S-2499
RI · State · USA
RI
USA
● Pending
Proposed Effective Date
2026-02-06
Rhode Island S 2499 — 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 (ADS) in employment contexts in Rhode Island. Employers may only use electronic monitoring for enumerated legitimate purposes, must narrowly tailor monitoring to those purposes, and must provide detailed prior written notice to employees and candidates. The bill prohibits facial recognition, gait/voice/emotion recognition, and monitoring of off-duty employees, among other specific prohibitions. Employers must obtain independent impact assessments before using electronic monitoring alone or with ADS, disclose assessment results to workers within 30 days, and maintain meaningful human oversight over employment decisions informed by monitoring data. Employees who refuse AI/ADS outputs in good faith based on professional judgment are protected from retaliation. The Department of Labor and Training and the Attorney General are empowered to promulgate implementing regulations.
Summary

Regulates employer use of electronic monitoring tools and automated decision systems (ADS) in employment contexts in Rhode Island. Employers may only use electronic monitoring for enumerated legitimate purposes, must narrowly tailor monitoring to those purposes, and must provide detailed prior written notice to employees and candidates. The bill prohibits facial recognition, gait/voice/emotion recognition, and monitoring of off-duty employees, among other specific prohibitions. Employers must obtain independent impact assessments before using electronic monitoring alone or with ADS, disclose assessment results to workers within 30 days, and maintain meaningful human oversight over employment decisions informed by monitoring data. Employees who refuse AI/ADS outputs in good faith based on professional judgment are protected from retaliation. The Department of Labor and Training and the Attorney General are empowered to promulgate implementing regulations.

Enforcement & Penalties
Enforcement Authority
The Department of Labor and Training is designated to promulgate implementing rules and regulations. The Office of the Attorney General is designated to promulgate rules and regulations to protect consumers and the public good from AI and ADS harms. Enforcement for retaliation violations is subject to penalties as provided in Title 28. Employees may file complaints with the attorney general or other departments. No explicit private right of action is created for violations of the electronic monitoring or ADS provisions themselves, though the anti-retaliation provision in § 28-5.2-4(b) references penalties under Title 28.
Penalties
Retaliation violations are subject to penalties as provided in Title 28. The bill does not specify independent statutory damages, civil penalties, or monetary remedy amounts for violations of the electronic monitoring or ADS provisions. No attorney fees provision is included.
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 monitoring is primarily used for one of six enumerated legitimate purposes (facilitating essential job functions, quality assurance, periodic performance assessment, legal compliance, health/safety/security, or wage/benefit administration). Beyond the purpose limitation, the monitoring must be narrowly tailored: least invasive implementation, limited to the fewest workers and smallest data footprint necessary, no off-duty collection, prompt deletion of unnecessary data, and vendor disposal of data not needed for the legitimate purpose. The Department of Labor and Training may establish additional exceptions by rule.
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.
D-01 Automated Processing Rights & Data Controls · D-01.1 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(c)
Plain Language
Before deploying any electronic monitoring tool, the employer must provide detailed prior written notice to all affected employees and candidates, obtain written acknowledgment from each, and post the notice conspicuously in the workplace. The notice must cover eleven enumerated elements: the monitoring purpose, specific data collected and its lifecycle, monitoring schedule, whether data feeds into an ADS, whether it informs employment decisions, use in discipline or litigation, productivity standard setting, data storage and retention details, a least-invasive-means explanation, the employee's right to refuse data sale/transfer, and instructions for exercising statutory rights.
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 create and retain contemporaneous, true, and accurate records of all electronic monitoring data used in employment decisions (hiring, promotion, termination, discipline, compensation) for five years. All monitoring-collected employee data must be destroyed no later than 61 months after collection unless the employee provides written informed consent for longer retention. Employers must maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical data security practices proportionate to the data volume and nature. Employees have a right to request corrections to erroneous data. Records must be producible upon request by the employee, their authorized representative, or the Department.
