New Jersey A 2726 Automated Employment Decision Tool Bill
Compliance reference — obligations, penalties, applicability, and primary sources.
Last verified July 18, 2026
Summary
Status update (verified July 18, 2026): New Jersey A 2726 is the live 2026-2027 automated-employment-decision-tool proposal that carries forward the AEDT bias-audit and notice framework previously tracked as A 3854 / A 4030 ACS. A 2726 is pending as introduced and has not created a New Jersey compliance mandate or effective date. The predecessor A 3854 / A 4030 ACS expired with the 2024-2025 session. Sources: A 2726 introduced text and A 3854 bill history, retrieved 2026-07-18.
New Jersey AEDT bills in the 2026-2027 session
Two pending Assembly bills address the employment-AI bias-audit workflow from different directions. Neither is enacted.
| Bill | Current proposal | Operational distinction | Primary source |
|---|---|---|---|
| A 2726 | Regulates the sale, development, deployment, and use of AEDTs and assigns notice, publication, and penalty duties | The broader compliance bill: annual audit conditions, developer remediation, employer notices, public results, and civil penalties | A 2726 introduced text, retrieved 2026-07-18 |
| A 1021 | Creates standards for independent bias audits of AEDTs | The methodology bill: selection or scoring rates, impact ratios across protected categories, intersectional analysis, and rules for training or test data | A 1021 introduced text, retrieved 2026-07-18 |
| A 3854 / A 4030 ACS | Predecessor proposal from the 2024-2025 session | Expired without enactment; it remains useful only as legislative history | A 3854 bill history, retrieved 2026-07-18 |
What A 2726 would require
A 2726 would prohibit the sale, development, deployment, use, or offer for sale of an AEDT in New Jersey unless the tool had undergone a bias audit during the preceding year, the sale included an annual bias-audit service at no additional cost and a monitoring plan, the tool carried notice that it was subject to the bill, and the developer implemented the latest audit recommendations and disclosed that implementation in a press release. Source: A 2726 section 2(a) and statement, retrieved 2026-07-18.
Employers and employment agencies would have separate deployer duties. A covered individual would receive notice at least 10 days before AEDT use. Within 30 days after use, the individual would receive the tool name and vendor, the qualifications or characteristics assessed, data-source and retention information, and enough information about an adverse outcome to contest the employment decision. The most recent bias-audit date and results would be published in an accessible, machine-readable, downloadable format and retained online for at least 10 years after the latest use. Source: A 2726 sections 2(b)-(g), retrieved 2026-07-18.
What A 1021 adds to the bias-audit method
A 1021 would bar continued AEDT use when more than one year had elapsed since the most recent independent bias audit. The audit would calculate selection or scoring rates and impact ratios across sex; race, color, national origin, and ethnicity; age; marital or familial status; disability; religion; sexual orientation; gender identity; income source; and specified intersectional categories. Categories representing less than two percent of the audit data could be excluded from impact-ratio calculations only with disclosed justification and counts. Source: A 1021 sections 1-2, retrieved 2026-07-18.
The proposal generally calls for training data from the employer's or another participating employer's use of the tool. Test data could be used when insufficient training data exists for a statistically significant audit, with an explanation of why training data was unavailable and how the test data was generated. Source: A 1021 section 3, retrieved 2026-07-18.
Proposed penalties and timing
Under A 2726, a developer could face up to $1,500 for a first violation and each additional violation on the same day, followed by a two-percent daily increase while the violation continued. An employer or employment agency could face up to $500 for a first and each subsequent violation. Missing pre-use and post-use notices would be counted separately, including additional 30-day periods for an overdue post-use notice. If enacted as introduced, A 2726 would take effect on the first day of the third month after enactment. Source: A 2726 sections 3-4, retrieved 2026-07-18.
A 1021 contains a different proposed timing rule: it would take effect on the first day of the seventh month after enactment. Source: A 1021 section 4, retrieved 2026-07-18.
New Jersey A 2726 compared with NYC Local Law 144
The New Jersey proposal occupies the same employment-AEDT policy lane as NYC Local Law 144, but it is not in force. NYC Local Law 144 already requires a recent independent bias audit, a public results summary, and candidate or employee notice for covered NYC hiring or promotion tools. A 2726 would add developer-facing conditions, implementation of audit recommendations, a written monitoring plan, a 30-day post-use disclosure package, and long-term publication duties if enacted. Sources: A 2726 introduced text and NYC DCWP AEDT rules, retrieved 2026-07-18.
