Overview

• California’s final regulations under FEHA prohibit automated decision systems that result in discrimination against applicants or employees, effective October 1, 2025.
• The rules apply across recruitment, screening, interviews, testing, placement, promotions, and transfers, targeting unlawful criteria and disparate impacts.
• An automated decision system is defined broadly to include computational processes using AI, machine learning, algorithms, statistics, or related techniques that make or facilitate employment decisions.
• Employers must retain all ADS-related data for four years, remain responsible for outcomes from third‑party tools, and vendors can be implicated under aiding-and-abetting provisions.
• The regulations do not ban AI outright, and guidance urges employers to inventory tools, pilot and audit systems, train staff, notify applicants when ADS are used, offer human alternatives where required, and strengthen secure recordkeeping.