California Gov. Newsom signed three new measures into law that will place significant restrictions on employers using AI in the workplace and create new reporting obligations for AI-related job impacts.
Why it matters: After resisting previous attempts at AI regulation in 2025, Gov. Newsom has now positioned California as having one of the strictest AI regulatory regimes in the country. Together, the three laws reach how large employers monitor, discipline, and downsize their workforces.
The details:
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SB 947 (also known as the “No Robo Bosses Act”) bars employers from relying solely on automated decision systems (ADS) to fire or discipline workers and requires human oversight and verification when those systems assist in such decisions.
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Employers are also required to provide affected workers notice about the AI tools used and summaries of personal data considered in making such decisions.
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How much an employer must “primarily rely” on AI tools in decisions to trigger the law is left unclear.
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The law takes effect July 1, 2027.
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AB 1883 prohibits employers from using surveillance tools (including, for example, audio, video monitoring, continuous time-trackers, geolocation) that use AI to collect neural data or infer workers’ emotional states, with civil penalties up to $500 per violation.
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The law has an exception for workplace surveillance tools that are used “to ensure safety,” although the scope of this exception is left undefined.
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The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.
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SB 951 requires employers to report AI-driven layoffs to the state as part of the state’s existing WARN Act obligations (which require employers to notify their workforce and the state at least 60 days before laying off 50 or more employees).
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For AI-related layoffs, employers will be required to include details on the number, location, and types of jobs displaced and the AI systems or tools responsible for the displacement.
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The requirements only cover displacements “caused in whole or in substantial part” by AI but the bill fails to further define the scope of “in substantial part.”
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California will publicly post summaries of the layoff notices online.
A growing storm of AI regulations: After a clear playing field for several years, 2026 has brought several significant new AI regulations to employers’ doorsteps. Like California, Connecticut and Colorado also enacted laws this year restricting the use of AI in employment decisions.
Meanwhile, California joins New York and Connecticut in requiring employers to report AI-related job displacements, and five different states (including California) passed laws prohibiting AI-related discrimination. States introduced a total of 200 workplace AI legislative proposals in 2026 –expect several more to be enacted in 2027.
What CHROs should consider:
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Now is the time to prepare. Several new laws governing workplace AI will go into effect starting in 2027, including the three California measures above. Employers should use Q4 2026 to build robust compliance strategies that can also adapt to potential new laws expected to be passed in 2027.
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Coordinate layoff messaging. SB 951 notices become public data. Executives who credit AI for efficiency gains on earnings calls while filing standard WARN notices could face scrutiny, so HR, legal and investor relations should align on how displacement is characterized.
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Map where algorithms touch discipline. Productivity scores, attendance flags and performance dashboards that feed write-ups likely fall within SB 947’s reach. Human reviewers need real authority to overturn a system’s output.
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Watch for implementing regulations. As highlighted above, there are several grey areas left unaddressed in the new laws (e.g., what “in substantial part” really means for AI-related layoffs). In theory, these open questions could be addressed in forthcoming implementing regulations which could significantly shape compliance obligations and strategy.
