Cloisters instructed to draft an AI and Employment Bill

Image of Jon Cook, Dee Masters, Robin Allen KC and Grace Corby

The TUC has launched a new AI Taskforce today calling for urgent legislation to safeguard workers’ rights and to ensure the benefits of AI for all at work.  The Taskforce combines the TUC’s expertise on the implications of new technology for the workspace, with that of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge and the legal expertise of the AI Law Consultancy.  It will be co-chaired by Kate Bell - TUC Assistant General Secretary and Minderoo’s Professor Gina Neff.

The Taskforce’s aim is to publish an expertly developed draft AI and Employment Bill early in 2024 and to press for its swift adoption by Parliament.

The Bill will be drafted by Cloisters’ leading employment lawyers Robin Allen KC and Dee Masters (the AI Law Consultancy), with assistance from fellow members Grace Corby and Jon Cook.

Key provisions of the proposed Bill include -

.        Statutory changes to require regulators to apply principles of fair use to provide a level playing field for employers and avoid a race to the bottom.

.        A legal duty on employers to consult trade unions on the use of “high risk” and intrusive forms of AI in the workplace.

.        A legal right for all workers to have a human review of decisions made by AI systems so they can challenge decisions that are unfair and discriminatory.

.        Amendments to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Equality Act to guard against discriminatory algorithms.

.        A legal right to ‘switch off’ from work so workers can create “communication free” time in their lives.

The Taskforce will be assisted by members of an expert Special Advisory Committee (SAC), including -

·       Tech UK,

·       the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD),

·       the University of Oxford,

·       the British Computing Society,

·       leading trade unions CWU, GMB, USDAW, Community, Prospect,

and

·       the Ada Lovelace Institute.

 And it has cross-party support from MPs, David Davis, Darren Jones, Mick Whitley and Chris Stephens, who are also members of SAC.