California - Civil Rights Council Automated-Decision Systems Employment Regulations (2025)

Adopted by the California Civil Rights Council and effective 1 October 2025, these regulations apply the Fair Employment and Housing Act to automated-decision systems used in employment. An automated-decision system is a computational process that makes or facilitates a decision about employment benefits, including systems derived from artificial intelligence, machine learning, algorithms, statistics or other data-processing techniques. The rules confirm that using such a system to harm applicants or employees on the basis of a protected characteristic constitutes unlawful discrimination, whether in hiring, promotion, or other decisions.

The regulations address the use of ADS in screening, targeted advertising and other stages of the employment process, and can impose liability on third parties, including vendors and agents, that administer ADS on an employer's behalf. Employers and covered entities must retain ADS data, including selection criteria and related records, for at least four years. Evidence of anti-bias testing and efforts to avoid discriminatory impact is relevant to available defences. Enforcement is by the California Civil Rights Department.