California SB 947 (No Robo Bosses Act: Automated Decision Systems in the Workplace)

Summary

California SB 947 (McNerney), which its author calls the No Robo Bosses Act of 2026, was approved by the Governor on September 30, 2026 as Chapter 859, Statutes of 2026. It adds Part 5.5.5, "Automated Decision Systems in the Workplace," to the Labor Code (Sections 1520–1526.7), operative July 1, 2027. From that date a California employer may not rely solely on an automated decision system (ADS) to discipline or terminate an employee, must have a human corroborate any such decision that primarily relies on ADS output, must give the employee a written post-use notice, and faces a $500 civil penalty per violation.

SB 947 is the second attempt at this statute. Its predecessor, SB 7 (2025, also by Sen. McNerney), was vetoed on October 13, 2025, and the Senate sustained that veto on March 2, 2026. The enacted 2026 version is narrower: SB 7 as enrolled required a written pre-use notice at least 30 days before an employer first deployed an ADS and defined "worker" to include independent contractors, while SB 947 has no pre-use notice and its duties run to employees. [Sources: SB 947 chaptered text and history; SB 7 enrolled text and history, retrieved 2026-10-12.]

Compliance timeline

Who is covered

"Employer" is defined broadly in Section 1520: any person who directly or indirectly, or through an agent, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours, or working conditions of any person. It expressly includes state and local government employers (cities, counties, special districts, school and community college districts, the California State University, and the University of California upon agreement by the regents), labor contractors of a covered employer, farm labor contractors, and foreign labor contractors. Section 2 of the act declares the subject a matter of statewide concern, so the part applies to charter cities.

An automated decision system is any computational process derived from machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence that issues simplified output, including a score, classification, or recommendation, used to assist or replace human discretionary decisionmaking and that materially impacts natural persons. Spam filters, firewalls, antivirus software, identity and access management tools, calculators, databases, and datasets are excluded.

What employers must do

The post-use notice

Section 1524 requires the notice at the time the employer informs the employee of the decision. It must be written in plain language as a separate, stand-alone communication, in the language the employer uses for routine communications, and delivered by a simple method such as email or a hyperlink. It must state that the employer primarily relied on an ADS, that a human reviewed the decision and corroborated the ADS output, how to contact a human for more information and to request the data description, and that the employer may not retaliate against the employee for exercising these rights.

Section 1526.3 gives a compliance credit: an employer that meets this part's notice requirements does not also have to meet substantially similar ADS notice provisions for employment decisions under other state law. Two limits apply. The credit does not reach quotas under Labor Code Section 2100 or other automated standards applied to working conditions, and under Section 1526.4 a business subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act remains subject to the California Privacy Protection Agency's automated decisionmaking technology regulations.

Enforcement and penalties

The Labor Commissioner may investigate, order temporary relief, issue citations, and file civil actions (§ 1526.1(a)), and a public prosecutor may also enforce the part (§ 1526.1(b)). In a civil action a petitioner may seek temporary or preliminary injunctive relief, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs. An employer that violates the part is subject to a civil penalty of $500 per violation (§ 1526.1(e)). Once it is shown that an ADS was used to make a disciplinary or deactivation decision, the burden shifts to the employer to show that it did not primarily rely on the ADS or that it complied with Sections 1522 and 1524 (§ 1526.1(c)).

Exemptions and limits

• Collective bargaining (§ 1526.5). The part does not apply to parties covered by a collective bargaining agreement that explicitly waives it in clear and unambiguous terms, provides for wages and working conditions, and provides protection from algorithmic management.
• Federal aerospace and defense work (§ 1526.6). The part does not apply to ADS use required by, or reasonably necessary to comply with, a federal statute, regulation, or binding federal contract for aircraft development for the national airspace or for national security, military, space, or defense products and services.
• Local law (§ 1526.2). City and county ordinances that give employees equal or greater protection are not preempted.

How SB 947 fits with other employment-AI laws

SB 947 regulates the decision process for discipline and termination; it does not add hiring-specific audit or notice duties. Compare Illinois HB 3773, which makes discriminatory employer use of AI across the employment lifecycle a civil rights violation and requires notice of AI use, and NYC Local Law 144, which requires an independent bias audit and candidate notice before automated employment decision tools are used for hiring or promotion. Employers subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act should map SB 947 alongside the CPPA's automated decisionmaking technology rules, which Section 1526.4 preserves.

Frequently asked questions

When does California SB 947 take effect?

Part 5.5.5 of the Labor Code becomes operative on July 1, 2027 under Section 1526.7. The bill was approved by the Governor and chaptered on September 30, 2026 (Chapter 859, Statutes of 2026).

Is SB 947 the "No Robo Bosses Act"?

Yes. Sen. McNerney's office announced the bill as the No Robo Bosses Act of 2026 when the Senate passed it on May 19, 2026. It succeeds SB 7 (2025), the earlier version that the Governor vetoed on October 13, 2025.

Can a California employer use AI to fire or discipline employees under SB 947?

An employer may use an ADS in the decision but may not rely solely on it. If the employer primarily relies on ADS output, a human must corroborate the decision with underlying data or other evidence, the output may not be used if it cannot be corroborated or is found inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, and the employee must receive a written post-use notice and may request a description of the data the ADS used.

What are the penalties under SB 947?

An employer that violates the part is subject to a civil penalty of $500 per violation, enforced by the Labor Commissioner or a public prosecutor. A civil action may also seek injunctive relief, punitive damages, and reasonable attorney's fees and costs, and retaliation against an employee for exercising these rights is prohibited.