BILL NUMBER: S185A
SPONSOR: HOYLMAN-SIGAL
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to restricting the use of
electronic monitoring and automated employment decision tools; and to
amend the civil rights law, in relation to making a conforming change
 
PURPOSE:
To regulate the use of electronic monitoring and automated decision
tools in employment
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 adds a new section article 36 to the labor law.
New section 1010 of article 36 defines terms.
New section 1011 of article 36 details authorized and prohibited uses of
electronic monitoring tools, requires employer notification of the use
of such tools, requires employers to retain and protect employee data
and forbids employers from making employment decisions primarily on
surveillance data or in a manner that discriminates against or endangers
the health and wellbeing of employees.
New section 1012 of article 36 details authorized and prohibited uses of
automated employment decision tools, and establishes that such tools may
not be used unless and until they have been subject to impact assess-
ments. Standards for impact assessments and required responses to find-
ings of disparate impact are detailed and employers are forbidden from
making employment decisions primarily on the basis of these tools.
New section 1013 of article 36 establishes employees' right to access
the employee data collected by their employer when it is used for the
purposes of employment decisions and to correct inaccurate data,
requires employers to respond promptly to such inquiries, and estab-
lishes prior notice requirements for employment decisions made with the
assistance of electronic monitoring or automated employment decision
tools.
New section 1014 of article 36 prohibits retaliation against employees
on the basis of their attempt to disclose violations of this act to a
supervisor, their public advocacy around the use of electronic monitor-
ing or automated employment decision tools, or their object to the use
of such tools and request for accommodation.
New section 1015 of article 36 outlines the civil liability of employers
for violations of the act and provides remedies for such violations.
Section 1015 establishes that vendors are jointly and severally liable
for violations of the act, except where businesses found to be in
violation of the act have fewer than fifteen employees, vendors are
exclusively liable for violations resulting from the use of their sold
tools.
New section 1016 of article 36 empower the department and the office of
the attorney general to investigate and file suit to enforce the act.
New section 1017 of article 36 directs the commissioner to establish an
administrative process for complaints under this act, to collect, store,
and publish the results of impact assessments conducted in compliance
with the act, and to promulgate rules to effectuate the provisions of
the act.
Section 2 of the bill amends section 52-c of the civil rights law to
align employer notification requirements contained therein with the
provisions of new article 36 of the labor law.
Section 3 is the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
The advent of increasingly advanced algorithms and artificial intelli-
gence has led to the rise of automated employment decision tools
--computational processes derived from machine learning, statistical
modeling, or data analytics that produce scores, classifications, or
recommendations based on a set of criteria that employers can use to
screen, evaluate, or otherwise make a decision about a current or
prospective employee.
While these tools may purport to reduce bias and streamline hiring proc-
esses, they have at times been shown to discriminate against certain
groups, or on the basis of protected characteristics.
Amazon, for example, decommissioned its machine learning tool for
recruiting in 2018 after it quickly demonstrated a bias against women.
Other' automated employment decision tools have demonstrated clear bias
against African Americans, women, older Americans, and people with disa-
bilities. Nevertheless, a February 2022 survey by the Society of Human
Resource management shows 4 in 5 U.S. employers already deploy some form
of automated systems in recruitment and hiring decisions.
While employers may have a valid interest in increasing productivity or
streamlining their hiring processes, the use of automated tools to do so
should not entrench discrimination, bias, or violations of workers'
rights. New York City led the nation by passing Local Law 144 in 2021,
subjecting automated employment decision tools to independent public
audits.
This bill expands on those protections to establish comprehensive guide-
lines and guardrails for the use of these tools, including: explicitly
prohibiting the use of these tools to discriminate or otherwise violate
the law, requiring impact assessments of such tools and prohibiting
employment decisions made solely on the basis of such tools, and expand-
ing the information employers using such tools are required to provide
to employees.
The bill empowers the attorney general and. the department of labor to
enforce the provisions of the act, and employees to request and correct
data used to make decisions about them and from retaliation.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S.7623 of 2023-2024 (Hoylman-Sigal): Died in Labor
A.9315 of 2023-2024 (Alvarez): Died in Ways and Means
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become law.

Statutes affected:
S185: 218 labor law, 218(1) labor law