H-7767
RI · State · USA
RI
USA
● Pending
Proposed Effective Date
2026-02-12
Rhode Island H 7767 — An Act Relating to Labor and Labor Relations — Artificial Intelligence Use and Fair Employment Practices
Regulates employer use of electronic monitoring tools and automated decision systems in the workplace. Employers may only use electronic monitoring for enumerated legitimate purposes, must narrowly tailor tools to be least invasive, and must provide detailed prior written notice to employees and candidates. Employers are prohibited from using facial recognition, gait, voice analysis, or emotion recognition in electronic monitoring, and from monitoring employees off-duty or in private areas. Before using electronic monitoring (alone or with an ADS), employers must obtain an independent impact assessment and disclose it to affected workers within 30 days. Employment decisions based on monitoring data require meaningful human oversight and post-decision disclosure to employees within 30 days. Employees are protected from retaliation for refusing AI outputs they reasonably believe would cause harm. The Department of Labor and Training and the Attorney General are authorized to promulgate implementing regulations.
Summary

Regulates employer use of electronic monitoring tools and automated decision systems in the workplace. Employers may only use electronic monitoring for enumerated legitimate purposes, must narrowly tailor tools to be least invasive, and must provide detailed prior written notice to employees and candidates. Employers are prohibited from using facial recognition, gait, voice analysis, or emotion recognition in electronic monitoring, and from monitoring employees off-duty or in private areas. Before using electronic monitoring (alone or with an ADS), employers must obtain an independent impact assessment and disclose it to affected workers within 30 days. Employment decisions based on monitoring data require meaningful human oversight and post-decision disclosure to employees within 30 days. Employees are protected from retaliation for refusing AI outputs they reasonably believe would cause harm. The Department of Labor and Training and the Attorney General are authorized to promulgate implementing regulations.

Enforcement & Penalties
Enforcement Authority
Department of Labor and Training has authority to promulgate rules and request records. Office of the Attorney General has authority to promulgate regulations to protect consumers and the public from AI and ADS harms. Retaliation complaints are subject to penalties as provided in Title 28. Employees may file complaints with the attorney general or other agencies. No explicit private right of action is created for violations of the electronic monitoring or ADS provisions themselves, though anti-retaliation provisions reference penalties under Title 28.
Penalties
Retaliation violations are subject to penalties as provided in Title 28. The statute does not specify dollar amounts for civil penalties, statutory damages, or remedies within this chapter. Section 28-5.2-4 is titled 'Civil claims for adverse employment action taken based on prohibited conduct' but does not independently specify a damages framework — it cross-references existing Title 28 penalty provisions.
Who Is Covered
"Employer" means any person acting on behalf of or in the interest of an employer, directly or indirectly, with or without their knowledge, but a labor organization or any officer or its agent, shall only be considered an employer of individuals employed by the organization.
"Vendor" means any person or entity who sells, distributes, or develops for sale an automated decision system to be used in an employment decision made by an employer in the state. "Vendor" includes any of the vendor's agents, contractors, or subcontractors.
What Is Covered
"Automated decision system (ADS)" means any computational process, automated system, or algorithm utilizing machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, artificial intelligence, or similar methods, that issues an output, including a score, classification, ranking, or recommendation, that is used to assist or replace human decision making, on issues that impact natural persons. "ADS" does not include a tool that does not assist or replace employment decision processes and that does not materially impact natural persons including, but not limited to, a junk email filter, firewall, antivirus software, calculator, spreadsheet, database, data set, or other compilation of data.
"Electronic monitoring tool" means any system, application, or instrument that facilitates the collection of data concerning worker activities or communications by any means other than direct observation by a natural person including, but not limited to, the use of a computer, telephone, wire, radio, camera, electromagnetic, photoelectronic, or photo-optical system, or obtaining employee data from a third-party.
Compliance Obligations 11 obligations · click obligation ID to open requirement page
D-01 Automated Processing Rights & Data Controls · D-01.4 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(a)-(b)
Plain Language
Employers may only use electronic monitoring tools to collect employee information if the tool serves one of six enumerated legitimate purposes (essential job functions, quality assurance, periodic performance assessment, legal compliance, health/safety/security, or wage/benefits administration). The tool must be narrowly tailored to the stated purpose, implemented in the least invasive manner, limited to the smallest number of workers and least data necessary, and data must be deleted once the purpose is achieved. Unnecessary data must not be disclosed to the employer and must be disposed of by the vendor. No monitoring is permitted when employees are off-duty. Necessary data must be stored consistently with state privacy laws and disposed of promptly when no longer needed.
