California No Robo Bosses Act of 2026 (SB 947)

Properties

jurisdiction: US, California
level: state
domain: hiring
status: enacted-pending
scope: Applies to California employers that use an automated decision system (ADS) to make or assist in making disciplinary or termination decisions about employees.
obligations: Labor Code Section 1522(b)(1): an employer shall not rely solely on an ADS when making a disciplinary or termination decision; a human reviewer must corroborate any ADS output used for such a decision. Employers must give affected employees written notice that an ADS was primarily used and inform them of their right to request a description of the data used against them; retaliation against employees asserting these rights is prohibited. Per Section 1526.7, this part of the bill becomes operative July 1, 2027.
effectiveDate: 2027-07-01
enactedDate: 2026-09-30
penalties: Per Section 1526.1(e): an employer who violates this part shall be subject to a civil penalty of $500 per violation, enforced by the Labor Commissioner; public prosecutors may bring civil enforcement actions; employees may seek injunctive relief, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney's fees in superior court.
appliesTo: California employers using automated decision systems for employee discipline or termination
officialUrl: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB947
notes: ENACTED (this run, 2026-10-10): CalMatters Digital Democracy shows SB 947 chaptered by the Secretary of State on September 30, 2026 as Chapter 859, Statutes of 2026; aipolicydesk.com lists it as signed Sept 30. leginfo was 403 this round, so chaptering rests on those aggregators. Operative date stays July 1, 2027 (Section 1526.7 as previously confirmed against bill text); the aggregator also reports the $500 civil penalty per violation. Prior history: a 2026 reintroduction by Sen. McNerney of the substantively similar SB 7, which Governor Newsom vetoed on October 13, 2025; Assembly amendments concurred in 08/31/26 (Ayes 28, Noes 10), enrolled 09/04/26. Distinct from ca-crc-ads-employment-regs and ca-cppa-admt: a narrower, discipline and termination ADS rule.

Properties

jurisdiction

US, California

level

state

domain

hiring

status

enacted-pending

scope

Applies to California employers that use an automated decision system (ADS) to make or assist in making disciplinary or termination decisions about employees.

obligations

Labor Code Section 1522(b)(1): an employer shall not rely solely on an ADS when making a disciplinary or termination decision; a human reviewer must corroborate any ADS output used for such a decision. Employers must give affected employees written notice that an ADS was primarily used and inform them of their right to request a description of the data used against them; retaliation against employees asserting these rights is prohibited. Per Section 1526.7, this part of the bill becomes operative July 1, 2027.

effectiveDate

2027-07-01

enactedDate

2026-09-30

penalties

Per Section 1526.1(e): an employer who violates this part shall be subject to a civil penalty of $500 per violation, enforced by the Labor Commissioner; public prosecutors may bring civil enforcement actions; employees may seek injunctive relief, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney's fees in superior court.

appliesTo

California employers using automated decision systems for employee discipline or termination

officialUrl

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB947

notes

ENACTED (this run, 2026-10-10): CalMatters Digital Democracy shows SB 947 chaptered by the Secretary of State on September 30, 2026 as Chapter 859, Statutes of 2026; aipolicydesk.com lists it as signed Sept 30. leginfo was 403 this round, so chaptering rests on those aggregators. Operative date stays July 1, 2027 (Section 1526.7 as previously confirmed against bill text); the aggregator also reports the $500 civil penalty per violation. Prior history: a 2026 reintroduction by Sen. McNerney of the substantively similar SB 7, which Governor Newsom vetoed on October 13, 2025; Assembly amendments concurred in 08/31/26 (Ayes 28, Noes 10), enrolled 09/04/26. Distinct from ca-crc-ads-employment-regs and ca-cppa-admt: a narrower, discipline and termination ADS rule.