By Sam Setyan | Updated October 31, 2026
Not on its own. Starting July 1, 2027, California’s No Robo Bosses Act (SB 947) bars employers from relying solely on artificial intelligence or other automated tools to discipline or fire you. If your employer relies primarily on an algorithm’s output, a human must independently check that decision against real evidence, back it up, and tell you in writing.
If you are worried about getting fired by AI, the No Robo Bosses Act is a meaningful new safeguard. An algorithm-driven firing that skips these steps can strengthen the case that a wrongful termination lawyer in Los Angeles builds for you.
Below, we explain what the law requires, what it leaves out, and what to do if you think a machine made the call. If you have additional questions, attorney Sam Setyan can answer them. Contact Setyan Law APC — Wrongful Termination & Sexual Harassment Lawyer today to get started.
What Is the No Robo Bosses Act?
The No Robo Bosses Act of 2026 is Senate Bill 947, authored by Senator Jerry McNerney. Governor Gavin Newsom signed it on September 30, 2026 (Chapter 859, Statutes of 2026). It adds a new part to the California Labor Code, Sections 1520 through 1526.7, titled “Automated Decision Systems in the Workplace.” It becomes operative on July 1, 2027, not January 1.
This is the Legislature’s second try. After the governor vetoed the original No Robo Bosses Act, SB 7, in October 2025, lawmakers came back with SB 947. This narrower rewrite cuts straight to the real danger zone: AI making disciplinary and firing decisions.
What counts as an “automated decision system”?
Under Section 1520, an automated decision system (ADS) is any computational process built on machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or artificial intelligence that produces a simplified output, such as a score, classification, or recommendation. To qualify, that output must assist or replace human judgment and materially affect people.
In practice, that can include productivity scores, performance analytics, attendance flags, and other algorithmic management tools that rank or rate workers. The law excludes everyday technology like spam filters, firewalls, antivirus software, identity and access tools, calculators, and plain databases.
What SB 947 Requires Before You Are Disciplined or Fired
California’s SB 947 sets out a clear sequence employers must follow whenever technology drives a disciplinary or termination decision.
- No sole reliance. An employer may not rely solely on an ADS to discipline or terminate an employee (Section 1522(b)(1)).
- Human corroboration. If the employer primarily relies on an ADS output, it must direct a human to corroborate the decision. The reviewer can use the data behind the output or other supporting information, such as supervisor evaluations, personnel files, your work product, peer reviews, or witness interviews (Section 1522(b)(2)).
- No corroboration, no decision. If the output cannot be corroborated, or the reviewer finds it inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading, the employer cannot use it to discipline or fire you (Section 1522(c)). A manager clicking “approve” on a system recommendation should not be enough.
- Written notice. When the employer tells you about the decision, it must also give you a separate, plain-language written notice (Section 1524). The notice must say the employer primarily relied on an ADS, confirm that a human reviewed and corroborated it, give you a contact person, explain your right to a description of your data, and state that retaliation is prohibited.
- Access to your data. You may request a meaningful, objective description of your own data the system used (Section 1522(d)). Other people’s personal information is anonymized.
The law also bans certain uses of AI at any time. Employers may not use an ADS to break labor or civil rights laws, to infer your protected status under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), or to predict and punish workers for exercising their legal rights (Section 1522(a)).
You may have seen claims that workers can obtain 12 months of their data. That language appeared in an earlier amended draft of SB 947, but it is not in the version the governor signed. The final law gives you a description of your own data, and only after an employer has primarily used an ADS to discipline or fire you.
How the law is enforced
The Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors, such as city attorneys, can enforce the law. Violations carry a $500 civil penalty each, and enforcement actions can seek injunctive relief, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees.
Once it is shown that an ADS was used, the burden shifts to the employer. It must prove it did not primarily rely on the system or that it followed the corroboration and notice rules (Section 1526.1). SB 947 does not create a private right of action, though many employment attorneys expect workers to pursue its penalties under California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA).
PAGA lets aggrieved employees sue employers to recover civil penalties on behalf of the State of California for Labor Code violations. The recovered penalties are split: 65% goes to the State’s Labor and Workforce Development Agency, and 35% goes to the employees.
What the No Robo Bosses Act in California Does Not Cover
The final law is deliberately narrow. Its limits matter as much as its protections.
- Hiring. SB 947 applies only to discipline and termination. It does not regulate AI resume screeners, interview scoring, or other hiring tools, and it does not reach promotions, pay, or scheduling.
- Advance warning. Employers do not have to tell you ahead of time that they use an ADS. The notice comes only after a decision, and only when the employer primarily relied on the system.
- Independent contractors. The signed text covers employees. Earlier drafts reached further, including app-based “deactivation” decisions.
- Some union workplaces. The law does not apply where a collective bargaining agreement explicitly waives it and provides its own protection from algorithmic management.
- Certain federal work. ADS use required for federal aircraft, national security, military, space, or defense contracts is exempt.
- Anything before July 1, 2027. The law is signed but not yet operative.
The law also does not override stronger local ordinances, and it leaves existing employment protections fully in place.
AI Discrimination Is Already Illegal Under FEHA
You do not have to wait until 2027 for protection against biased algorithms. California AI employment law already treats discriminatory automated tools as a FEHA problem. Regulations from the California Civil Rights Council, in effect since October 1, 2025, make clear that an employer’s use of an ADS can violate FEHA. That applies whether the tool discriminates intentionally or through a disparate impact on a protected group, such as race, gender, age, or disability.