Statutory Text
(a) It shall be unlawful for an employer to use an electronic monitoring tool to collect employee information unless: (1) The electronic monitoring tool is primarily used to accomplish any of the following legitimate purposes: (i) Allowing a worker to accomplish or facilitating the accomplishment of an essential job function; (ii) Ensuring the quality of goods and services; (iii) Conducting periodic assessment of worker performance; (iv) Ensuring or facilitating compliance with employment, labor, or other relevant laws; (v) Protecting the health, safety, or security of workers, or the security of the employer's facilities or computer networks; or (vi) Administering wages and benefits. (2) The department of labor and training standards may establish additional exceptions under this subsection, pursuant to chapter 35 of title 42 ("administrative procedures act.") (b)(1) The specific type and activated capabilities of an electronic monitoring tool shall be narrowly tailored to accomplish the employer's intended, legitimate purpose specified under subsection (a)(1) of this section; (2) The electronic monitoring tool shall only be used to accomplish the employer's intended, legitimate purpose specified in subsection (a)(1) of this section, and shall be customized and implemented in a manner ensuring that the execution of its duties are undertaken in the manner least invasive to employees of the employer, while still accomplishing the employer's legitimate purposes as defined by subsection (a)(1) of this section; (3) The specific form of electronic monitoring is limited to the smallest number of workers, collection of the least amount of data which shall be collected no more frequently than is necessary to accomplish the purpose, and the data collected, shall be deleted once the purpose has been achieved; (4) The employer shall ensure that any employee data that is collected utilizing an electronic monitoring tool that is not necessary to accomplish the employer's intended, legitimate purpose shall not be disclosed to the employer and shall be promptly disposed of by the vendor; (5) The employer shall ensure that employee data is not collected when the employee is off-duty; and (6) The employer shall ensure that any employee data collected utilizing an electronic monitoring tool that is necessary to accomplish the employer's intended, legitimate purpose, is stored consistent with the state's data and cyber privacy laws, promptly disposed of as soon as the data is no longer needed, and is not utilized by the employer, the vendor or any other third party for any reason except, as provided in subsection (c) of this section.
H-01 Human Oversight of Automated Decisions · H-01.1H-01.2H-01.3 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(c)
Plain Language
Before using any electronic monitoring tool, employers must provide prior written notice to all affected candidates and employees, obtain written acknowledgment, and conspicuously post the notice. The notice must be comprehensive — covering the monitoring purpose, specific data collected, monitoring schedule, whether data feeds into an ADS or employment decisions, use in discipline or litigation, productivity assessment use, data storage location and retention period, a least-invasiveness explanation, the employee's right to refuse data sale/transfer/disclosure, and how to exercise statutory rights. This is a pre-deployment transparency obligation — monitoring may not begin until notice is given and acknowledgment obtained.
Statutory Text
(c) Any employer that uses an electronic monitoring tool shall give prior written notice and shall obtain written acknowledgment from all candidates and employees subject to electronic monitoring and shall also post said notice in a conspicuous place which is readily available for viewing by candidates for employment and employees. Such notice shall include, at a minimum, the following: (1) A description of the purpose for which the electronic monitoring tool will be used, as specified in subsection (a)(1) of this section; (2) A description of the specific employee data to be collected, stored, secured, and disposed of (and the schedule therefor), and the activities, locations, communications, and job roles that will be electronically monitored by the tool; (3) A description of the dates, times, and frequency that electronic monitoring will occur; (4) Whether and how any employee data collected by the electronic monitoring tool will be used as an input in an automated decision system; (5) Whether and how any employee data collected by the electronic monitoring tool will alone or in conjunction with an automated decision system be used to make an employment decision by the employer or employment agency; (6) Whether and how any employee data collected by the electronic monitoring tool may be stored and utilized in discipline, in internal policy compliance, in administrative agency adjudications, in litigation (whether or not it involves the employee or not as a party); (7) Whether any employee data collected by the electronic monitoring tool will be used to assess employees' productivity performance or to set productivity standards, and if so, how; (8) A description of where any employee data collected by the electronic monitoring tool will be stored and the length of time it will be retained; (9) An explanation for how the specific electronic monitoring practice is the least invasive means available to accomplish the monitoring purpose; (10) That an employee is entitled to notice and maintains the right to refuse the sale, transfer, or disclosure of their employee data, subject to the provisions of subsection (g) of this section; and (11) A clear and reasonably understandable description of how an employee can exercise the rights described in this chapter.
