Lansing-area lawmakers joins with labor unions in proposing guardrails on AI and employee monitoring

 BY KYLE DAVIDSON, MICHIGAN ADVANCE

LANSING—Employee body cams intended to deter theft, docking an employee’s pay if their computer mouse doesn’t move for more than two minutes and tracking employee bathroom breaks are just some examples of how companies are ramping up employee surveillance, Rep. Penelope Tsernoglou (D-East Lansing) shared during a Monday press conference.

Tsernoglou joined with Rep. Julie Brixie (D-Okemos), and members of the AFL-CIO, the Professional Employees Council of Sparrow Hospital and Communication Workers of America to share details on proposed regulations for AI in the workplace which will be read in during Tuesday’s House session.

“House Bill 5579, will establish firm guardrails that protect workers from employee monitoring and workplace surveillance software,” Tsernoglou told reporters. “This bill is not a far fetched idea that could protect workers from something that may happen sometime in the distant future. It will make an immediate impact for employees across the entire state who are being targeted and watched by these dystopian ‘Big Brother’ surveillance techniques right now.”

Ron Bieber, president of the Michigan AFL-CIO, said the legislation provides guardrails on how AI is used to monitor workers, creates standards for employers who choose to use AI, and bars employers from using AI to set wages.

“We’ve learned some painful lessons in the past, like in the fight on automation,” Bieber said. “One thing we learned? Workers need to be the priority in determining how technology is used. So what is the answer? We need guardrails on AI, and we need them now.”

The bill would bar companies from using automated decision making tools to make an employment-related decision, save for instances where they are screening large volumes of candidates. Under those circumstances, the tools can be used to identify candidates who meet a set hiring criteria and to assess candidates based on job skills.

Alongside laying out circumstances when employers can use electronic monitoring tools, the bill requires employers to disclose and obtain consent from employees who are being monitored and limits the data they are able to collect while creating protections on how the data is used. It bars employers from retaining the records for more than three years and prevents them from selling data on employees and job applicants.

“As a legislator, I, along with dozens of my Democratic colleagues who cosponsored this bill, stand with our unions in the belief that Michigan workers deserve autonomy, privacy and the grace to get their jobs done without invasive minute-by-minute micromanagement and surveillance,” Tsernoglou said. “No matter how prolific AI surveillance options become, we must avoid this unsustainable, unethical path.”

While Tsernoglou has successfully championed bipartisan policy to ban nonconsensual deepfake pornography and to require disclosure for AI generated materials in political ads, she told reporters that a Republican colleague has yet to come forward, though she has provided copies of the bill to several of her colleagues across the aisle.

In order to read the governor’s desk, the bill would need to pass through the Republican-led House as well as the Democratic-led Senate. However, an executive order from President Donald Trump looking to limit state regulations on AI could also create concerns.

Tsernoglou said she personally does not put much weight on the president’s executive order, but acknowledged the regulations could be subject to a court battle to determine whether the regulations can be enforced.

READ MORE: Sen. Mallory McMorrow proposes parent-approved safeguards to keep Michigan kids safe online

This coverage was republished from Michigan Advance pursuant to a Creative Commons license.