Vermont 2025-2026 Regular Session

Vermont House Bill H0262 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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5	5	VT LEG #378587 v.1
6	6	H.262 1
7	7	Introduced by Representatives Priestley of Bradford, Chapin of East 2
8	8	Montpelier, Hooper of Burlington, Masland of Thetford, 3
9	9	McCann of Montpelier, McGill of Bridport, Minier of South 4
10	10	Burlington, Nugent of South Burlington, and Olson of 5
11	11	Starksboro 6
12	12	Referred to Committee on 7
13	13	Date: 8
14	14	Subject: Labor; employment practices; fair employment; electronic 9
15	15	monitoring; automated decision systems 10
16	16	Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to restrict the 11
17	17	use of electronic monitoring of employees and the use of automated decision 12
18	18	systems for employment-related decisions. 13
19	19	An act relating to restricting electronic monitoring of employees and the use 14
20	20	of employment-related automated decision systems 15
21	21	It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 16
22	22	Sec. 1. 21 V.S.A. § 495q is added to read: 17
23	23	§ 495q. ELECTRONIC MONITORING OF EMPLOYEES; AUTOMATED 18
24	24	DECISION SYSTEMS; RESTRICTIONS; EXCEPTIONS 19
25	25	(a) Definitions. As used in this section: 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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30	30	(1) “Algorithm” means a computerized procedure consisting of a set of 1
31	31	steps used to accomplish a determined task. 2
32	32	(2) “Automated decision system” means an algorithm or computational 3
33	33	process that is used to make or assist in making employment-related decisions, 4
34	34	judgments, or conclusions. The term “automated decision system” includes 5
35	35	algorithms and computational processes that are derived from machine 6
36	36	learning, statistics, data processing, or artificial intelligence. 7
37	37	(3) “Automated decision system output” means information, data, 8
38	38	assumptions, predictions, scoring, recommendations, decisions, or conclusions 9
39	39	generated by an automated decision system. 10
40	40	(4) “Data” means information obtained by any means that, directly or 11
41	41	indirectly, identifies, relates to, describes, may reasonably be associated with, 12
42	42	or could reasonably be linked to an employee, including: 13
43	43	(A) personal identifying information; 14
44	44	(B) biometric information; 15
45	45	(C) health, medical, lifestyle, and wellness information; 16
46	46	(D) information related to workplace activities; 17
47	47	(E) human resources information and personnel files; and 18
48	48	(F) information related to the employee’s internet and digital 19
49	49	activities, including electronic communications, private social media activity, 20
50	50	and personal internet protocol address. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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55	55	(5) “Electronic monitoring” means the collection of information 1
56	56	concerning employee activities or communication by any means other than 2
57	57	direct, in-person observation, including through the use of a digital device; 3
58	58	computer; telephone; wire; radio; camera; or electromagnetic, photoelectronic, 4
59	59	or photo-optical system. 5
60	60	(6) “Employee” means an individual who in consideration of direct or 6
61	61	indirect gain or profit is employed by an employer. As used in this section, 7
62	62	“employee” includes job applicants and independent contractors providing 8
63	63	services, directly or indirectly, to an employer. 9
64	64	(7) “Employer” means a person who directly or indirectly employs or 10
65	65	exercises control over the wages, benefits, other compensation, hours, working 11
66	66	conditions, access to work or job opportunities, or other terms and conditions 12
67	67	of employment of an employee. For purposes of this section, “employer” 13
68	68	includes the employer’s agents, labor contractors, or other affiliates or 14
69	69	subcontractors through which individuals perform work on behalf of the 15
70	70	employer or otherwise provide services that are integrated into the employer’s 16
71	71	business operations. 17
72	72	(8) “Employment-related decision” means any decision made by an 18
73	73	employer that: 19
74	74	(A) affects an employee’s compensation, benefits, or terms and 20
75	75	conditions of employment; 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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80	80	(B) relates to the discipline, evaluation, promotion, or termination of 1
81	81	an employee; or 2
82	82	(C) relates to the hiring of an individual or employee for a position or 3
83	83	job. 4
84	84	(9) “Essential job function” means a fundamental duty of a job or 5
85	85	position that an employee with that job or position must be able to perform, as 6
86	86	revealed by objective evidence, such as the amount of time an employee 7
87	87	spends performing a function, the terms of any applicable collective bargaining 8
88	88	agreement, the employee’s past and present work experiences, and the 9
89	89	employee’s performance in the position. The employer’s reasonable, 10
90	90	nondiscriminatory judgment as to which job functions are essential may be 11
91	91	relevant evidence but not the sole basis for a determination as to which 12
92	92	functions are essential, the determination of which requires consideration of 13
93	93	objective evidence. 14