G-01 AI Governance Program & Documentation · G-01.3G-01.4 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(d)
Plain Language
Employers must maintain contemporaneous, true, and accurate records of all monitoring data used in hiring, promotion, termination, discipline, or compensation decisions for five years, and must be able to produce them upon employee, authorized representative, or department request. All monitoring data must be destroyed no later than 61 months after collection unless the employee provides written informed consent to longer retention. Employers must implement reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices appropriate to the data's volume and nature. Employees have the right to request corrections to erroneous data — this right is not time-limited.
Statutory Text
(d) An employer shall establish, maintain, and preserve for five (5) years contemporaneous, true, and accurate records of data gathered through the use of an electronic monitoring tool and used in a hiring, promotion, termination, disciplinary or compensation decision to ensure compliance with the employee or their authorized representative or the department requests for data. The employer shall destroy any employee information collected via an electronic monitoring tool no later than sixty-one (61) months after collection unless the employee has provided written and informed consent to the retention of their data by the employer. An employer shall establish, implement and maintain reasonable administrative, technical and physical data security practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity and accessibility of employee data, appropriate to the volume and nature of the employee data at issue. An employee shall have the right to request corrections to erroneous employee data.
D-01 Automated Processing Rights & Data Controls · D-01.5 · Deployer · EmploymentBiometrics
§ 28-5.2-2(e)
Plain Language
Even where monitoring serves a legitimate purpose, employers face twelve categorical prohibitions. Key among them: employers may not use monitoring tools to collect protected-class information (health, race, sex, gender identity, etc.), may not use facial recognition, gait analysis, voice analysis, or emotion recognition technology, may not monitor off-duty employees or private areas (bathrooms, locker rooms, breakrooms, prayer areas, employee residences), and may not surveil protected labor activity. Adverse employment actions based on continuous incremental time-tracking data are prohibited except for egregious misconduct. Adverse actions based on undisclosed performance standards or improperly noticed monitoring data are also prohibited. Employees are protected from retaliation for good-faith refusal to submit to practices they believe violate this section.
Statutory Text
(e) Notwithstanding the allowable purposes for electronic monitoring described in subsection (a) of this section, an employer shall not: (1) Use an electronic monitoring tool in such a manner that results in a violation of labor, employment, civil rights law or any other law of the state; (2) Use an electronic monitoring tool or data collected via an electronic monitoring tool in such a manner as to threaten the health, welfare, safety, or legal rights of employees or the general public; (3) Use an electronic monitoring tool to monitor employees who are off-duty or not performing work-related tasks; (4) Use an electronic monitoring tool in order to obtain information about an employee's health, including health status and health conditions, the race, color, religious creed, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, pregnancy or a condition related to said pregnancy including, but not limited to, lactation or the need to express breast milk for a nursing child, ancestry or status as a veteran or membership in any group protected from employment discrimination under title 28 or any other applicable law; (5) Use an electronic monitoring tool in order to identify, punish, or obtain information about employees engaging in activity protected under labor or employment law; (6) Conduct audio or visual monitoring of bathrooms or other similarly private areas, including locker rooms, changing areas, breakrooms, smoking areas, employee cafeterias, lounges, and areas designated to express breast milk, or areas designated for prayer or other religious activity, including data collection on the frequency of use of those private areas; (7) Conduct audio or visual monitoring of a workplace in an employee's residence, an employee's personal vehicle, or property owned or leased by an employee; (8) Use an electronic monitoring tool that incorporates facial recognition; (9) Use an electronic monitoring tool that incorporates gait, voice analysis, or emotion recognition technology; (10) Take adverse action against an employee, based, in whole or in part, on their opposition or refusal to submit to a practice that the employee believes in good faith violates this section; (11) Take adverse employment action against an employee on the basis of data collected via continuous incremental time-tracking tools, except in the case of egregious misconduct; or (12) Take adverse employment action against an employee based on any data collected via electronic monitoring, if such data measures an employee's performance in relation to a performance standard that has not been previously, clearly, and unmistakably disclosed to such employee, as well as to all other classes of employees to whom it applies in violation of this section, or if such data was collected without proper notice to employees or candidates pursuant to this section.
