New Jersey: Automated Employment Decision Tool Bias Audit Bill (A1021)

New JerseyLegislationNot in force

New Jersey Assembly Bill 1021 prohibits employers and employment agencies from using or continuing to use an automated employment decision tool (AEDT) to make employment decisions if more than one year has passed since the tool's most recent independent bias audit. The legislation applies to public and private employers in New Jersey, as well as employment agencies screening candidates or making terms of employment decisions. Under the bill, bias audits must be conducted by an independent auditor and include rigorous assessments to calculate selection or scoring rates, evaluate impact ratios across statutory protected categories, and provide actionable recommendations to mitigate identified risks. The bill also specifies strict conditions regarding when employers may rely on historical training data or test data to complete audits.

Impact

What this means for HR and vendors

HR and recruitment teams

HR and recruitment teams operating in New Jersey may need to ensure that any automated decision systems used to screen candidates or assist with decisions on compensation, performance, promotion, or termination have undergone an independent bias audit within the preceding 12 months. Organizations will need to verify that audits calculate scoring or selection rates across statutory demographic categories and intersectional groups. Furthermore, HR teams must establish data collection protocols to supply historical workplace training data to independent auditors or confirm eligibility for historical data exemptions.

HR technology vendors

HR technology providers supplying AEDT solutions to New Jersey employers face commercial and technical expectations to support customer audit compliance. While direct statutory duties target deployers, providers will need to maintain system data and assist deployers by ensuring third-party independent auditors can access representative training or test data. Vendors must also ensure their software facilitates required demographic and intersectional impact ratio calculations across selection rates and continuous scoring outcomes.

Key obligations

What organizations need to do

Practical obligation briefings focused on what the requirement is, who it applies to, when it applies and what teams should consider doing.

DeployerBias Audit & Testing

Annual Independent Bias Audit Mandate

DeployerBias Audit & Testing

Minimum Calculation and Data Breakdown Standards for Bias Audits

DeployerData Governance

Training Data and Test Data Reliance Requirements

OBLIGATION

APPLIES TO

STATUS

Stay ahead of AI hiring compliance before it lands.

Free alerts on the regulation, litigation and incidents shaping AI in hiring.

Not legal advice

This page is regulatory intelligence only. Organizations should seek guidance from legal counsel before making compliance decisions.

Employment-focused extraction

This may be part of wider regulation. The Warden Watch extracts and displays the parts relevant to employment, HR and recruitment decision-making.