94	94	(10) “Periodic assessment of an employee’s performance” means the 15
95	95	assessment of an employee’s performance over the course of units of time 16
96	96	equal to or greater than one calendar day. 17
97	97	(b) Employee monitoring restricted. An employer shall not engage in 18
98	98	electronic monitoring of an employee unless all of the following requirements 19
99	99	are met: 20
100	100	(1) the employer’s purpose in utilizing the electronic monitoring is to: 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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105	105	(A) assist or allow the employee to accomplish an essential job 1
106	106	function; 2
107	107	(B) monitor production processes or quality; 3
108	108	(C) ensure compliance with applicable employment or labor laws; 4
109	109	(D) protect the health, safety, or security of the employee, clients, or 5
110	110	the public; 6
111	111	(E) secure the employer’s physical or digital property; 7
112	112	(F) conduct periodic assessment of employee performance; or 8
113	113	(G) track time worked or production output for purposes of 9
114	114	determining the employee’s compensation; 10
115	115	(2) the specific form of electronic monitoring is necessary to accomplish 11
116	116	the purpose identified pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection and is used 12
117	117	exclusively to accomplish that purpose; 13
118	118	(3) the specific form of electronic monitoring is the least invasive 14
119	119	means, with respect to the employee, of accomplishing the purpose identified 15
120	120	pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection; 16
121	121	(4) the specific form of electronic monitoring is used with the smallest 17
122	122	number of employees, collects the smallest amount of data necessary to 18
123	123	accomplish the purpose identified pursuant to subdivision (1) of this 19
124	124	subsection, and is collected not more frequently than necessary to accomplish 20
125	125	that purpose; and 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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130	130	(5) the employer ensures that only authorized persons have access to any 1
131	131	data produced through the electronic monitoring and that the data is only used 2
132	132	for the purpose and duration that the employee has been notified of pursuant to 3
133	133	subsection (c) of this section. 4
134	134	(c) Required notice for employee monitoring. 5
135	135	(1) At least 15 calendar days prior to commencing any form of 6
136	136	electronic monitoring, an employer shall provide notice of the electronic 7
137	137	monitoring to each employee who will be subject to it. The notice shall, at a 8
138	138	minimum, include the following information: 9
139	139	(A) the specific form of electronic monitoring; 10
140	140	(B) a description of the intended purpose of the electronic monitoring 11
141	141	and why the electronic monitoring is necessary to accomplish that purpose; 12
142	142	(C) a description of how any data generated by the electronic 13
143	143	monitoring will be used, including whether and how the data generated by the 14
144	144	electronic monitoring will be used to inform employment-related decisions; 15
145	145	(D) a description of the technologies that will be used to conduct the 16
146	146	electronic monitoring; 17
147	147	(E) a description of the specific activities, locations, communications, 18
148	148	and job roles that will be electronically monitored; 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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153	153	(F) the name of any person conducting electronic monitoring on the 1
154	154	employer’s behalf and any associated contract language related to the 2
155	155	monitoring; 3
156	156	(G) the name of any person, apart from the employer, who will have 4
157	157	access to any data generated by the electronic monitoring and the reason why 5
158	158	the person will have access to the data; 6
159	159	(H) the positions within the employer that will have access to any 7
160	160	data generated by the electronic monitoring; 8
161	161	(I) when, where, and how frequently monitoring will occur; 9
162	162	(J) the period of time for which any data generated by the electronic 10
163	163	monitoring will be retained by the employer or another person and when that 11
164	164	data will be destroyed; 12
165	165	(K) notice of how an employee may access the data generated by the 13
166	166	electronic monitoring and the process to correct any errors in the data; 14
167	167	(L) a cover sheet that concisely summarizes the details contained in 15
168	168	the notice; 16
169	169	(M) notice of an employee’s rights pursuant to this section and the 17
170	170	judicial and administrative remedies available for redressing the wrongful use 18
171	171	of electronic monitoring; and 19
172	172	(N) instructions on how an employee can file a complaint against an 20
173	173	employer for violations of this section. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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178	178	(2) If an employer uses electronic monitoring to track employee 1
179	179	productivity or performance, the employer shall include the following 2
180	180	information in the notice required by subdivision (1) of this subsection: 3
181	181	(A) the performance or productivity standards by which employees 4
182	182	will be assessed and how employees will be measured against those standards; 5