D-01 Automated Processing Rights & Data Controls · D-01.4 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(f)-(g)
Plain Language
Employers face two data governance restrictions on monitoring data: (1) a strict purpose limitation — data may only be used for the purposes disclosed in the prior written notice to employees, and (2) a transfer/sale prohibition — monitoring data may not be sold, transferred, or disclosed to any outside entity unless required by federal or state law or necessary for compliance with an impact assessment. These provisions effectively lock monitoring data into the use case described in the notice and prevent secondary commercial use.
Statutory Text
(f) An employer shall not use employee data collected via an electronic monitoring tool for purposes other than those specified in the notice provided pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. (g) An employer shall not sell, transfer, or disclose employee data collected via an electronic monitoring tool to any other entity unless it is required to do so under federal law or the laws of the state, or necessary to do so to comply with an impact assessment of an automated decision system used pursuant to this section.
Other · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(h)
Plain Language
Employers are categorically prohibited from requiring employees to implant subcutaneous data-collecting devices or wear data-transmitting items in clothing or accessories. Employers may not require employees to install monitoring applications on personal devices or wear/embed monitoring devices. Location-tracking devices may only be required if tracking is limited to work hours and strictly necessary for essential job functions. This is a bright-line prohibition on invasive physical monitoring requirements.
Statutory Text
(h) An employer shall not require employees to: (1) Physically implant devices that collect or transmit data, including devices that are installed subcutaneously or incorporated into items of clothing or personal accessories; (2) Install applications on personal devices that collect or transmit employee data or to wear or embed those devices; or (3) Carry or use any device with location tracking applications or services enabled, unless the location tracking is: (i) Conducted during work hours only; and (ii) Strictly necessary to accomplish essential job functions and narrowly limited to only the activities and times required to accomplish essential job functions.
H-01 Human Oversight of Automated Decisions · H-01.6 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(i)
Plain Language
Employers may not rely primarily on electronic monitoring data for hiring, promotion, discipline, termination, or compensation decisions. Three affirmative obligations apply: (1) the employer must establish meaningful human oversight — which requires designating an internal reviewer with ADS expertise, authority to reject outputs, and adequate time/resources; (2) the human decision-maker must verify data accuracy, address pending correction requests, and exercise independent judgment; and (3) the human must consider non-monitoring information such as supervisor evaluations, personnel files, work products, or peer reviews. This effectively prevents automated employment decisions based solely on surveillance data.
Statutory Text
(i) An employer shall not rely primarily on employee data collected through electronic monitoring, when making hiring, promotion, disciplinary decisions up to and including termination, or compensation decisions. For an employer to satisfy the requirements of this subsection: (1) An employer shall establish meaningful human oversight of such decisions that are based, in whole or in part, on data collected through electronic monitoring. (2) A human decision-maker shall review any information collected through electronic monitoring, verify that such information is accurate and up to date, review any pending employee requests to correct erroneous data, and exercise independent judgment in making each such decision; and (3) The human decision-maker shall consider information other than information collected through electronic monitoring, when making each such decision including, but not limited to, supervisory or managerial evaluations, personnel files, employee work products, or peer reviews.
H-01 Human Oversight of Automated Decisions · H-01.1H-01.2 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(j)
Plain Language
When an employer makes a hiring, promotion, termination, disciplinary, or compensation decision based in whole or in part on electronic monitoring data, the employer must disclose four categories of information to the affected employee and their authorized representative within 30 days: (1) that monitoring data was used, (2) the specific tools used and how they gather and analyze data, (3) the specific data and judgments derived from it, and (4) any non-monitoring information also used. This is a post-decision explanation obligation — it is triggered by the decision, not by an employee request, and has a fixed 30-day timeline.
Statutory Text
(j) When an employer makes a hiring, promotion, termination, disciplinary or compensation decision, based, in whole or in part, on data gathered through the use of electronic monitoring, it shall disclose to affected employees and their authorized representative within thirty (30) days of the decision being made or going into effect, whichever is sooner: (1) That the decision was based, in whole or in part, on data gathered through electronic monitoring; (2) The specific electronic monitoring tool or tools used to gather such data, how the tools work to gather and analyze the data, and the increments of time in which the data is gathered; (3) The specific data, and judgments based upon such data, used in the decision-making process; and (4) Any information used in the decision-making process gathered through sources other than electronic monitoring.
