The computer can’t fire you anymore: California’s No Robo Bosses Act, in plain English

Somewhere right now, a timekeeping app is flagging a warehouse worker for “time theft” because her badge scan was four minutes late, and a manager is about to forward that flag to HR with one word: “Thoughts?” California just decided that the dashboard can be the smoke detector, but it can’t be the judge.

Governor Newsom signed SB 947, the No Robo Bosses Act, on September 30, 2026, a year after he vetoed a broader version. It takes effect July 1, 2027, and it applies to every California employer, whatever its size, according to this summary of what SB 947 requires.

What does the law actually say?

Three things. First, you can’t rely solely on an “automated decision system” to discipline or fire an employee. That phrase is broad: any software that turns data into a score, a ranking, a flag or a recommendation. Spam filters, calculators and ordinary databases don’t count. Productivity scores, attendance flags and performance dashboards do.

Second, if the software primarily drove the decision, a person has to corroborate it with the underlying data or other evidence, such as evaluations, work product, the personnel file or a conversation with witnesses. If the reviewer can’t back it up, the output can’t be used at all.

Third, the employee gets a standalone, plain-language notice when they’re told about the decision. It says software was used, a person reviewed it, who to contact, and that retaliation is prohibited. Employees can also ask once a year for a description of their own data the system used. Violations cost $500 each, and once an employee shows a system was involved, the employer has to prove it followed the rules, as Fisher Phillips explains.

Two lines it draws on purpose: it covers employees, not job applicants or independent contractors, and it bans any system that guesses at protected traits like race, religion or disability.

What does a real human review look like?

Not a manager clicking “agree.” One analyst put the test well in CIO: did the person check the evidence, and did they have the power to say no? A reviewer who only passes the verdict along is a mail carrier, not a decision maker. Here is how I’d set it up:

• Inventory every tool. List anything that scores, ranks, monitors or flags people, including features buried in payroll, scheduling and hiring software. Ask each vendor directly whether its product produces scores or recommendations.
• Write your own definition of “primarily relied on.” The law doesn’t define it. A safe rule: if the system’s flag started the conversation, treat the decision as covered.
• Name the reviewers and give them veto power. Then record what they looked at and what they concluded. A checkbox won’t hold up.
• Fix your vendor contracts. A reviewer can’t check inputs they can’t see, so require access to the data behind every output.
• Put the notice in your termination packet now. Plain language, in the languages your team actually uses, with the contact listed by role so it survives turnover.
• Train managers that a flag is a reason to look closer, not a conclusion. Then audit the tools for bias and drift at least once a year.

Two related laws start sooner, on January 1, 2027: AB 1883 bans AI tools that read emotions or collect neural data, and AB 1331 keeps surveillance tools out of workplace bathrooms, as HR Dive reports. I cover both in The Register, Issue 3, and the full list is in my guide to California’s 2027 employment laws.

What should employees know?

If you’re written up or let go after July 1, 2027, and software drove it, you’re owed that notice, and you can ask what data the system used. Keep your own record of schedules, approvals and results, because that’s the evidence a real reviewer is supposed to weigh. If you’re still job hunting, this law doesn’t cover hiring, but other rules do: here are your rights when AI screens your application.

Where should a small business start?

With the inventory, this month. You have eight months, and you can’t review, contract around or give notice for a tool you don’t know you’re running. If you’d rather have someone walk your systems, handbook and termination process with you, that’s what my HR compliance checkup is for. The computer can still recommend. Starting next July, a person decides.

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.