183	183	(B) how performance or productivity data will be monitored and 6
184	184	collected, including the identity of the employees subject to such monitoring 7
185	185	and when, where, and how the monitoring and data collection will occur; and 8
186	186	(C) any adverse consequences for failing to meet a performance or 9
187	187	productivity standard and whether there is any bonus or incentive program 10
188	188	associated with meeting or exceeding each standard. 11
189	189	(3)(A) Notice of electronic monitoring provided pursuant to this section 12
190	190	shall be written in plain, clear, and concise language and provided to each 13
191	191	employee in the employee’s primary language. 14
192	192	(B) An employer shall provide a new, updated notice to employees if 15
193	193	it makes any significant changes to the manner of electronic monitoring or to 16
194	194	the way that the employer utilizes the electronic monitoring or any data 17
195	195	generated by it. 18
196	196	(4) Notwithstanding subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection, prior 19
197	197	notice of electronic monitoring shall not be required if: 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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202	202	(A) the employer has reasonable grounds to believe that the 1
203	203	employee is engaged in conduct that: 2
204	204	(i) is illegal; 3
205	205	(ii) violates the legal rights of the employer or another employee; 4
206	206	or 5
207	207	(iii) creates a hostile work environment; and 6
208	208	(B) the electronic monitoring is reasonably likely to produce 7
209	209	evidence of the conduct, is otherwise conducted in compliance with the 8
210	210	previsions of this section, and is narrowly tailored to the purpose of identifying 9
211	211	the conduct. 10
212	212	(5)(A) An employer that utilizes electronic monitoring shall annually 11
213	213	provide each of its employees with a list of all electronic monitoring systems 12
214	214	currently in use by the employer in relation to that employee. The list shall be 13
215	215	provided in the primary language of the employee. 14
216	216	(B) As used in this subdivision (5), “currently in use” means that the 15
217	217	employer: 16
218	218	(i) is currently using the system in relation to the employee; 17
219	219	(ii) used the electronic monitoring system in relation to the 18
220	220	employee within the past 90 days; or 19
221	221	(iii) intends to use the electronic monitoring system in relation to 20
222	222	the employee within the next 30 days. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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227	227	(d) Prohibitions on employee monitoring. Notwithstanding the purposes 1
228	228	for electronic monitoring set forth in subdivision (b)(1) of this section, 2
229	229	electronic monitoring shall not be used: 3
230	230	(1) in any manner that violates State or federal labor, employment, civil 4
231	231	rights, or human rights laws; 5
232	232	(2) in relation to employees who are off-duty and not performing work-6
233	233	related tasks, including employees on-call; 7
234	234	(3) to identify, punish, or obtain information about employees exercising 8
235	235	legal rights, including rights guaranteed by labor and employment laws; 9
236	236	(4) for audio-visual monitoring of bathrooms, locker rooms, changing 10
237	237	areas, breakrooms, smoking areas, areas designated for the expression of breast 11
238	238	milk, employee cafeterias, lounges, or other similarly private areas; 12
239	239	(5) to determine the frequency with which employees visit or use 13
240	240	bathrooms, locker rooms, changing areas, breakrooms, smoking areas, 14
241	241	employee cafeterias, lounges, or other similarly private areas; 15
242	242	(6) for monitoring, including audio-visual monitoring, of any space 16
243	243	within an employee’s residence or personal vehicle, or a property owned or 17
244	244	rented by the employee, unless the monitoring is necessary to ensure the 18
245	245	employee’s health and safety or to verify the security of employer or client 19
246	246	data; 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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251	251	(7) to obtain information about an employee’s actual or perceived age, 1
252	252	color, disability, ethnicity, genetic information, limited proficiency in the 2
253	253	English language, national origin, race, religion, pursuit or receipt of 3
254	254	reproductive health care, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, 4
255	255	marital status, family responsibilities, personal appearance, immigration status, 5
256	256	political affiliation or association, neurodiversity, veteran status, or other 6
257	257	classification protected under State or federal law; 7
258	258	(8) to take adverse employment action against an employee on the basis 8
259	259	of data collected via continuous incremental time-tracking tools; or 9
260	260	(9) in a manner that harms health or safety or violates the legal rights of 10
261	261	any employee. 11
262	262	(e) Restriction of employee monitoring through personal devices. 12
263	263	(1) An employer shall not require an employee to install an application 13
264	264	on a personal device for purposes of electronic monitoring or to wear a device 14
265	265	or attach, embed, or physically implant a device on the employee’s clothing 15
266	266	that can be used for electronic monitoring, unless the electronic monitoring is: 16
