No Robo Bosses: California's New AI Laws Put Workers' Rights Ahead of Algorithms

Artificial intelligence may be changing the workplace, but California is making one thing clear: Workers still have rights, and employers can't automate them away.

Imagine losing your job because an algorithm decided you weren't productive enough. No conversation with your supervisor. No opportunity to explain yourself. Just a computer-generated assessment determining whether you get to keep your paycheck.

Or imagine discovering that your employer has been using artificial intelligence to monitor your behavior, analyze your emotions, and make assumptions about your performance without your knowledge.

As more companies embrace AI to manage their workforces, these scenarios are becoming increasingly concerning. And for workers whose livelihoods depend on decisions made behind closed doors, the stakes couldn't be higher.

So California is taking action. In September 2026, Governor Gavin Newsom signed three new laws designed to protect employees from some of the most troubling uses of artificial intelligence in the workplace. The legislation addresses automated firing and disciplinary decisions, invasive workplace surveillance, and layoffs caused by AI replacing human workers.

Together, these laws send a powerful message to employers: Technology doesn't give you permission to disregard the people who work for you.

Here's what California workers should know about their expanding rights.

The No Robo Bosses Act: A Computer Shouldn't Decide Your Future

One of the most significant new protections comes from California Senate Bill 947, appropriately known as the No Robo Bosses Act.

Beginning July 1, 2027, the law will prohibit employers from relying entirely on automated decision systems to discipline or terminate employees.

That means an employer cannot simply point to an algorithm's recommendation and use it as the sole basis for firing someone.

When employers primarily rely on automated systems to make these decisions, the law also requires meaningful human corroboration. A person must review the decision using relevant information, such as employee evaluations, work records, or other supporting evidence.

If the automated recommendation cannot be corroborated, or the reviewer determines that it is inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, the employer cannot use that recommendation to make the disciplinary or termination decision.

AI systems can generate scores, rankings, and recommendations based on information they collect. But a productivity score may not account for a worker helping a struggling colleague. An attendance algorithm may fail to properly account for protected leave. A performance assessment may overlook information that a human supervisor would recognize immediately.

When someone's job is on the line, those omissions can have serious consequences.

Under the new law, employers who primarily rely on automated systems to discipline or terminate someone must also provide a written notice explaining that reliance, confirming human review, and identifying someone the employee can contact for more information.

Affected workers can request a meaningful description of their own data used by the automated system.

Your livelihood deserves more consideration than a computer-generated score. California is putting that principle into law.

Your Employer Doesn't Get to Use AI to Punish You for Exercising Your Rights

The No Robo Bosses Act goes further than requiring human oversight. It also prohibits employers from using automated decision systems to violate labor, employment, workplace safety, or civil rights laws.

Employers cannot use these systems to infer an employee's protected status under California anti-discrimination law. They also cannot use automated predictions about workers exercising their legal rights as a basis for adverse action.

That means an employer shouldn't be able to use an algorithm to target workers who may speak up about unsafe conditions, assert their wage rights, or exercise other legally protected rights.

The law also expressly prohibits retaliation against employees who exercise their rights under the legislation, report suspected violations, or cooperate with enforcement efforts.

For workers who already worry about losing their jobs for speaking up, these protections are particularly significant.

Your employer cannot use technology as a workaround for laws that protect you. And when an employer crosses that line, workers may have grounds to report the conduct and seek legal help.

California Is Cracking Down on AI Workplace Surveillance

Your employer may have legitimate reasons to monitor certain workplace activities. But how much surveillance is too much?

With AI-powered technology, companies can potentially track far more than when employees clock in or out.

Some systems claim to evaluate facial expressions, detect stress, interpret emotional states, or measure workers' attention and engagement.

California's Assembly Bill 1883 places new restrictions on these practices. Starting January 1, 2027, the law generally prohibits employers from using AI-enabled workplace surveillance tools to infer or predict an employee's emotional state or collect neural data through measurements of the nervous system.

Limited statutory exceptions apply, including certain safety and national security circumstances.

The protections reach a broad range of public and private employers.

Think about the implications for everyday workers. Your employer might be able to measure how many calls you answered or how many packages you processed. But should an algorithm get to decide whether you appeared sufficiently enthusiastic while doing it? Should your facial expression become another performance metric? Should technology make assumptions about your emotional state while you're simply trying to get through the workday?

California lawmakers have drawn new boundaries around that kind of surveillance. Employers can still use many conventional monitoring tools, subject to applicable laws. But these new restrictions recognize that workers deserve protection from especially intrusive forms of AI-powered observation.

Employees are entitled to dignity and privacy protections, even when they're on the clock.

Replaced by AI? California Says Employers Must Be Transparent

Artificial intelligence isn't just changing how employers supervise people. It's changing how many people companies believe they need to employ.

For workers, that can mean something devastating: losing a job they've held for years because a company decides software can perform some or all of their responsibilities.

California Senate Bill 951 addresses transparency when technology contributes to certain large-scale workforce reductions.

Beginning January 1, 2027, employers subject to California's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, commonly known as Cal-WARN, must provide additional information when AI or other automated technology causes all or a substantial part of a covered mass layoff, relocation, or termination by replacing or automating jobs.