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)(1)-(9)
Plain Language
Even where monitoring is otherwise conducted for a legitimate purpose, employers face a set of absolute prohibitions. They may not use electronic monitoring to: violate any state law; threaten employee health, safety, welfare, or legal rights; monitor off-duty or non-work activities; obtain protected-class information (health, race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, genetic information, religion, veteran status, etc.); identify or punish protected labor activity; surveil private areas (bathrooms, locker rooms, breakrooms, prayer areas, lactation areas); monitor employees' homes, personal vehicles, or personal property; or deploy facial recognition, gait analysis, voice analysis, or emotion recognition technology. The facial recognition and biometric technology prohibitions are categorical — no legitimate purpose exception applies.
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;
Other · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(e)(10)-(12)
Plain Language
Employers may not take adverse action against employees for good-faith refusal to submit to monitoring practices they believe violate the chapter. They may not take adverse employment action based on data from continuous incremental time-tracking tools — tools that measure sub-day time intervals for specific activities — except where the data reveals egregious misconduct (intentional/grossly negligent conduct creating imminent serious physical harm risk, significant property damage, discrimination/harassment, or job-related criminal conduct). Employers also may not take adverse action based on monitoring data measuring performance against standards that were not previously, clearly, and unmistakably disclosed to the employee, or where the data was collected without proper statutory notice.
Statutory Text
(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
Employee data collected through electronic monitoring may only be used for the purposes disclosed in the written notice provided to employees under subsection (c). Any secondary use is prohibited. Additionally, employers may not sell, transfer, or disclose monitoring-collected employee data to any third party unless required by federal or state law, or necessary to comply with a required ADS impact assessment. This creates a strong purpose limitation and near-total prohibition on external data sharing.
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 · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(h)
Plain Language
Employers are categorically prohibited from requiring employees to implant subcutaneous or wearable data-collecting devices. They also may not require employees to install data-collecting or transmitting applications on personal devices, or to wear or embed such devices. Location tracking devices may only be required if tracking is limited to work hours and strictly necessary for essential job functions. This effectively bars employer-mandated body-worn or implanted surveillance technology.
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-01.1H-01.6 · Deployer · Employment
§ 28-5.2-2(i)-(j)
Plain Language
Employers may not rely primarily on electronic monitoring data when making hiring, promotion, discipline, termination, or compensation decisions. Every such decision must involve meaningful human oversight: a designated internal reviewer with expertise in the ADS, familiarity with the most recent impact assessment, authority to dispute or reject outputs, and sufficient time and resources. The human decision-maker must independently verify accuracy, address pending correction requests, exercise independent judgment, and consider non-monitoring information (supervisory evaluations, personnel files, work products, peer reviews). When such a decision is made, the employer must disclose to the affected employee and their authorized representative within 30 days: that monitoring data was used, which tools were used and how they work, the specific data and judgments relied upon, and any non-monitoring information considered.
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. (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 — whether standalone or in conjunction with an ADS — without first obtaining an independent impact assessment. The assessment must be conducted within one year prior to deployment (or within six months of the law's effective date for existing monitoring). The auditor must be independent with no financial or legal conflicts, and cannot have been involved with the ADS's development or deployment, employed by the developer/deployer, or had financial interests in them within the prior five years. The assessment must evaluate data protection practices, identify allowable purposes, describe risks of legal violations and employee privacy/job quality impacts, and propose mitigation steps. The full assessment must be disclosed in plain language to all affected workers and their authorized representatives within 30 days of receipt, and workers have the right to comment on, challenge, and bargain over the proposed monitoring based on the findings.
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-required licenses/certifications are protected from termination, discipline, retaliation, or other adverse employment action for refusing to follow AI/ADS outputs. The protection applies when the employee has notified the employer that the output may cause harm, illegality, or a licensing violation, and the employer failed to adjust; when the employee refused in good faith based on professional knowledge; or when urgency precluded the normal correction process. This effectively creates a right for professional employees to override AI outputs without adverse consequences, provided the good-faith and notification conditions are met.
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 may not penalize employees for exercising any rights under this chapter. Employers who discharge or discriminate against employees for filing complaints with the attorney general or any other entity, assisting in investigations, instituting proceedings, or testifying under the chapter are subject to penalties under Title 28. This creates a broad anti-retaliation shield covering all employee enforcement activity, from filing complaints to testifying in proceedings.
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.