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In California, an algorithm can no longer be the sole decision-maker when a worker gets fired.
On September 30, 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a package of bills governing how artificial intelligence is used to discipline, monitor, and lay off employees. The measures are described as the first of their kind, and they arrive as workplace automation moves from pilot projects into everyday HR operations.
The package does not ban AI at work. What it does is insist that a human stay in the loop, and that workers get told when software is shaping decisions about their jobs.
What the new laws actually do
The headline act is the No Robo Bosses Act, formally SB 947. It prohibits employers from relying solely on automated decision systems, or ADS, when disciplining or terminating employees.
Under SB 947, decisions made primarily by these systems must go through human review before they stick. SB 947 also requires employers to give workers written notices about their data rights. The ADS provisions take effect on July 1, 2027.
The second bill, SB 951, updates California’s Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, known as Cal/WARN. When job losses are caused in substantial part by AI technologies, employers must disclose that fact, including the specific roles affected.
The third piece, AB 1883, bars employers from using AI tools that infer workers’ emotional states or collect neural data. Enforcement of AB 1883 begins January 1, 2027, making it the first of the three measures to bite.
A second attempt, narrower this time
This isn’t California’s first swing at the issue. In October 2025, Newsom vetoed SB 7, an earlier and broader bill, on the grounds that it was overly encompassing.
Lawmakers took the note. The 2026 package splits the problem into targeted pieces, each with a defined scope, rather than trying to regulate every workplace use of AI in a single sweep.
The new laws also build on protections put in place in 2025. That year, the Fair Employment and Housing Act, or FEHA, gained provisions addressing algorithmic discrimination in hiring. Last year’s rules focused on how AI screens candidates at the front door. This year’s rules cover what happens after someone is hired, including how they are monitored and how they might be shown the exit.
What this means for employers and the AI industry
For businesses, the immediate question is compliance. Companies using automated tools for performance management or termination may need to re-evaluate their AI strategies, and adding human reviewers could raise costs.
Emotion-detection and neural-data vendors have a tougher road. AB 1883 doesn’t ask them to add oversight. It takes a category of workplace use off the table in California entirely.
The staggered timeline matters for planning. AB 1883 arrives January 1, 2027, while the ADS rules land July 1, 2027, giving employers a window to inventory which systems they use and where human review needs to be inserted.
Watch how the language gets interpreted in practice. Terms like decisions made “primarily” by an ADS, or layoffs caused “in substantial part” by AI, will determine how wide the net really is, and employers will be looking for clarity well before the effective dates.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Diego Almada Lopez. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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