The Governor has until September 30, 2026 to sign or veto enrolled bills from the 2025-2026 session. This status should be verified as the deadline approaches.
SB 947: The Return of the “No Robo Bosses Act”
This bill is enrolled and presented to the Governor for signature. SB 947 is a revised version of SB 7, which was vetoed by Governor Newsom in 2025. The veto raised concerns about overly broad notification requirements and restrictions on Automated Decision Systems (ADS) use. The proposed legislation prohibits employers from relying solely on an ADS to make disciplinary or termination decisions. It requires employers to apply human review and independent corroboration before acting on the output of an ADS for these purposes. The bill would also bar using an ADS to infer a worker’s protected characteristics or to predict and retaliate against a worker for exercising legal rights and would require post-use notice to affected employees.
Takeaway: If enacted, beginning July 1, 2027, SB 947 will create significant operational, compliance, and risk management challenges for employers using or considering ADS in California workplaces. Violations of this new law could expose employers to administrative penalties, civil liability, and reputational risk. Bill Text: CA SB947 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced | LegiScan
SB 951: Expansion of Cal/WARN Notice for AI-Driven Mass Layoffs
The Cal/WARN Act already requires 60-day notice for mass layoffs/relocations, with penalties for noncompliance. SB 951 updates this to address technological displacement, a growing concern in California’s labor market. If enacted, this bill would revise the Cal/WARN Act to also require an employer giving notice of a mass layoff, relocation, or termination caused in whole or in substantial part by an artificial intelligence (AI) system or other automated technology replacing or automating employment positions to include certain information in the notice, including the job functions performed by workers that will be automated by AI. Also requires employers to provide EDD with “written technology hiring disruption notice” for covered layoffs.
Takeaway: If enacted, SB 951 would give displaced workers more time, information, and job protection when automation or AI leads to mass job losses, while requiring employers and the EDD to track and report on these impacts. Bill Text: CA SB951 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced | LegiScan
SB 951 establishes a new notice and protection framework that operates alongside — and in some respects supersedes — existing California WARN Act requirements.
The triggering threshold: The standard California WARN Act (Labor Code sections 1400 et seq.) requires advance layoff notice when an employer lays off 50 or more workers within a 30-day period. SB 951 dramatically lowers that threshold for AI-caused displacement: the notice obligation would trigger if just 25 workers, or 25% of the workforce (whichever is less), are displaced due to AI or automation.
The notice period: Where the standard California WARN Act requires 60 days’ notice, SB 951 requires 90 days’ advance written notice for AI-caused technological displacement. Employers would have 30 additional days to provide notice, and they must provide that notice before the displacement occurs — not contemporaneously. The notice obligation under SB 951 is far more detailed than standard WARN Act notice.
AB 1883: Regulation of Workplace Surveillance Tools and Worker Data
This bill is enrolled and presented to the Governor for signature. If signed it would restrict the use of workplace surveillance tools that use artificial intelligence to, among other things, collect neural data (such as gait analysis) or recognize an individual’s emotional state. “Neural data” means information that is generated by measuring the activity of a worker’s central or peripheral nervous system and that is not inferred from nonneural information. The bill would prohibit an employer from using a workplace surveillance tool that incorporates facial, gait, or emotion recognition technology, except as specified. The bill would also prohibit an employer from using a workplace surveillance tool to infer specified categories of information about a worker, including, among others, their veteran status, ancestral history, religious beliefs, or disability status. Creates potential penalties of up to $500 per employee for each violation and authorizes an employee to bring a civil action for violation.
Takeaway: May require employers to audit monitoring technologies, data practices, and vendor tools. Bill Text: CA AB1883 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Introduced | LegiScan
MISCELLANEOUS (BUT IMPORTANT)
AB 1961: Easier Access to Workplace Violence Restraining Orders
This bill is enrolled and presented to the Governor for signature. If signed it would allow employers to seek a workplace violence restraining order for threats directed at the workplace or employees generally. Permits protection for a reasonably identifiable group or class of employees. Would remove the need to name an individual employee as a protected party in those circumstances if the employer seeks a workplace violence restraining order on behalf of a group or class of employees.
Takeaway: Could make it easier for employers to respond quickly to credible workplace threats. Bill Text: CA AB1961 | 2025-2026 | Regular Session | Amended | LegiScan
Revisit other key pieces of California employment legislation in the two previous posts in this series: Training Reminders and Related Bills to Watch About Training and Bills to Watch Dealing with FEHA and/or CFRA.