267	267	(A) necessary to accomplish the employee’s essential job function; 17
268	268	and 18
269	269	(B) limited to only the times and activities necessary to accomplish 19
270	270	the essential job functions. 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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275	275	(2) Any location tracking function of an application or device shall be 1
276	276	disabled outside of the times when the employee is engaged in activities 2
277	277	necessary to accomplish essential job functions. 3
278	278	(3) An employer shall not require an employee to physically implant a 4
279	279	device on the employee’s body for purposes of employee monitoring. 5
280	280	(f) Restrictions on use of automated decision systems. 6
281	281	(1) An employer shall not use an automated decision system in a manner 7
282	282	that: 8
283	283	(A) violates or results in a violation of State or federal law; 9
284	284	(B) makes predictions about an employee’s behavior that are 10
285	285	unrelated to the employee’s essential job functions; 11
286	286	(C) identifies, profiles, or predicts the likelihood that an employee 12
287	287	will exercise the employee’s legal rights; 13
288	288	(D) makes predictions about an employee’s emotions, personality, or 14
289	289	other sentiments; or 15
290	290	(E) use customer or client data, including customer or client reviews 16
291	291	and feedback, as an input of the automated decision system. 17
292	292	(2)(A) An employer shall not solely rely on outputs from an automated 18
293	293	decision system when making employment-related decisions. 19
294	294	(B) An employer may utilize an automated decision system in 20
295	295	making employment-related decisions if: 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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300	300	(i) the automated decision system outputs considered in making 1
301	301	the employment-related decision are corroborated by human oversight of the 2
302	302	employee, including supervisory or managerial observations and 3
303	303	documentation of the employee’s work, personnel records, and consultations 4
304	304	with the employee’s coworkers; 5
305	305	(ii) the employer has conducted an impact assessment of the 6
306	306	automated decision system pursuant to subsection (g) of this section; and 7
307	307	(iii) the employer is in compliance with the notice requirements of 8
308	308	subdivision (4) of this subsection (f). 9
309	309	(3) An employer shall not use any automated decision system outputs 10
310	310	regarding an employee’s physical or mental health in relation to an 11
311	311	employment-related decision. 12
312	312	(4) Prior to using an automated decision system to make an 13
313	313	employment-related decision about an employee, the employer must provide 14
314	314	the employee with a notice that complies with subdivision (c)(3)(A) of this 15
315	315	section and, at a minimum, contains the following information: 16
316	316	(A) a plain language explanation of the nature, purpose, and scope 17
317	317	for which the automated decision system will be used, including the specific 18
318	318	employment-related decisions potentially affected; 19
319	319	(B) the logic used in the automated decision system, including the 20
320	320	key parameters that affect the output of the automated decision system; 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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325	325	(C) the specific category and sources of employee input data that the 1
326	326	automated decision system will use, including a specific description of any 2
327	327	data collected through electronic monitoring; 3
328	328	(D) any performance metrics the employer will consider using with 4
329	329	the automated decision system; 5
330	330	(E) the type of outputs the automated decision system will produce; 6
331	331	(F) the individuals or entities that developed the automated decision 7
332	332	system; 8
333	333	(G) the individual or entities that will operate, monitor, and interpret 9
334	334	the results of the automated decision system; 10
335	335	(H) information about how an employee can access the results of the 11
336	336	most recent impact assessment of the automated decision system; 12
337	337	(I) a description of an employee’s rights, pursuant to subsection (j) of 13
338	338	this section, to access information about the employer’s use of the automated 14
339	339	decision system and to correct data used by the automated decision system; 15
340	340	and 16
341	341	(J) a statement that employees are protected from retaliation for 17
342	342	exercising the rights described in the notice. 18
343	343	(g) Impact assessment of automated decision systems. 19
344	344	(1) Prior to utilizing an automated decision system, an employer shall 20
345	345	create a written impact assessment of the system that includes, at a minimum: 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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350	350	(A) a detailed description of the automated decision system and its 1
351	351	purpose; 2
352	352	(B) a description of the data utilized by the system; 3
353	353	(C) a description of the outputs produced by the system and the types 4
354	354	of employment-related decisions in which those outputs may be utilized; 5
355	355	(D) an assessment of the necessity for the system, including reasons 6
356	356	for utilizing the system to supplement nonautomated means of decision 7