Unlike SB 947, these rules reach recruitment, hiring, and promotion. That is why AI hiring discrimination claims run through FEHA, not the No Robo Bosses Act. The regulations also:
- Require employers to keep automated decision data and related records for at least four years.
- Extend liability to agents acting for an employer, which can include outside vendors that screen or rank applicants.
- Treat ADS assessments that draw out disability information as potentially unlawful medical inquiries.
- Make an employer’s anti-bias testing, or the lack of it, relevant evidence in a workplace discrimination case.
If an AI tool screened you out of a job or flagged you unfairly because of a protected characteristic, you may have grounds for an AI hiring discrimination lawsuit right now.
Fired by an Algorithm? Here’s What to Do Next
A termination that rests on an algorithm is still a termination, and the usual rules still apply. If an automated system just cost you your job, here is how to protect your rights:
- Keep every notice. Save your termination letter and, after July 1, 2027, any ADS postuse notice. A missing or incomplete notice can be evidence in itself.
- Request your data description. Use the contact person named in the notice. Asking is protected activity, so your employer cannot lawfully punish you for it.
- Preserve your own records. Keep performance reviews, productivity reports, schedules, and emails that show how you were measured.
- Write down the timeline. Note whether anyone actually talked to you, investigated, or explained the decision before it was made.
- Hold off on signing. Severance agreements often waive your claims. Have a lawyer review it first.
An SB 947 violation comes with civil penalties, but that’s often just the tip of the iceberg. If an automated system targeted you after you blew the whistle, took leave, or disputed your pay, the real issue isn’t bad software—it’s illegal discrimination or retaliation.
If your employer used a scoring tool to mask an unlawful reason, that can support a wrongful termination claim with far greater remedies, including lost wages and emotional distress damages.
Did AI Make Decisions About Your Job? Contact Attorney Sam Setyan Now.
AI employment law is changing fast, but your core rights have not. Setyan Law APC — Wrongful Termination & Sexual Harassment Lawyer represents Los Angeles employees in wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, and sexual harassment cases. If you believe a machine, or a manager hiding behind one, cost you your job, contact us for a confidential consultation.
FAQs About the No Robo Bosses Act SB 947
Can my employer use AI to fire me in California?
Not on its own—at least starting July 1, 2027. Under SB 947, an algorithm can’t be the sole decision-maker behind a firing or write-up. If an employer leans heavily on an automated system, a real person must independently back up the decision with evidence and explain the automated tool’s role in writing. Until that rule kicks in, existing California wrongful termination and discrimination laws like FEHA still protect you.
When does the No Robo Bosses Act take effect in California?
July 1, 2027. Although Governor Newsom signed SB 947 on September 30, 2026, the law doesn’t take effect until mid-2027. It won’t start on January 1, as some early reports have said. Any employment decisions made before July 1, 2027, fall under existing California law—including standard wrongful termination rules and FEHA’s current AI regulations.
What counts as an automated decision system under SB 947?
Any computational process using machine learning, statistical modeling, data analytics, or AI that produces a score, classification, or recommendation used to assist or replace human decision-making and that materially affects people. Productivity scoring and performance analytics tools can qualify. Spam filters, firewalls, antivirus software, calculators, and simple databases do not.
Does the No Robo Bosses Act cover AI hiring decisions?
No. SB 947 strictly targets what happens after someone is hired, including discipline and firing. It doesn’t touch automated recruiting, promotions, or pay. That said, job applicants aren’t left unprotected: California’s FEHA regulations already outlaw discriminatory screening tools and hiring algorithms, so candidates rejected by biased software still have legal grounds to push back.
Can I see the data an AI system used against me?
Partly. When an employer primarily used an ADS to discipline or fire you, you can request a meaningful, objective description of your own data the system used. The final law does not give you a copy of 12 months of data; that language was dropped before signing. Other people’s information is anonymized.
Can I sue my employer for violating SB 947?
Not directly. SB 947 lacks an independent private right of action, leaving direct enforcement to the Labor Commissioner and public prosecutors with $500 civil penalties. However, employees may still pursue those fines under PAGA. An algorithm-driven firing often opens the door to broader, separate claims for wrongful termination, retaliation, or FEHA discrimination.
Is SB 947 the same as the No Robo Bosses Act, SB 7?
No. SB 7 was the original, broader proposal that Governor Newsom vetoed in October 2025. SB 947 is its leaner successor. It scraps the mandate for advance notice of workplace AI and focuses solely on write-ups and terminations, requiring human corroboration and written disclosure only when adverse action is taken.
Can my employer punish me for asking about the AI it used?
No. Section 1526 bars employers from firing, demoting, suspending, threatening, or otherwise retaliating against employees who use or try to use their rights under the law, file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner, or cooperate in an investigation. Retaliation can give rise to its own separate legal claim.
Does the law protect gig workers and independent contractors?
Generally, no. The final version of SB 947 protects traditional employees. While earlier drafts tried to cover independent contractors and tackle app-based “deactivations,” lawmakers stripped those provisions out before the bill passed. But there is a major catch: if a company dictates your schedule, tools, and day-to-day work like an employer would, calling you an “independent contractor” won’t shield them. If you’ve been misclassified under California law, you’re legally an employee, and these protections still apply to you.
Does California’s No Robo Bosses Act apply to government employers?
Yes. The law’s definition of “employer” includes state government, cities, counties, school districts, community college districts, the California State University, and other public entities. The University of California is covered upon agreement by its regents. Labor contractors and farm labor contractors are also covered.
