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Employers can use AI in hiring and workplace management, but they cannot assume that automation removes existing worker protections or the need for appropriate notice, review and oversight. The practical answer depends on what a system does, how much it influences an employment decision and which jurisdiction’s laws apply. Organizations should inventory these systems, assess their risks and obligations, and give workers clear ways to ask questions or raise concerns.
Can an employer use AI to make decisions about you?
Often, yes—but “AI at work” covers tools with very different roles. A scheduling assistant that organizes calendars is not the same as a system that ranks applicants, allocates shifts based on performance, evaluates workers or influences who gets promoted. The system’s purpose and its material influence on a decision matter.
The European Commission’s AI Act Service Desk lists recruitment and selection uses such as automated job matching, candidate sourcing and ranking, evaluating interview answers and conducting background checks. It also identifies systems that make decisions affecting work-related relationships, including shift allocation based on individual behavior or personal characteristics. Some narrow procedural uses may fall outside the high-risk classification—for example, organizing CVs when the tool does not materially influence selection. The Commission’s examples and explanation are a useful guide to why the function matters; they do not mean every HR tool is automatically high-risk.
For employees, the consequential questions are whether a tool affects access to a job, shifts, pay, evaluation, promotion, discipline or continued employment, and whether a person can meaningfully review its output. For an employer, calling a tool “assistive” does not by itself establish that it has little influence: examine how managers actually use it.
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What rights and duties apply in the EU?
Under the EU AI Act, employers deploying high-risk AI systems at work must inform affected workers and their representatives that they will be subject to the system’s use. The Act also allows EU member states to maintain or introduce more favorable worker protections, including through collective agreements. The consolidated text of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 is the relevant legal reference; the notice rule is a baseline, not a complete account of a particular country’s employment, privacy or consultation requirements.
EU obligations can depend on the system’s classification, use and applicable dates or exceptions. Employers should check the current consolidated text and national rules for each deployment rather than infer that a tool is covered—or exempt—based on its product label alone.
What protections matter in the United States?
In the United States, existing disability-discrimination protections apply when employers use AI or other software in employment. The EEOC and Department of Justice identify practical risks involving failure to provide reasonable accommodation, screening out qualified people with disabilities, and disability-related inquiries or medical examinations that are not permitted. Their joint guidance on disability discrimination and software is a reminder that an automated assessment does not make these issues disappear.
The National Labor Relations Board General Counsel’s employee-rights page also identifies electronic monitoring and algorithmic management as practices that may interfere with protected employee activity. Its status matters: the page states that it reflects the General Counsel’s position and has not been reviewed or approved by the Board. It is not a Board ruling or a complete statement of labor law. See the NLRB General Counsel’s employee-rights page.
These are US federal examples, not a full account of state, local or other employment and privacy laws. Rights, notice rules, remedies and agency processes vary by jurisdiction, and the applicable rules can also depend on worker status and the decision involved.
What is changing in workplace AI policy?
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on 17 December 2025 recommending further EU action on workplace digitalization and algorithmic management. Its recommendations include worker information, comprehensible explanations, meaningful human oversight, review of decisions and human decision-making for certain consequential employment actions. These are recommendations to the Commission for future legislation, not, by themselves, directly binding employer duties. The resolution published as OJ C/2026/2154 sets out that policy position.
On 20 July 2026, the European Commission said it expected to present a proposed Quality Jobs Act later in 2026. Its consultation priorities included workplace AI and algorithmic management, with a focus on making automated decisions more transparent and human-centered and protecting employees from excessive monitoring. That announcement described a forthcoming proposal; it does not establish the proposal’s eventual content or enactment. Employers operating in the EU should verify its status before acting on assumptions about future rules. Read the Commission’s consultation announcement.
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How should an organization prepare?
The US Department of Labor’s 2024 AI Best Practices recommend governance, meaningful human oversight of significant decisions, transparency, worker input, protection of labor rights and worker data, and AI training. They are best practices, not a standalone statute. Employers can use them as a practical framework alongside the laws that apply to each workplace. The Department of Labor’s announcement summarizes the recommendations.
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Build an inventory of systems and uses
List tools used in recruiting, screening, sourcing, background checks, scheduling, monitoring, evaluation, pay, promotion, discipline and termination. For each, record its intended purpose, affected groups, data inputs, vendor, outputs, human decision-maker and the jurisdictions where it is used. Include software embedded in other products, not just tools explicitly marketed as AI.
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Map each system to decisions and local requirements
Identify whether a system makes or materially influences an employment decision. Assess the applicable classification, notice, consultation, discrimination, privacy, accommodation, recordkeeping and review obligations in each jurisdiction. The EU Act’s worker-information requirement for high-risk systems and US disability guidance illustrate why this analysis should be specific to the use, not generic to a vendor or department.
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Make human oversight real
For significant decisions, identify who reviews the output and what that person is authorized to do. A reviewer needs enough understanding to question an output, access to relevant information and the authority to change the result; a nominal sign-off is not meaningful oversight. Give workers a usable route to ask where AI was involved, raise concerns, request an accommodation or seek review where applicable.
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Check outcomes and accessibility
Before deployment and after material changes, assess whether the system creates unequal effects or access barriers. Keep records of the system’s purpose, validation, incidents, overrides and remediation so the organization can investigate concerns and improve controls. These are readiness steps, not a complete legal test for any jurisdiction.
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Set boundaries for monitoring and worker data
Document what is collected, who can access it, how long it is retained and what it may be used for. Set limits on monitoring and review them with worker representatives or social partners where required or appropriate. Monitoring can raise privacy concerns and, in the US labor context, may also implicate protected employee activity.
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Train people and assign continuing ownership
Train managers and HR staff on system limitations, escalation routes and responsible use, and give workers relevant information about how to raise concerns. Assign an owner to track changes in applicable law and policy, including the status of EU proposals and national rules.
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How should two workplace AI systems be compared?
Use the same questions for each system instead of relying on broad labels such as “low risk” or “human-reviewed.” The comparison should reflect how the tool operates in practice and where it is deployed.
| Assessment axis | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Purpose and decision stage | Is the tool doing administrative support, or is it used in selection or workplace management? Could it materially influence who is hired or what decision is made? EU classification examples distinguish procedural support from employment uses that affect people. |
| Employment impact | Could the output affect hiring, shifts, pay, evaluation, promotion, discipline or continued employment? |
| Automation and human authority | Does the system make a decision, recommend one or supply information? Can a reviewer understand, challenge and override its output in practice? |
| Data and monitoring | What information is collected, how sensitive is it, how intensive is the monitoring, and how are access and retention controlled? |
| Accessibility and discrimination | Could the process create barriers or screen out qualified people with disabilities? What checks and accommodation route are in place? |
| Jurisdiction and worker status | Where is it used, who is affected, and what local rules apply to notice, consultation, privacy and review? |
The EU classification examples, US disability guidance and NLRB General Counsel material support these assessment dimensions; none substitutes for checking the law that applies to a specific deployment.
What can employees ask?
Employees do not need to begin with a legal conclusion. They can ask focused questions through the organization’s normal HR, accommodation, worker-representative or review channels:
- Is an automated tool involved in this hiring, scheduling, evaluation or other decision?
- What information does it use, and how does a person review the result?
- How can I request an accommodation or raise a concern about an outcome?
- Where can I ask for a decision to be reviewed, if review is available under the applicable policy or law?
These questions do not imply that every jurisdiction provides an identical notice or appeal right. They help identify what process exists and which local rules apply.
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