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A new Senate bill, the AI-Related Job Impacts Clarity Act (S. 3108), would create a federal reporting framework for how artificial intelligence (AI) is affecting employment in the United States.
The aim is to produce timely, public data on AI-driven layoffs, hiring, unfilled roles, and retraining, with the Department of Labor (through the Bureau of Labor Statistics) responsible for collecting and publishing regular reports.
The bill is only in its early stages, but the following is an overview of the proposed law to date.
Who is covered?
Initially, "covered entities" include publicly traded companies and federal agencies. The bill also contemplates bringing certain non-publicly traded companies into scope through rulemaking within 180 days of enactment. That rulemaking must consult the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Treasury and consider factors such as workforce size, revenue, industry classification, and overall employment impact, while ensuring any requirements are proportionate and protect proprietary or personally identifiable information.
What must be reported and when?
Under the proposed law, covered entities would make quarterly disclosures to the Secretary of Labor no later than 30 days after each quarter's end. The required content focuses on AI-related job impacts in the United States (including territories), specifically:
- The number of individuals laid off has substantially increased due to AI replacing or automating their job functions.
- The number of individuals hired has substantially increased due to AI incorporation.
- The number of previously occupied positions the company decided not to refill substantially due to AI automation.
- The number of individuals being retrained or assisted in retraining has substantially increased due to AI.
For each disclosure item, companies must include the relevant North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes.
How will reporting be collected and used?
The Secretary would be permitted to integrate these disclosures into existing Department of Labor or Census Bureau surveys and allow companies to comply via those surveys. If the Census Bureau runs the survey independently, it must share the AI-impact data with Labor each quarter to enable reporting. Labor must publish quarterly summaries and an annual year-end rollup, plus every other quarter a net-impact analysis that combines disclosure data with other relevant information. Reports and underlying data must be published on the BLS website and submitted to Congress within 60 days after each quarter's end.
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