The legislation seeks to regulate “automated employment-related decision systems,” defined as AI tools used in hiring, evaluation, and termination decisions.
The State of Connecticut’s General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee introduced Senate Bill 435 to establish requirements for the use of AI in employment decisions.
The legislation would prevent the use of AI systems in ways that result in unlawful employment discrimination and require oversight of their use. It applies specifically to “automated employment-related decision systems,” which the bill defines as computational processes, including AI and machine learning, that make or materially assist in making decisions about employment hiring, evaluation, and termination.
The bill would require employers to conduct impact assessments before using these systems. These assessments must evaluate whether the system creates a disparate impact based on protected characteristics, including race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or disability. Employers must also document how the system works, what data it uses, and how risks are identified and addressed.
It also mandates ongoing testing and auditing of these systems after deployment. Employers would need to self-monitor outcomes and take corrective action if they identify discriminatory patterns.
The legislation also requires transparency, requiring employers to notify employees and job applicants when using an automated system in connection with an employment decision. Employers would also provide candidates and employees with information about how the system contributed to decisions that affect them.
The bill outlaws automated systems that lead to unlawful discrimination, regardless of whether the discrimination was intentional.
For AI companies, the bill indirectly forces compliance requirements. Companies that sell AI hiring or workforce management tools would need to ensure their systems can be tested for bias, audited for outcomes, and explained to end users, since employers would be required to meet those standards in practice.
The bill has been referred to committee and remains under consideration in the Connecticut General Assembly.