357	357	making; 8
358	358	(E) a detailed assessment of the system’s validity and reliability in 9
359	359	accordance with contemporary social science standards and a description of 10
360	360	any metrics used to evaluate the performance and known limitations of the 11
361	361	automated decision system; 12
362	362	(F) a detailed assessment of the potential risks of utilizing the system, 13
363	363	including the risk of: 14
364	364	(i) discrimination against employees on the basis of race, color, 15
365	365	religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ancestry, 16
366	366	place of birth, age, crime victim status, or physical or mental condition; 17
367	367	(ii) violating employees’ legal rights or chilling employees’ 18
368	368	exercise of legal rights; 19
369	369	(iii) directly or indirectly harming employees’ physical health, 20
370	370	mental health, safety, sense of well-being, dignity, or autonomy; 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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375	375	(iv) harm to employee privacy, including through potential 1
376	376	security breaches or inadvertent disclosure of information; and 2
377	377	(v) negative economic and material impacts to employees, 3
378	378	including potential effects on compensation, benefits, work conditions, 4
379	379	evaluations, advancement, and work opportunities; 5
380	380	(G) a detailed summary of measures taken by the employer to 6
381	381	address or mitigate the risks identified pursuant to subdivision (E) of this 7
382	382	subdivision (1); and 8
383	383	(H) a description of any methodology used in preparing the 9
384	384	assessment. 10
385	385	(2) An employer shall provide a copy of the assessment prepared 11
386	386	pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection to an employee upon request. 12
387	387	(3) An employer shall update the assessment required pursuant to this 13
388	388	subsection any time a significant change or update is made to the automated 14
389	389	decision system. 15
390	390	(4) A single impact assessment may address a comparable set of 16
391	391	automated decision systems deployed by an employer. 17
392	392	(h) Prohibitions on facial, gait, voice, and emotion recognition technology. 18
393	393	Electronic monitoring and automated decision systems shall not incorporate 19
394	394	any form of facial, gait, voice, or emotion recognition technology. 20
395	395	(i) Protection of employee privacy. 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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400	400	(1) An employer; any person that develops, operates, or maintains 1
401	401	electronic monitoring or an automated decision system on behalf of an 2
402	402	employer; and any person who collects, stores, analyzes, interprets, 3
403	403	disseminates, or otherwise uses data produced or utilized by electronic 4
404	404	monitoring or an automated decision system shall implement reasonable 5
405	405	security procedures and practices appropriate to the nature of the data to 6
406	406	protect employees’ personal information from unauthorized or illegal access, 7
407	407	destruction, use, modification, or disclosure. 8
408	408	(2) Any person that develops, operates, or maintains electronic 9
409	409	monitoring or an automated decision system on behalf of an employer and any 10
410	410	person who collects, stores, analyzes, interprets, disseminates, or otherwise 11
411	411	uses data produced or utilized by electronic monitoring or an automated 12
412	412	decision system shall, upon termination of the contract with the employer: 13
413	413	(A) return all data and automated decision system outputs to the 14
414	414	employer; and 15
415	415	(B) destroy all data and automated decision system outputs in the 16
416	416	person’s possession. 17
417	417	(j) Employee right to access and correct data. 18
418	418	(1) Within seven days of receiving a request, an employer shall provide 19
419	419	an employee with access to any data that relates to the employee that was 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.262
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424	424	produced or utilized by electronic monitoring or an automated decision system 1
425	425	used by the employer. 2
426	426	(2) Within seven days of receiving a request to correct potential errors 3
427	427	identified by an employee, an employer shall: 4
428	428	(A) correct the erroneous information or data and provide the 5
429	429	employee with a notice that complies with subdivision (c)(3)(A) of this 6
430	430	section, explaining the steps taken by the employer; or 7
431	431	(B) provide the employee with a notice explaining that the employer 8
432	432	has not corrected the information or data and describing the steps the employer 9
433	433	has taken to verify the accuracy of the disputed information or data. 10
434	434	(k) Retaliation prohibited. An employer shall not discharge or in any other 11
435	435	manner retaliate against an employee who exercises or attempts to exercise the 12
436	436	employee’s rights under this section. The provisions against retaliation set 13
437	437	forth in subdivision 495(a)(8) of this subchapter shall apply to this section. 14
438	438	(l) Enforcement. The provisions of section 495b of this subchapter shall 15
439	439	apply to this section. 16
440	440	Sec. 2. EFFECTIVE DATE 17
441	441	This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 18