In qualifying circumstances, the required notice must identify the event as a technology displacement and describe information such as:

• The number and types of positions affected.
• Where affected employees work.
• The job functions being automated.
• The category or type of technology responsible for the displacement.

California's WARN law generally requires covered employers to provide 60 days' advance notice of qualifying workforce reductions.

The new AI-related requirements add transparency about why certain jobs are disappearing.

Importantly, this legislation doesn't prohibit companies from replacing workers with automation. It also doesn't require every AI-related job elimination to trigger a notice. The underlying Cal-WARN coverage requirements still apply.

But for employees facing a qualifying layoff, knowing that technology played a substantial role can be important.

Workers deserve to understand what's happening to their jobs, especially when their employers are replacing human labor with automated systems.

What If Your Employer Already Uses AI to Make Decisions About You?

California's newest laws will take effect in 2027, but that doesn't mean workers have to wait until then to assert their rights.

Existing state and federal employment protections can already apply when employers use discriminatory or otherwise unlawful automated systems. For example, an employer cannot escape liability for illegal discrimination simply because its hiring or employment decisions were influenced by software rather than a human manager.

California has also adopted regulations addressing discriminatory uses of automated decision systems in employment.

Depending on the circumstances, workers may have legal protections when automated systems contribute to discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, or other unlawful employment practices.

If you suspect your employer is using AI inappropriately, consider taking the following steps:

1. Document what happened. Save relevant emails, disciplinary notices, performance evaluations, messages, and other records you can lawfully retain.
2. Ask questions. Find out whether automated systems contributed to a decision affecting your employment, and request any information or explanation you're legally entitled to receive.
3. Pay attention to patterns. If certain employees consistently receive unfavorable treatment, consider whether discrimination or retaliation may be involved.
4. Protect your rights. Before signing a severance agreement or giving up potential claims, consider speaking with an employment attorney.

You don't need to understand how to build an AI system to recognize when something about your treatment at work seems wrong, and you shouldn't have to become a technology expert just to defend your livelihood.

The Future of Work Should Still Have Room for Workers

Companies are investing heavily in automation, promising faster decisions, greater efficiency, and lower operating costs, but there's a human cost when employers begin treating workers as numbers in a spreadsheet or data points in an algorithm.

A worker is more than a productivity score. A career is more than an automated performance report. And a family shouldn't have to suffer because an employer placed unquestioning faith in a computer-generated recommendation.

California's new laws are an acknowledgment that technological progress needs boundaries, especially when employment, privacy, and economic security are at stake.

The tools may change. Employers' legal responsibilities remain. And workers shouldn't have to surrender their rights just because their boss decided to hand some of its decision-making over to a machine.

Morgan & Morgan Stands With Workers, Not Algorithms

If you've been wrongfully terminated, discriminated against, retaliated against, or otherwise subjected to unlawful workplace practices, you may have legal options, regardless of whether a person or an automated system played a role.

Employers are responsible for complying with employment laws, including when they use artificial intelligence to manage their workforce. At Morgan & Morgan, we believe workers deserve fair treatment, accountability, and the opportunity to stand up for their rights.

If you believe your employer has violated your rights, contact Morgan & Morgan for a free, no-obligation case evaluation. Our employment attorneys can review your circumstances, explain your legal options, and help you pursue justice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my employer use AI to fire me in California?

Employers can use automated systems to assist employment decisions, but starting July 1, 2027, California's No Robo Bosses Act will prohibit employers from relying solely on such a system to discipline or terminate employees. When an employer primarily relies on an automated system, a human must corroborate the decision with supporting information. The law also establishes employee notice and information rights. Even before the new law takes effect, employers must comply with existing discrimination, retaliation, and other applicable employment laws.

Can I find out if AI was used to fire me?

Beginning July 1, 2027, California employers who primarily rely on an automated decision system to discipline or terminate an employee must provide a separate written notice identifying that reliance and explaining that a human corroborated the decision. The notice must identify a person the employee can contact for additional information. Employees can also request a meaningful, objective description of their own data used by the system. Other privacy laws may provide additional rights in certain circumstances.

Is AI workplace surveillance illegal in California?

Not all AI-assisted workplace surveillance is prohibited. However, beginning January 1, 2027, California law will generally prohibit employers from using AI-enabled surveillance tools to infer or predict employees' emotional states or collect neural data, subject to limited exceptions. Other monitoring practices may also be subject to existing privacy and employment laws.

Can I sue my employer for violating California's No Robo Bosses Act?

The No Robo Bosses Act provides for enforcement by the California Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors, rather than expressly creating a standalone private lawsuit for employees. However, depending on the facts, workers may have separate legal claims arising from discrimination, retaliation, wrongful termination, or other employment violations. An employment attorney can evaluate whether an employer's use of AI contributed to actionable misconduct.

Do California employers have to tell employees when AI replaces their jobs?

Beginning January 1, 2027, employers covered by California's WARN law must provide additional disclosures when AI or automated technology causes all or a substantial part of a qualifying mass layoff, relocation, or termination by replacing or automating positions. This requirement does not cover every individual termination or every instance in which a company introduces automation.