California Civil Rights Council employment regulations regarding automated-decision systems (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 2, FEHA regulations; effective October 1, 2025)

Summary

The California Civil Rights Council amended the Fair Employment and Housing Act regulations to address employers' use of automated-decision systems. An automated-decision system is a computational process that makes a decision or facilitates human decision-making regarding an employment benefit, and may use AI, machine learning, algorithms or statistics. The regulations make clear that using such a system may violate California law if it harms applicants or employees on a protected basis, extend liability to an employer's agents acting on its behalf, treat system assessments such as tests, puzzles or games likely to elicit disability information as possible unlawful medical inquiries, and require employers and covered entities to keep employment records, including automated-decision data, for at least four years. They do not require bias testing, but evidence of anti-bias testing or similar proactive efforts, or its absence, is relevant to claims and defenses. The Council voted on the final text in March 2025; the Office of Administrative Law approved it on June 27, 2025.

Key dates

1. June 27, 2025Enacted
2. October 1, 2025Takes effect
3. October 16, 2026Checked against sources
4. October 21, 2026Checked against sources

Developments are added when the record is reviewed. Next review: October 16, 2027.

Evidence

Each passage is quoted from its source. The quoted passages are re-checked against the live pages every month.

1. After review by the Office of Administrative Law, the regulations were approved on June 27, 2025 and are set to go into effect on October 1, 2025.

   Supports: Approval and effective dates

   Make it clear that the use of an automated-decision system may violate California law if it harms applicants or employees based on protected characteristics, such as gender, race, or disability.

   Supports: Core rule

   Ensure employers and covered entities maintain employment records, including automated-decision data, for a minimum of four years.

   Supports: Record retention

   Affirm that automated-decision system assessments, including tests, questions, or puzzle games that elicit information about a disability, may constitute an unlawful medical inquiry.

   Supports: Medical inquiries

   Civil Rights Council Secures Approval for Regulations to Protect Against Employment Discrimination Related to Artificial Intelligence (June 30, 2025) California Civil Rights Department Primary source

2. the Council revised the proposed definition of “automated- decision system” to state, in part, a “computational process that makes a decision or facilitates human decision making regarding an employment benefit, as defined in section 11008(i) of these regulations.”

   Supports: Definition of automated-decision system

   Proposed Modifications to Employment Regulations Regarding Automated-Decision Systems: Final Statement of Reasons California Civil Rights Council Primary source

3. Although the regulations do not mandate that employers test ADSs for bias, they suggest that there is utility in doing so

   Supports: Anti-bias testing not mandated

   The regulations expressly extend liability for ADS-driven discrimination to employers' agents.

   Supports: Agent liability

   New California Regulations on Employers' Use of AI to Make Decisions Go Into Effect Oct. 1, 2025 Paul Hastings Reporting or analysis