The TUC launched a new AI taskforce as it calls for “urgent” new legislation to safeguard workers’ rights and to ensure AI benefits for all.

The taskforce aims to bring together specialists in law, technology, politics, HR and the voluntary sector.

With a chief mission to fill the current gaps in UK employment law, the taskforce is aiming to draft new legal protections to ensure AI is regulated fairly at work for the benefit of employees and employers.

The taskforce aims to publish an expert-drafted AI and Employment Bill early in 2024 and will lobby to have it incorporated into UK law.

The TUC has already raised a warning about the use of AI in the workplace and the lack of protections for workers rights. Not only are more workers at risk of being replaced by automation and AI, but decision-making processes surrounding hiring, firing, and management can change workers lives with little human input.

A Coalition

The taskforce aims to introduce a wide-ranging coalition to the conversation surrounding worker’s rights and AI, and will be led by the TUC and assisted by a special advisory committee.

Members of the committee will include Tech UK, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), the University of Oxford, the British Computer Society, CWU, GMB, USDAW, Community, Prospect and the Ada Lovelace Institute.

In addition, MPs David Davis, Darren Jones, Mick Whitley, and Chris Stephens will also sit on the committee.

The committee will be jointly chaired by Kate Bell, the assistant general secretary of the TUC, and Gina Neff, the executive director of the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge.

The Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy will provide the secretariat for the taskforce.

“I am delighted to co-chair the Artificial Intelligence and Employment Bill Advisory Group,” said Neff.

“Responsible and trustworthy AI can power huge benefits. But laws must be fit for purpose and ensure that AI works for all.

“AI safety isn’t just a challenge for the future and it isn’t just a technical problem. These are issues that both employers and workers are facing now, and they need the help from researchers, policy makers and civil society to build the capacity to get this right for society.”

A New Bill 

The ‘AI and Employment Bill’ will be drafted by employment lawyers Robin Allen KC and Dee Masters from the AI Law Consultancy, with assistance from Cloisters barristers’ chambers.

A bill has already been introduced to Parliament, however, after the TUC’s initial call on worker’s protections following the widespread adoption of AI advancements. Introduced by Labour MP Mick Whitley, the bill aimed to provide worker’s protections and rights over the use of their data as well as giving them a say in the decision-making process.

Despite the introduction of this bill, as well as the government’s AI Whitepaper introduced earlier this year, the taskforce is launched as experts warn that the UK is “way behind the curve” on the regulation of AI, with UK employment law failing to keep pace with the development of new technologies and employers uncertain of how to fairly take advantage of new technologies.

The TUC taskforce says AI is already making “high-risk, life changing” decisions about workers’ lives – such as line-managing, hiring and firing staff.

And AI is being used to analyse facial expressions, tone of voice and accents to assess candidates’ suitability for roles.

Left unchecked, this could lead to greater discrimination, unfairness and exploitation at work across the economy, the taskforce warns.

Meanwhile employers are purchasing and using systems without knowing fully the implications, such as whether they are discriminatory, the taskforce claims.

Robin Allen KC and Dee Masters from the AI Law Consultancy said: “Developing a new AI legal framework for workers and employers, in which the full benefits of AI technologies can be properly shared and enjoyed, is an urgent task.

“Developing the new AI legal framework for workers and employers requires input from experts of all kinds.

“The TUC’s innovative initiative, with experts from Tech UK, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), academia, the British Computer Society, major unions and the Ada Lovelace Institute, is a step change toward maximizing the benefits of AI for all.”

An International Outlier?

The TUC has said the UK risks becoming an “international outlier” on the regulation of AI.

The EU has already drafted specific legislation to regulate AI at work, but at present, the UK’s government has taken what the TUC described as a ‘light touch’ approach.

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The UK has currently taken a non-statutory approach to AI’s implementation – this essentially means that the UK will address AI’s use on a case-by-case basis as it comes rather than producing specific regulations.

Experts say ministers have yet to put in place the necessary “guardrails” to protect workers’ rights, with March’s AI White Paper proposing only a principles-based approach that lacks statutory force.

In response to the white paper, the TUC released a number of protections they wish to be enshrined in law, including a legal duty on employers to consult trade unions on the high risk and intrusive forms of AI in the workplace. This includes its use in hiring and firing, line management, as well as monitoring and facial recognition.

Further, the TUC called on a legal right for all workers to have a human review of decisions made by AI systems, so they can be challenged if thought to be unfair or discriminatory.

The TUC also called for specific amendments to the UK’s current data protection regulations as well as the Equality Act to guard against discriminatory algorithms.

AI Summit 

The UK is set to host a global AI summit this autumn, and the TUC taskforce says it is vital that workers’ groups and the wider voluntary sector are invited to attend alongside business groups and employers.

“AI is already making life-changing decisions about the way millions work – including how people are hired, performance-managed and fired,” TUC assistant general secretary Kate Bell said.

“But UK employment law is way behind the curve – leaving many workers vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination.

“We urgently need new employment legislation, so workers and employers know where they stand.

“Without proper regulation of AI, our labour market risks turning into a wild west. We all have a shared interest in getting this right.”