisions related to automated decision systems used for employment-related decisions required under any other state law. 1526.4. Notwithstanding Section 1526.3, an employer that is a business subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (Title 1.81.5 (commencing with Section 1798.100) of Part 4 of Division 3 of the Civil Code) is subject to any privacy-related automated decisionmaking technology regulation duly adopted by the California Privacy Protection Agency pursuant to Section 1798.185 and subdivision (b) of Section 1798.199.40 of the Civil Code.

Other · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1526.5

Plain Language

Parties covered by a collective bargaining agreement are exempt from this part if three conditions are met: the CBA explicitly waives this part in clear and unambiguous terms, the CBA expressly provides for wages, working conditions, and other terms of work, and the CBA provides protection from algorithmic management. All three conditions must be satisfied — a general CBA waiver alone is insufficient without the algorithmic management protection requirement.

Statutory Text

The provisions of this part shall not apply to parties covered by a collective bargaining agreement if the agreement explicitly waives this part in clear and unambiguous terms, expressly provides for the wages or earning, working conditions, and other terms and conditions of work, and provides protection from algorithmic management.

Other · EmploymentAutomated Decisionmaking

Lab. Code § 1526.6

Plain Language

This carve-out ensures that the bill's prohibitions and requirements do not prevent employers from complying with federal government regulatory or contractual requirements when providing products or services to the federal government. This is a federal contracting safe harbor — it creates no new obligation but is important for defense contractors and other federal service providers.

Statutory Text

This part does not prohibit any employer from complying with regulatory or contractual requirements in the provision of products or services to the federal government.