H.R. 6371 — No Robot Bosses Act

This section establishes definitions for terms used in the Act, including "(1) automated decision system," meaning a computational system, software, or process (derived from machine learning, statistics, or AI techniques) that determines outcomes, makes or aids decisions (including through evaluations, metrics, or scoring), informs policy implementation, or collects data (excluding passive computing infrastructure such as web hosting or data storage); "(2) automated decision system output," meaning any information, prediction, score, recommendation, or inference generated by such a system; "(3) candidate," meaning an applicant for employment or remunerated work; "(4) covered individual," meaning an employee, worker for remuneration, or candidate of a covered employer (including individuals in congressional employing offices as defined in 2 U.S.C. 1301); "(5) employ," having the meaning given in the Fair Labor Standards Act; "(6) employer," meaning a covered employer (generally, a person employing 11 or more covered individuals engaged in commerce) or specific entities such as congressional employing offices (as defined in 2 U.S.C. 1301), presidential employing offices, and certain federal agencies, provided they are engaged in commerce; "(7) employment-related decision," including decisions on hiring, firing, discipline, pay, benefits, or promotion; "(8) government entity," including federal agencies, states, localities, and Tribal governments; "(9) Indian Tribe"; and "(10) labor organization."

This section prohibits an employer from relying exclusively on an automated decision system to make an employment-related decision with respect to a covered individual and conditions any use of an automated decision system output on seven requirements: (1) pre-deployment testing and validation for efficacy, compliance with specified employment discrimination laws (i.e., Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, Americans with Disabilities Act, Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, equal pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act, Rehabilitation Act, and Pregnant Workers Fairness Act), lack of discriminatory impact based on protected characteristics, and compliance with the NIST Artificial Intelligence Risk Management Framework; (2) annual independent testing for discriminatory impact or biases with public results; (3) pre-decision disclosure to the individual; (4) system designed for the decision at issue; (5) corroboration by a qualified human; (6) post-decision provision of documentation on the system, inputs, usage, and reasoning; and (7) covered individual's right to dispute the output and appeal the decision to qualified humans. The section further requires employers using or intending to use an automated decision system to disclose specified information about the system (i.e., data inputs and collection, measured characteristics and relation to job functions, measurement methods, interpretability, operator identity, intended use, and dispute/appeal process), with initial disclosures provided prior to hiring decisions (or within 30 days of enactment for prior decisions) and to applicants on or after enactment.

This section establishes in the Department of Labor the Technology and Worker Protection Division, to be headed by an Administrator appointed by the President. The Administrator may (1) hire individuals, including technologists, directly into competitive service positions without regard to specified civil service hiring and pay provisions (i.e., 5 U.S.C. §§3309-3318, 51, 53.3), with compensation up to level V of the Executive Schedule; (2) establish four advisory boards—User (consumer protection, privacy, civil rights, disability rights, labor, ethics experts), Research (academics in privacy, cybersecurity, etc., and labor representatives), Product (technologists, designers, attorneys, labor and employer representatives), and Labor (labor organizations and workers)—with appointments ensuring regional, sectoral, size, and expertise diversity, requiring at least two meetings annually, providing compensation and travel reimbursement for non-federal members, and exempting the boards from the Federal Advisory Committee Act; and (3) use voluntary services, with appointed attorneys authorized to represent the Administrator in litigation. The Division's principal office is in the District of Columbia, and the Administrator may establish regional, local, or other offices.

This section establishes regulatory authority to implement the Act for specified covered individuals and affected persons. It (1) authorizes the Secretary, acting through the Administrator, to prescribe regulations for covered individuals under section 2(4)(A) other than those in clauses (iii)–(v) (i.e., excluding congressional, Executive Schedule, and certain federal employees), with consultation from specified federal agencies including the Federal Trade Commission and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; (2) directs the Comptroller General and Librarian of Congress to prescribe regulations for their respective covered individuals; and (3) requires the Office of Compliance Board, President (or designee), and Office of Personnel Management Director—each within 45 days after the Secretary's regulations—to prescribe regulations for their respective covered individuals under section 2(4)(A)(iii)–(v) that mirror the Secretary's substantive regulations unless modified for good cause shown (with the Board acting in accordance with the Congressional Accountability Act's procedures at 2 U.S.C. 1384).

This section prohibits employers from discriminating or retaliating (including through intimidation, threats, coercion, or harassment) against covered individuals for (1) exercising rights under the Act or (2) filing complaints of section 3 violations (i.e., worker privacy protections) with employers or government entities; seeking assistance on worker privacy concerns from employers, governments, or worker representatives; or participating in, providing information for, or testifying in related inquiries or proceedings.

This section establishes enforcement mechanisms for violations of sections 3 (prohibiting employer use of automated decision systems for certain employment activities, such as hiring and promotion) and 6 (prohibiting retaliation against whistleblowers) of the Act. It authorizes the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Administrator of the Technology and Worker Protection Division, to investigate compliance through powers modeled on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) (i.e., site inspections, recordkeeping requirements, data gathering, and joint investigations with other agencies); receive, investigate, and resolve complaints in the manner used for FLSA minimum wage and overtime violations; refer evidence of criminal conduct to the Attorney General; and litigate through the Solicitor of Labor. The section further provides a private right of action in federal court for covered individuals (generally non-supervisory employees of covered employers) and labor organizations adversely affected by violations of section 3 or 6. Prevailing plaintiffs may be awarded actual damages or treble damages; statutory damages of $5,000-$20,000 ($10,000-$40,000 for willful or repeated violations) per violation of section 3, or $5,000-$50,000 ($10,000-$100,000 for willful or repeated violations) per violation of section 6; injunctive and equitable relief (including temporary reinstatement for whistleblowers); and reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

This section requires the Secretary, acting through the Administrator, to coordinate with appropriate federal agencies and state regulators to promote consistent regulatory treatment of automated decision systems in carrying out this Act.

This section provides that, except as explicitly provided otherwise, nothing in the Act preempts, modifies, limits, or supersedes (1) any provision of federal or state law or (2) the authority of the Federal Trade Commission, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, National Labor Relations Board, or any other federal agency.

This section establishes a severability clause for the Act, providing that if any provision or its application is held unconstitutional, the remainder of the Act and its other applications remain in effect.