The bill creates a new chapter in Title 49 RCW that regulates employer use of electronic monitoring and automated decision systems (ADS) in the workplace. It establishes detailed definitions (including “electronic monitoring,” “automated decision system,” “biometric data,” and “data”), requires employers to meet five specific necessity and minimization requirements before engaging in electronic monitoring, and requires written notice to affected employees at least 15 calendar days before monitoring begins (with a limited exception). Notices must be plain, in the employee’s primary language, include specified content about the monitoring and data use, be updated for significant changes, and employers must annually provide each employee a list of all monitoring systems “currently in use” for that employee. The bill also prohibits specified types of monitoring, including audio-visual monitoring of designated private areas, monitoring of off-duty workers not performing work, use of facial/gait/emotion recognition technologies, and requiring employees to install monitoring apps on personal devices or be implanted with devices except where narrowly necessary; location tracking must be disabled outside times needed to perform essential job functions. For automated decision systems, the bill bars sole reliance on ADS outputs for employment-related decisions, forbids ADS outputs about an employee’s physical or mental health from being used for those decisions, and prohibits ADS that incorporate facial, gait, or emotion recognition. Employers must complete a written impact assessment before using an ADS, provide it on request and update it after significant changes, and comply with the notice requirements. The bill requires reasonable security procedures, gives employees a right to access monitoringor ADS-produced data about themselves, forbids retaliation for exercising rights under the chapter, permits employees to file complaints with the Department of Labor and Industries (the department), and authorizes the department to investigate, subpoena records, issue citations and assessments, impose civil penalties, require notifications to affected employees, adopt rules, and bring enforcement actions in superior court. For timely complaints, the department must issue a citation or determination within 90 days unless extended; civil penalties are described (first violation may not exceed $1,000 and civil penalties assessed are not less than $1,000, with an enhanced schedule up to $10,000 per violation for repeat violations, and allowances for waiver or reduction), and collected penalties are deposited into the supplemental pension fund under RCW 51.44.033. Sections 1–11 and 13 create the new chapter and Sections 1–10 take effect July 1, 2026. The provided text is incomplete in places: Section 6’s prohibitions are cut off, the specific chapter number added to Title 49 RCW is not given, the bill title’s reference to prescribed penalties and an effective date is not fully shown for all sections, and some definitions and procedural details may be elsewhere in the bill but are not included in these extracts.

If enacted, employers in Washington would have to stop or dramatically change many common forms of electronic workplace monitoring unless they meet strict tests for purpose, necessity, minimal intrusiveness, limited data access, and duration. Employers must give written notice at least 15 days before starting monitoring (with one narrow exception), provide an annual, primary-language list of monitoring systems used for each employee, and disable location tracking outside times employees perform essential job functions. Use of automated decision systems (ADS) would require a written impact assessment before use, human corroboration before any employment action, and bans on facial, gait, or emotion recognition; employees can request ADS impact assessments and any monitoring data about themselves, and vendors must return and destroy data when contracts end. Sections 1–10 would take effect July 1, 2026. The groups most affected are employers and the third parties who develop or operate monitoring/ADS tools, who will likely face new administrative work, translation and notice costs, security and data-handling obligations, contract changes, and potential investigations and penalties (initial civil penalties up to $1,000 and higher repeat-violation penalties under an enhanced schedule up to $10,000). Employees would gain clearer notice, access to data and assessments, and anti-retaliation protections. Key implementation details remain unclear from the available text—some ADS prohibitions in Sec. 6, the full penalty schedule, the exact new chapter number, and any additional enforcement or remedy procedures are not included here.