Will trade unions obtain information about an employer’s use of AI?
A bill to amend the Law on Trade Unions has been submitted to the Sejm (Polish parliament’s lower house) and on 11 June 2024 it was referred for a first reading in committees. The amendment intends to adapt legislation to new technological realities.
According to the draft, a trade union will be able to ask an employer about the “parameters, rules and instructions used by the algorithms or artificial intelligence systems that affect decision-making and that may have an effect on the conditions of work and pay, availability and continuation of employment, as well as on profiling”.
Interestingly, there has been some legislative work on this before. At that time, the draft bill was met by criticism, including from employers, as well as the Chief Labour Inspectorate, and work on it was discontinued.
The law is expected to enter into force 14 days after its promulgation, so it is worth tracking its progress through the legislature.