H-02 Non-Discrimination & Bias Assessment · H-02.3H-02.6H-02.7 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(k)
Plain Language
Employers may not use electronic monitoring — alone or with an ADS — unless a pre-use impact assessment has been completed. The assessment must be conducted by an independent auditor with no financial or legal conflicts and no involvement with the ADS in the prior five years. It must be completed no more than one year before monitoring begins (or within six months of the chapter's effective date for existing monitoring). The assessment must evaluate data protection practices, identify allowable purposes, analyze potential legal violations and employee privacy and job quality impacts, and describe mitigation steps. The full assessment must be disclosed in plain language to all affected workers and their authorized representatives within 30 days of receipt. Workers and their representatives then have the right to comment on, challenge, and bargain over the proposed monitoring.
Statutory Text
(k) It shall be unlawful for an employer to use electronic monitoring, alone or in conjunction with an automated decision system, unless the employer's proposed use of electronic monitoring has been the subject of an impact assessment. Such impact assessments shall: (1) Be conducted no more than one year prior to the use of such electronic monitoring, or where the electronic monitoring began before the effective date of this section, within six (6) months of the effective date of this chapter; (2) Be conducted by an independent and impartial party with no financial or legal conflicts of interest; (3) Evaluate whether the data protection and security practices surrounding the electronic monitoring are consistent with applicable law and cybersecurity industry's best practices; (4) Identify the allowable purpose(s) as defined in this chapter; (5) Consider and describe any other ways in which the electronic monitoring could result in a violation of applicable law and, for any finding that a violation of law may occur, any necessary or appropriate steps to prevent such violation of law; (6) Consider and describe whether the electronic monitoring may negatively impact employees' privacy and job quality, including wages, hours, and working conditions; and (7) Be disclosed in full, in plain language, to all affected workers and their authorized representatives within thirty (30) days of the employer's receipt of the impact assessment. (i) Workers and their authorized representatives shall have the right to comment on, challenge and bargain over the proposed monitoring based on the assessment's findings.
G-03 Whistleblower & Anti-Retaliation Protections · G-03.3 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-3(a)
Plain Language
Employees who exercise independent professional judgment or hold state licensure/certification are protected from termination, discipline, or retaliation for refusing to follow an AI or ADS output, provided at least one of four conditions is met: (1) the employee holds independent judgment or is licensed/certified; (2) the employee notified management that the output could cause harm, illegality, or licensing violations, and the employer failed to adjust it; (3) the employee refused in good faith based on reasonable professional belief the output would cause harm; or (4) the urgency of potential harm did not allow time for departmental correction. This is a conditional anti-retaliation protection — it requires the employee to have professional standing and to have acted in good faith.
Statutory Text
(a) An employee shall be protected from termination, disciplinary action, retaliation, or other adverse employment action for refusing to follow the output of an artificial intelligence system, automated decision system, algorithm, or other similar technology if the following conditions are met: (1) The employee holds independent judgment and discretion in executing their work duties, or the work duties to be performed by the employee require licensure or certification by the state, as a condition of employment, or independent accreditation by the employer; (2) The employee has notified a supervisor, manager, or their employer that the output from the artificial intelligence system, automated decision system, algorithm, or other similar technology may, in their professional opinion and/or educational or work related- experience, lead to the harm of a natural person, damage to physical property, an illegal action, an action contrary to the licensure or certification requirements of the federal government, state, or an applicable private licensing or certifying authority, or an outcome contrary to the goal of the employer, and the employer refused or otherwise failed to adjust the output; (3) The employee has refused to follow the output in good faith and with the knowledge or reasonable belief, based upon training, education, or experience, that the output would cause harm or have an adverse impact; or (4) Due to the urgency of the potential harm or adverse impact, there is not enough time for the output to be corrected through department action.
G-03 Whistleblower & Anti-Retaliation Protections · G-03.3 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-4(a)-(b)
Plain Language
Employers are broadly prohibited from penalizing employees for exercising any rights under this chapter. A more specific anti-retaliation provision prohibits discharging or discriminating against employees who file complaints with the attorney general or any agency, assist in investigations, institute proceedings, or testify in proceedings under this chapter. Violations of this provision are subject to penalties under Title 28. This is a standard anti-retaliation and whistleblower protection provision that ensures employees can enforce their monitoring and AI rights without fear of reprisal.
Statutory Text
(a) No employee shall be penalized by an employer in any way as a result of any action on the part of an employee to seek their rights under the provisions of this chapter. (b) Any employer who discharges or in any other manner discriminates against any employee because such employee has made a complaint to the attorney general or any other department, agency, or person, or assists in any investigation under this chapter, or has instituted, or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this chapter, or has testified or is about to testify in any such proceedings, commits a violation of this section and shall be subject to penalties as provided in title 28.