Governor Newsom signed a law late yesterday that will require California employers to disclose in writing when artificial intelligence is the reason they are cutting jobs. SB 951 will require you to add four pieces of information to the layoff notice you already have to send under the state’s WARN Act whenever AI or other automation causes the layoffs. Here’s what you need to know and five steps to get ready before it takes effect on January 1, 2027.
What Do You Have to Disclose?
California’s WARN Act already requires 60 days’ written notice to affected employees, the Employment Development Department (EDD), the local workforce development board, and the chief elected official of each city and county where certain layoffs happen. That 60-day clock is unchanged, and so are the thresholds that determine who is covered: establishments with 75 or more employees, and layoffs of 50 or more people in a 30-day period.
SB 951 adds an AI-related component to your notification obligations. Any mass layoff, relocation, or termination that is caused “in whole or in substantial part” by an AI system or other automated technology replacing or automating employment positions will require these additional four disclosures:
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