Sponsors (7)
Official title: Prohibit certain uses of automated decision systems by employers, and for other purposes.
Introduced June 18, 2026 by Edward John Markey · Last progress June 18, 2026
The bill substantially strengthens worker protections, transparency, and enforcement for automated employment-related decisions at the cost of significant compliance, administrative, and litigation burdens—particularly for small businesses and startups—and creates implementation and coordination risks for federal and state authorities.
Workers (job applicants, employees, and protected groups) gain stronger protections against biased or harmful automated decision systems because the bill defines covered systems and characteristics, requires disparate-impact analyses, mandates mitigation/certification before deployment, and protects refusal and anti‑retaliation rights.
Workers and the public get greater transparency and accountability because employers and developers must disclose ADS details, produce technical/predeployment reports and annual assessments, and the bill creates an Office and advisory boards to monitor practices and advise on policy.
Workers and affected individuals have stronger enforcement pathways and remedies because the bill creates DOL enforcement tools, preserves state enforcement authority, authorizes state AGs/state privacy regulators to sue, and provides a private right of action for covered violations.
Employers (especially small businesses) face substantially higher compliance, reporting, recordkeeping, and litigation costs because of predeployment reports, annual assessments, long record-retention, disclosure requirements, and expanded enforcement remedies.
Smaller developers and startups may be disproportionately burdened—raising costs, slowing product development, and reducing competition—because certification, documentation, and mitigation requirements favor entities that can absorb regulatory overhead.
Operational delays and reduced adoption of productivity-enhancing automation can occur because human-review opt-outs, prohibitions on predominant ADS reliance, and developer responsibility rules will slow hiring, deployment, and repurposing of systems.
Based on analysis of 14 sections of legislative text.
Limits employer use of automated decision systems at work, mandates evaluations, disclosures, worker opt-outs and human review, funds a DOL Fairness and Transparency Office, and creates enforcement tools.
Limits how employers use automated decision systems (ADS) for hiring, discipline, scheduling, pay, and other work-related decisions. The bill requires developers and employers to evaluate ADS before deployment, disclose how systems work to affected workers and applicants, allow human review and opt-outs, train operators, and certify systems do not threaten workers' rights. It creates a Fairness and Transparency Office at the Department of Labor, funds implementation, and gives the Secretary enforcement authority and a private right of action for harmed workers. The law preserves collective bargaining, protects whistleblowers and nonretaliation, bars employers from predominantly relying on ADS that undermine labor, safety, or civil-rights protections, and authorizes $100 million per year for implementation from FY2027–2036. It also sets regulatory and rulemaking duties for agencies covering federal and congressional employees to mirror DOL rules quickly after issuance.