Related employment AI pages
For binding adjacent regimes, compare NYC Local Law 144 and Illinois HB 3773. The HR & Hiring industry hub organizes the same workflow across jurisdictions.
Frequently asked questions
Is New Jersey A 2726 in effect?
No. A 2726 is a pending bill in the 2026-2027 session. The introduced text supplies a proposed effective-date formula, but no deadline or compliance duty arises unless the Legislature enacts the bill. Source: A 2726 introduced text, retrieved 2026-07-18.
What happened to New Jersey A 3854?
A 3854 / A 4030 ACS expired without enactment when the 2024-2025 session ended. A 2726 now carries forward the same core policy structure in the 2026-2027 session. Sources: A 3854 bill history and A 2726 introduced text, retrieved 2026-07-18.
How do A 2726 and A 1021 differ?
A 2726 is the broader compliance proposal, covering when AEDTs may be sold or used, notices, public audit summaries, remediation, and penalties. A 1021 concentrates on the contents and data rules for an independent bias audit. Both remain pending. Sources: A 2726 and A 1021, retrieved 2026-07-18.
What should New Jersey employers track now?
No duty on this page is currently binding under New Jersey law. Compliance monitoring should distinguish the pending A 2726 and A 1021 proposals from enacted requirements that may already apply to the same hiring workflow, including NYC Local Law 144 for covered NYC positions and Illinois HB 3773 for covered Illinois employment decisions.
Key obligations
Specific compliance requirements derived from the primary source. Each item links to the relevant statutory section where applicable.
- Bias auditRole: developerA2726 § 2(a)
If enacted, an AEDT could not be sold, developed, deployed, used, or offered for sale in New Jersey unless the tool was subject to a bias audit in the past year and the sale included an annual bias-audit service at no additional cost.
Deadlineproposed_past_year_before_sale_or_use
- TransparencyRole: developerA2726 § 2(a)(4)
If enacted, the AEDT developer would have to implement the recommendations from the most recent bias audit and issue a press release explaining how those recommendations were implemented.
Deadlineproposed_before_sale_or_use
- DisclosureRole: deployerA2726 § 2(c)-(e)
If enacted, an employer or employment agency using an AEDT would have to notify each covered individual at least 10 business days before use through a website employment section, job posting, written policy, U.S. mail, or electronic mail, depending on whether the person is a candidate or employee.
Deadlineproposed_10_business_days_before_use
- DisclosureRole: deployerA2726 § 2(f)
If enacted, an employer using an AEDT would have to provide covered individuals, within 30 days after use, notice that the tool was used, the job qualifications or characteristics assessed, data sources, retention policy, tool name, vendor, and enough adverse-outcome information to contest the employment decision.
Deadlineproposed_within_30_days_after_use
- TransparencyRole: deployerA2726 § 2(g)
If enacted, an employer or employment agency would have to publish the most recent bias-audit date and results on its employment website in accessible, machine-readable, downloadable form, keep the summary posted for at least 10 years after the latest AEDT use, and issue a press release when the report is made publicly available.
Deadlineproposed_post_for_10_years_after_latest_use
Build a compliance program around these obligations
A single law is one input to a broader program. These guides show how to assign accountability, map every obligation to a control, and split developer-versus-deployer duties across the systems a team operates.
- AI governance: building an AI compliance program
The operating model — owners, committee, decision rights, lifecycle gates — that turns a law into an accountable, auditable program anchored to the NIST AI RMF GOVERN function.
- AI compliance framework: the regulatory control map
How to map each AI system to the laws it triggers, the controls that satisfy them, and the evidence that proves the controls operate.
- Deployer vs developer obligations
Which duties attach to building an AI system versus putting one into use — the split most state AI laws turn on.
Sources
Every fact above is sourced from the official primary source. Independent verification recommended before acting on the information.
- Officialwww.njleg.state.nj.us — N.J. A 2726 (proposed)
- www.njleg.state.nj.us
- pub.njleg.gov
- www.njleg.state.nj.us
- pub.njleg.gov
- www.njleg.state.nj.us
Last reviewed July 18, 2026. Reviewed by the AI Compliance Atlas editorial process against primary sources. Source selection, retrieval dates, and update rules are documented in the Atlas methodology.
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