New York Governor Kathy Hochul has unveiled a groundbreaking proposal to update the state's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. Beginning in 2025, businesses operating in New York with 50 or more employees will be required to explicitly state whether planned mass layoffs are linked to the adoption of artificial intelligence tools.
The measure aims to build a clearer understanding of AI's impact on employment, ensuring that both workers and policymakers can examine how automation influences job displacement. While Requiring AI-related disclosure may increase transparency, legal analysts caution that determining whether AI is the proximate cause of layoffs isn’t straightforward—and businesses could face challenges in classifying these events.
New York’s initiative is among the first of its kind, joining California’s move to regulate AI's role in employment decisions and reflecting a growing trend toward more oversight of AI in the workplace. Should this law pass, it’s expected to influence other states’ approach to automation-driven workforce policies.