No Robot Bosses Act

Key Points

• This bill stops companies from letting AI make the final call on hiring, firing, or pay. A human has to be the main decision-maker for major work decisions, and AI cannot be used in ways that break labor, safety, or civil rights laws.
• Workers gain the right to know when AI is used on them and what data it collects. Companies must explain their systems in plain language and give workers a way to dispute or appeal a computer-made decision, with at least 7 days notice before an AI-driven adverse action.
• Employees can opt out of being managed by software and get a human manager instead. Job applicants can also ask for a human to review their application rather than being filtered by an automated screening tool.
• Companies and AI developers must test systems for bias and safety before use and run yearly impact assessments. They must publish public summaries, keep records for 10 years, and check for disparate impact on protected groups.
• A new Fairness and Transparency Office is created in the Labor Department. Workers can sue for damages from $5,000 up to $100,000, cannot be forced into private arbitration, and are protected from retaliation for refusing to follow an AI's output.
• The bill authorizes $100 million per year for ten years to run the program, and lets state attorneys general and privacy regulators bring their own enforcement actions on behalf of residents.