Existing law, the California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (Cal/WARN Act), generally prohibits a covered employer from ordering a mass layoff, relocation, or termination at a covered establishment without providing 60 days’ written notice to affected employees, the Employment Development Department (EDD), the local workforce development board, and specified local officials. A covered establishment is generally an industrial or commercial facility that employs, or has employed, 75 or more people within the preceding 12 months. The Cal/WARN Act does not apply to public agencies.
SB 951 amends the Cal/WARN Act to expand the information employers must provide when a mass layoff, relocation, or termination is caused in whole or substantial part by an artificial intelligence system or other automated technology replacing or automating employment positions. In those circumstances, the Cal/WARN notice must state that it is a technology displacement and identify the number, classification or occupation, and work location of the affected employees; the job functions that will be automated by AI; and the type or category of AI or other automated technology that substantially resulted in the displacement. EDD must publish summaries of these notices and quarterly statewide summaries of reported technological displacements.
Because the Cal/WARN Act does not apply to public agencies, the above requirements do not apply to public agency employers.
SB 951 also requires EDD, by January 1, 2028, to report to the Legislature regarding AI’s effects on business hiring practices, including its effects on industries and occupations and the use of AI that results in the permanent cessation of hiring or contracting for particular positions.
SB 951 amends sections 1400.5 and 1401 of, and adds and repeals section 1402.7 of, the Labor Code.
