Morrison Cohen Debuts Quarterly Reuters Column on AI and Labor & Employment Matters

Keith Markel, Alana R. Mildner and Jessica L. Lipson published their first article in a new series for Reuters, which will explore how artificial intelligence intersects with and impacts employment-related matters. In “Is AI Coming for our Jobs? And Does it Have to WARN Us?” the authors discussed that while “fear that AI is completely replacing human workers is overblown,” to the extent that automated tools do replace human functions, companies will have to abide by certain laws regarding layoffs.

The authors detailed the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, which requires certain employers to notify employees of plant closings and mass layoffs and provide at least 60-days’ notice to employees. The WARN Act covers businesses with 100 or more full-time workers where specific numbers of employees and percentage of layoffs are met. In addition, “many states have their own ‘mini’ WARN laws, which have additional requirements and/or lower thresholds to protect employees from abrupt layoffs,” they wrote.

The authors presented factors for employers to consider when conducting layoffs, including: “Review the criteria used to determine which positions are eliminated, and confirm that all such factors are business-related and applied in a fair, non-discriminatory manner.”

In conclusion, they wrote: “While AI certainly has advantages for employers, it does have its limitations, and even when a company seeks to use AI to replace employees, there is and always will be a need for human insight and analysis when it comes to employee layoffs.”

Read the full article here.