California has enacted Senate Bill (SB) 951, expanding the information employers must provide when a workforce reduction covered by the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (Cal-WARN) results from artificial intelligence or other automated technology. The new requirements take effect January 1, 2027.
Cal-WARN generally requires a covered employer to provide 60 days’ advance written notice before ordering a mass layoff, relocation, or termination at a covered establishment. A covered establishment is an industrial or commercial facility, or part of one, that employs or has employed at least 75 people within the preceding 12 months. A mass layoff generally involves the layoff of 50 or more employees at a covered establishment during a 30-day period.
SB 951 does not create a notice obligation every time an employer introduces AI or automation. Instead, its additional requirements apply when an employer is already required to provide Cal-WARN notice and the mass layoff, relocation, or termination is caused “in whole or in substantial part” by an AI system or other automated technology replacing or automating employment positions.
When the new requirements apply, the employer’s Cal-WARN notice must state at the top: “This notice is for a technology displacement.” The notice must also identify the number, classification or occupation, and work location of layoffs substantially attributable to AI or automation. In addition, it must describe the job functions performed by the affected workers that will be automated and identify the specific category or type of AI system or other automated technology that substantially resulted in the displacement.
The Employment Development Department (EDD) must publish summaries of technology-displacement notices on its website and issue quarterly statewide summaries of reported displacements. SB 951 also directs the EDD to submit a report to the Legislature by January 1, 2028, addressing AI’s effects on business hiring practices, industries, and occupations at the state and regional levels. The report may include recommendations concerning future notice requirements for AI-related cessations in hiring. However, SB 951 itself does not require employers to report decisions to stop hiring for positions because of automation.
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