California Employers Alert: New FEHA Regulation on AI Goes Live Oct. 1, 2025

Beginning October 1, 2025, California’s Civil Rights Department (CRD) will enforce groundbreaking regulations under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) addressing the use of Automated Decision Systems (ADS) and AI in employment.

These rules expand the definition of ADS to include any computational process—such as algorithms, machine learning, or even simple selection criteria—that influences hiring, promotions, training, or evaluation.

Employers must now ensure these systems do not result in discrimination based on protected characteristics such as race, gender, disability, or religion, and must uphold reasonable accommodations.

The regulations introduce mandatory anti-bias testing, robust recordkeeping (storing data and audit findings for four years), and promote human oversight of AI-facilitated decisions.

Developed following extensive public engagement, these rules codify how existing civil rights protections apply in the age of AI and automated hiring.

Webinar Agenda

What You’ll Gain:

Stay compliant - Learn exactly what California expects of employers using ADS in light of FEHA enforcement.

Mitigate legal risk - Understand how to conduct bias audits and craft defensible anti-discrimination practices.

Prepare for enforcement - Learn what records must be kept, and how omission can impact your legal standing.

Ensure transparency and fairness - Discover obligations to disclose AI use and to provide accommodation mechanisms.

Gain actionable tools - Walk away with checklists, frameworks for oversight, and audit templates tailored to ADS use.

Webinar Highlights

• Definition and scope of Automated Decision Systems (ADS) under California law.
• Overview of FEHA protections and how they apply to AI-driven hiring, promotion, and training.
• Examples of ADS misuse that could result in discrimination (e.g., biased resume screening, targeted ads) and their legal implications.
• Requirements for anti-bias testing and audits-what counts as meaningful evidence, before and after deployment.
• Recordkeeping mandates - what employer data (e.g., dataset descriptors, scoring outputs, audit findings) must be retained and for how long.
• Human oversight and transparency - including disclosure obligations and handling of accommodations and opt-outs.
• Vendor management and third-party liability, including roles of agents, vendors, and employment agencies in ADS deployment.
• Affirmative defenses and mitigation strategies - how proactive measures (e.g. audits, documentation) support defense of legal challenges.
• Practical compliance roadmap and timelines, ensuring a smooth transition by the October 1, 2025 effective date.

Who Should Attend

Whether you are an employer, Human Resources professional, supervisor or in-house counsel seeking to create a supportive workplace culture or an employee navigating the dynamics of all the recent changes to Labor & Employment Law, this class will provide valuable insights and practical guidance.