Illinois Amends Civil Rights Law to Require Employment-Related AI Disclosures

Effective January 1, 2026, employers with employees in Illinois must comply with new state requirements when they make employment-related decisions.

Governor Pritzker signed H.B. 3773 on August 9.  The key language of the enrolled bill provides, essentially, that an employer commits a civil rights violation if it uses AI to discriminate against an employee because of the individual’s protected characteristics, such as race or sex.  The law applies to any terms, privileges, or conditions of employment.

The statute also imposes a notice requirement.  When an employer uses AI to make decisions about terms, privileges, or conditions of employment, the employer must notify each impacted employee.  In other words, if an employer’s AI-assisted decision impacts an Illinois employee, then it is very likely that the employer must inform the employee that it has used AI to make the decision.

Certainly, employers will have questions ‑ including whether the law applies to an out‑of‑state business’s recruitment efforts conducted in Illinois regarding job applicants.  The State will develop and implement rules to regulate the new requirements that may answer those questions.  In the interim, employers who employ individuals in Illinois should begin to review any AI apparatuses they use in employment decisions and ensure that any AI used does not operate with biases that may effectively discriminate.

Curious about state law developments?  Multi-state employers can stay informed about coast-to-coast developments with Miller Johnson’s National Employment Law Compliance Practice Group.