CA SB7: Employment: automated decision systems.

In one paragraph

Vetoed. California's SB 7 would have regulated employers' use of automated decision systems (ADS) such as AI tools in employment decisions. Employers would have had to give workers written notice at least 30 days before deploying an ADS for decisions other than hiring (by April 1, 2026 for systems already in use), tell applicants when one is used in hiring, not rely solely on an ADS to discipline, fire or deactivate workers, use a human reviewer when relying primarily on one, and give a post-use notice, with a $500 civil penalty. Vetoed by Governor Newsom October 13, 2025; veto sustained March 2, 2026. A later bill, SB 947, was signed in 2026 (Chapter 859).

Plain-English summary, written with AI assistance. The official text controls.

What it means for business

None: the bill was vetoed and never became law. It would have required California employers to give notice of automated decision systems and barred relying solely on them to discipline or fire, with a $500 civil penalty.

Key provisions

1. 1Would have added Labor Code §§ 1520-1539 for employers of any size, including public employers and labor contractors; workers include employees and independent contractors
2. 2ADS: a computational process derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics or AI that issues a score, classification or recommendation used to assist or replace human discretionary decisions and materially impacts people; spam filters, firewalls, antivirus, calculators and databases excluded
3. 3Pre-use notice at least 30 days before first deploying an ADS for employment decisions other than hiring, by April 1, 2026 for ADS already in use, and to new workers within 30 days of hire, covering the decisions affected, the data used, key parameters known to disproportionately affect output, the ADS's creators, any quotas and data-access rights; employers would keep an updated list of ADS in use and notify applicants if an ADS is used in hiring decisions
4. 4Employers could not use an ADS to violate labor, safety, employment or civil-rights laws, to infer a protected status, to target workers for exercising legal rights, or to collect worker data for undisclosed purposes, and could not make customer ratings the only or primary ADS input
5. 5No sole reliance on an ADS for discipline, termination or deactivation; when relying primarily on one, a human reviewer must review the output and other relevant information. Affected workers would get a written post-use notice, and workers could request the last 12 months of their own data primarily used in such decisions (once every 12 months)
6. 6Enforced by the Labor Commissioner or public prosecutors, with injunctive relief, punitive damages, attorney's fees and a $500 civil penalty; anti-retaliation protection; local ordinances giving equal or greater protection not preempted
7. 7Exceptions: collective bargaining agreements that clearly waive it, expressly cover wages, working conditions and other terms, and protect against algorithmic management, and compliance with federal-government contract requirements; CCPA-covered employers would remain subject to the Privacy Protection Agency's automated decisionmaking rules
8. 8Passed both houses September 12, 2025; vetoed by the Governor October 13, 2025; stricken from file and veto sustained March 2, 2026. A separate bill on employers' use of automated decision systems, SB 947, was approved September 30, 2026 (Chapter 859, Statutes of 2026)

Latest legislative action

Mar 2, 2026. Veto sustained.

Sponsors (showing 5 of 61)

Roll call votes (showing 3 of 10)