Digital Technology has already changed working methods. With the advance of Artificial Intelligence (AI), we are just at the beginning of a unparalleled transformation that will affect not only the labor and employment market but also working relationships. What does exactly mean AI’s impact on working relationships? When we say working relationships, it implies labor law.
Labor Law should be used as a legal tool to steer the obvious change bought by AI in the workplace. The challenge is thus to identify avenues for adapting our labor and employment legislation in order to anticipate and smooth the transition to the new world.
⇒ What are the major key areas that labor and employment laws must consider in the context of AI?
- Data Protection &Privacy
Labor and employment laws will need to consider the data protection implications of using AI, including ensuring that the employee data which feeds the AI has been properly obtained and that the use of the data in this way is permissible. Failure to do so could lead to significant fines and reputational damage.
Employers planning on using AI should review their data protection policy and privacy notices to ensure that they are legitimately processing employee or candidate data.
- Transparency
Another consideration when using AI in respect of HR decisions is maintaining the workforce trust. This will be undermined if employees are not taken along on the journey and they do not feel that they understand how the AI is being used. Labor & employments laws must impose on employers to introduce specific AI policies setting out the detail of how they use AI and what safeguards they have put in place regarding its use.
- Employees safety & health in the workplace
Robots and AI in the workplace present both challenges and opportunities for health and safety at work. The employer is therefore required to ensure that at workplace, machinery equipment and processes under his/her control are safe and without risk to the health of human employees. Should a worker be injured by a robot, would that amount to an occupational injury? A recommendation is that when human employees are working closely with robots & AI, the Health & safety laws must be updated to take into the account the injuries arising from robots and machines.
Also Due to autonomous and possibly unpredictable behavior of robots, human working alongside robots thinking machines might experience new forms of stress and mental health risks. Employers are obliged to take measures to decrease these risks.
- Employment termination
Introduction of AI and robots means that some jobs can disappear while new ones are created. Consequently, certain employees may be deemed unnecessary. The employer’s decision to replace humans with AI and robots may render employees redundant for economic, technological, and structural reasons, thus resulting in the termination of their employment contracts on grounds of redundancy, as recognized by the law. Therefore, labor laws in different countries must consider this and make it challenging for employers to terminate employment contracts due to AI and robots.
⇒ Are there any laws or legislations prepared for AI in the workplace?
Currently, there aren’t many laws specifically governing the use of AI in the workplace. As a result, regulation in this area is governed by existing employment legislation. Moreover, there’s no global consensus on a unified approach to regulating AI. Different countries are at various stages of their legislative processes and are likely to adopt diverse regulatory approaches. For instance, the EU plans to regulate based on the varying levels of risks posed by AI systems, with Australia expected to align closely with the EU’s approach. Conversely, the UK aims to remain technologically neutral and intends to extend existing general principles to address new challenges. In Belgium, although 31% of companies already incorporate AI into their recruitment processes according to a recent survey by Manpower, there are no specific legal provisions regulating its use in recruitment.
⇒ What about Lebanon & UAE?
In Lebanon and the UAE, specific legislation regulating the use of AI in the workplace is lacking. Some key principles need consideration when integrating AI into the legal system. Specifically, the Lebanese labor law, unchanged since 1946, urgently requires significant amendments to modernize its clauses, particularly in light of the integration of AI technology in the workplace. Currently, applicable laws in Lebanon and the UAE are governed by general provisions concerning AI. The necessity for legal regulation of artificial intelligence and robotics primarily arises from the need to establish legal responsibility for any resulting harm and determine ownership of intellectual property rights for work created with AI assistance. The only viable solution to this issue is for the legislative system to enact specific rules regarding the application of AI in labor environments. Meanwhile, employers must continuously update their understanding of the opportunities and challenges presented by AI and consider them within the framework of existing employment laws and their own ethical principles in areas where legislation may be lacking.
