What SB 7 does
An act to add Part 5.5.5 (commencing with Section 1520) to Division 2 of the Labor Code, relating to employment.
Existing law requires the Department of Technology to conduct, in coordination with other interagency bodies as it deems appropriate, a comprehensive inventory of all high-risk automated decision systems (ADS) that have been proposed for use, development, or procurement by, or are being used, developed, or procured by, any state agency.
Existing law establishes the Labor and Workforce Development Agency, which is composed of various departments responsible for protecting and promoting the rights and interests of workers in California, including the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, led by the Labor Commissioner, within the Department of Industrial Relations.
This bill would require an employer to provide a written notice that an ADS, for the purpose of making employment-related decisions, not including hiring, is in use at the workplace to all workers that will foreseeably be directly affected by the ADS, as specified. The bill would require the employer to maintain an updated list of all ADS currently in use. The bill would require an employer to notify, as provided, a job applicant that the employer utilizes an ADS when making hiring decisions, if the employer will use the ADS in making decisions for that position. The bill would prohibit an employer from using an ADS that does certain functions and would limit the purposes and manner in which an ADS may be used to make decisions. The bill would authorize a worker to request, and require an employer to provide, a copy of the most recent 12 months of the worker’s own data primarily used by an ADS to make a discipline, termination, or deactivation decision, as specified. The bill would require an employer that primarily relied on an ADS to make a discipline, termination, or deactivation decision to provide the affected worker with a written notice, as specified.
This bill would prohibit an employer from discharging, threatening to discharge, demoting, suspending, or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against any worker for taking certain actions asserting their rights under the bill. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce the bill’s provisions, as specified, and would authorize a public prosecutor to bring a civil action. The bill would set forth specified types of relief that a plaintiff may seek and specified penalties that an employer that violates these provisions is subject to, including a $500 civil penalty. The bill would also provide that an employer who complies with the requirements related to notice in this bill is not required to comply with any substantially similar provisions under any other state law, except as specified. The bill would not apply to parties covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement if the agreement contains specified information, including an explicit waiver of the bill’s provisions. The bill would declare that its provisions do not prohibit any employer from complying with regulatory or contractual requirements in the provision of products or services to the federal government, as defined.
This bill would declare that its provisions are severable.
Summary from the Legislative Counsel's Digest of the enrolled text, September 17, 2025. Read the full text on leginfo.
How it got here
Senator McNerney introduced SB 7 on December 2, 2024, with coauthors Assembly Members Bryan and Elhawary. The text was amended 6 times, 4 in the Assembly and 2 in the Senate, and heard in 8 committee hearings before its final floor votes.
- Senate Floor, June 2, 2025: 27 ayes, 10 noes.
- Assembly Floor, September 11, 2025: 45 ayes, 17 noes.
- Senate Floor, September 12, 2025: 28 ayes, 9 noes.
Committee votes along the way:
- Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement, April 9, 2025: Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Judiciary], 4-1.
- Senate Judiciary, April 29, 2025: Do pass as amended, but first amend, and re-refer to the Committee on [Appropriations], 11-2.
- Senate Appropriations, May 19, 2025: Placed on suspense file, 5-0.
- Senate Appropriations, May 23, 2025: Do pass, 5-1.
- Assembly Labor and Employment, June 25, 2025: Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Privacy and Consumer Protection], 5-0.
- Assembly Privacy and Consumer Protection, July 16, 2025: Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations], 9-4.
- Assembly Appropriations, August 29, 2025: Do pass as amended., 10-4.
Who supports and opposes SB 7
The Senate Floor Analyses analysis dated October 20, 2025 lists 55 organizations in support and 70 in opposition. When Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement first listed positions on April 8, 2025, the count was 27 in support and 32 opposed. By the Senate Floor Analyses analysis of October 20, 2025 it was 55 to 70.
In support: California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO (sponsor); American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees California; California Alliance for Retired Americans; California Coalition for Worker Power; California Community Foundation; California Conference Board of The Amalgamated Transit Union; California Conference of Machinists; California Democratic Party; and 47 more.
Opposed: Acclamation Insurance Management Services; Allied Managed Care; American Staffing Association; Associated General Contractors of California; Associated General Contractors - San Diego Chapter; Association of California Healthcare Districts; Brea Chamber of Commerce; Burbank Chamber of Commerce; and 62 more.
Read the Senate Floor Analyses analysis.
Our read
Analysis by Capitol Axis, drawn from the committee analyses and vote record for SB 7.
Between Senate Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement and Senate Floor Analyses the opposed count went from 32 to 70, against a rise of 28 in support. Opposition that consolidates in the second house is responding to language, not to the idea.
Acclamation Insurance Management Services, Allied Managed Care and American Staffing Association appear on the opposed list, which runs to 70 organizations, and chambers of commerce account for much of it.
The sponsor is California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO. Sponsorship tells you whose problem the bill was written to solve.
None of it showed up in the vote: Senate Floor passed SB 7 28-9 on September 12, 2025. When 70 organizations are on the record against a bill that carries by that margin, the argument with the Legislature is over and the Governor's office is the remaining audience.
What happens next
The Governor vetoed it, with the last recorded action on March 2, 2026.
The Governor can sign the bill, veto it, or let it become law without a signature. Until the decision, sign and veto request letters are the remaining channel, and the Department of Finance's enrolled bill report carries weight on anything with a fiscal effect. If signed, most provisions take effect January 1, and implementation moves to the agencies named in the bill.
What it means for labor organizations
A vetoed bill usually returns. The veto message is the clearest statement of what a successor would have to change, and the interval before it is reintroduced is when that language gets negotiated.
The labor group at Capitol Axis handles that for labor clients.
Questions about SB 7
What does SB 7 do?
This bill would require an employer to provide a written notice that an ADS, for the purpose of making employment-related decisions, not including hiring, is in use at the workplace to all workers that will foreseeably be directly affected by the ADS, as specified. The bill would require the employer to maintain an updated list of all ADS currently in use. The bill would require an employer to notify, as provided, a job applicant that the employer utilizes an ADS when making hiring decisions, if the employer will use the ADS in making decisions for that position. The bill would prohibit an emp
Has SB 7 passed the California Legislature?
The Governor vetoed it, with the last recorded action on March 2, 2026.
Who supports and opposes SB 7?
The Senate Floor Analyses analysis dated October 20, 2025 lists 55 organizations in support and 70 in opposition. Supporters include California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO (sponsor); American Federation of State, County, & Municipal Employees California; California Alliance for Retired Americans. Opponents include Acclamation Insurance Management Services; Allied Managed Care; American Staffing Association.
What happens next with SB 7?
A veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in both houses, which is rare. The usual path is a successor bill in the next session, and the veto message is the clearest guide to what that bill would have to change.