The Ethical Use of AI and the DOL: What You Need to Know

Here are some of the things we are working on with employers and other clients, including tech developers.

Employers:

• Involve employees early and regularly in the adoption and use of AI.
• Bargain in good faith with employee unions on use of AI and electronic monitoring.
• Avoid collection, retention, and other handling of worker data that is not necessary for a legitimate and defined business purpose.
• Do not use AI systems that undermine, interfere with, or have a chilling effect on labor organizing or protected activities.
• Do not use AI to reduce wages, break time, or other benefits that workers are legally due.
• Establish governance structures to ensure consistency.
• Provide workers & reps advance notice and appropriate (conspicuous) disclosure of: the purpose of the AI system, including when t will be used, what it covers, how workers will engage with the AI and how the AI systems will be used to monitor or inform significant employment decisions.
• If AI or algorithmic recommendations are a principal basis for significant employment decisions, inventory them and provide a meaningful and plain language explanation of the AI system’s role in the decision and the data relied on to make the decision.
• Provide appropriate training about AI systems in use to a broad range of employees.
• Ensure meaningful human oversight of any significant employment decisions supported by AI systems.
• Ensure, through procedures, that workers and their representatives can request, view and submit corrections to data and file disputes without fear of retaliation.
• Secure and protect any data about workers from internal and external threats.
• Don’t share workers’ data outside your business and employer’s agents (including with consultants, AI auditors and M&A) without workers’ freely giving informed and specific consent (unless required by law).
• Routinely monitor and analyze whether the use of the AI system is causing a disparate impact or disadvantaging individuals with protected characteristics and, if so, take steps to reduce the impact or use a different tool.

Developers:

• Establish standards so that any AI products brought to market protects civil rights, mitigates risks to safety (like error rates and bias) and meets performance requirements.
• Conduct risk assessments and independent audits that include the intended purpose for the AI; expected benefits; error rates; risks of discrimination or bias; and impacts on rights and accessibility.
• Design worker-impacting AI systems to allow for employers’ ongoing monitoring and human oversight.
• Design and build AI systems with safeguards for securing and protecting data, by default, about workers.
• Establish capabilities for employees to make consent, access and control decisions in a complex data ecosystem.

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