Reference · Employment

Illinois HB 3773 Explained: AI in Employment Decisions Under the Human Rights Act

Public Act 103-0804, Section 2-102(L) of the Illinois Human Rights Act, in force since 1 January 2026

Last reviewed November 4, 2026

At a glance

Signed: 9 August 2024, as Public Act 103-0804
In force: 1 January 2026
Amends: Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5/2-101(M), (N) and 2-102(L)
Who it reaches: Employers under the Human Rights Act, generally anyone employing one or more people in Illinois for 20 or more calendar weeks a year
Two violations: Using AI that has a discriminatory effect, zip codes as a proxy included, and using AI in covered decisions without notice
Notice rules: Proposed 15 May 2026, rulemaking postponed 2 June 2026; none in force
Official text: Public Act 103-0804 (Illinois General Assembly)

Illinois HB 3773, enacted as Public Act 103-0804, amended the Illinois Human Rights Act so that two uses of artificial intelligence in employment are civil rights violations from 1 January 2026: using AI that has the effect of discriminating against employees on the basis of a protected class, and using AI in employment decisions without giving employees notice.Public Act 103-0804 · 2-102(L)HB 3773 status

The Department of Human Rights is directed to write rules on that notice. It proposed them on 15 May 2026 and postponed the rulemaking on 2 June 2026, so today the statute applies on its own terms.50 Ill. Reg. · p. 6794 IDHR update How Illinois compares with New York City and Colorado is in AI hiring laws: Illinois, NYC and Colorado.

AI with a discriminatory effect is a civil rights violation

Subsection (L) covers recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure, and the terms, privileges or conditions of employment. For any of those decisions, an employer violates the Act when it uses AI that has the effect of subjecting employees to discrimination on the basis of a protected class, or when it uses zip codes as a proxy for a protected class.775 ILCS 5 · 2-102(L)(1)

The violation turns on effect. An employer is answerable for what the AI does to people in protected classes, whoever built the tool and whatever it was designed to do.775 ILCS 5 · 2-102(L)(1)

Artificial intelligence is defined broadly: a machine-based system that infers from its input how to generate outputs such as predictions, content, recommendations or decisions. The definition expressly includes generative AI, so a chat assistant that summarizes or ranks applicants is in scope alongside a purpose-built screening model.775 ILCS 5 · 2-101(M), (N)

The duties fall on employers. Under the Act that generally means anyone employing one or more people in Illinois during 20 or more calendar weeks of the current or preceding year, and any employer regardless of size for disability, pregnancy and sexual harassment claims. The State, its political subdivisions and parties to public contracts are covered whatever their headcount.775 ILCS 5 · 2-101(B)

Using AI in a covered decision without notice is a separate violation

It is also a civil rights violation for an employer to fail to give an employee notice that it is using AI for the decisions in subsection (L)(1). The notice duty stands on its own: an employer that never gave notice has violated the Act even if its AI had no discriminatory effect.775 ILCS 5 · 2-102(L)(2)

The statute leaves the details to the Department, which must adopt rules on the circumstances and conditions that require notice, the time period for giving it, and the means.775 ILCS 5 · 2-102(L)(2) No such rule is in force. As of 4 November 2026, the Department's rules in Part 2520 of the Illinois Administrative Code contain no provision on AI.56 Ill. Adm. Code 2520

The statute requires notice "to an employee". The Act defines an employee as anyone performing services for pay in Illinois for an employer, an apprentice, or an applicant for an apprenticeship.775 ILCS 5 · 2-101(A) The proposed rules would have extended notice to prospective employees through the job posting.50 Ill. Reg. · 2520.910(a), (c)(2)

The notice rules were proposed in May 2026 and are on hold

In December 2025 the Department shared a draft Subpart J, Use of Artificial Intelligence in Employment, with stakeholders.IDHR draft It published the formal proposal in the Illinois Register on 15 May 2026, opening a 45-day comment period, with a public hearing set for 10 June 2026.50 Ill. Reg. · pp. 6794 to 6796

On 2 June 2026 the Department postponed the hearing and announced it was temporarily withdrawing the proposed rules, saying postponement was necessary to allow continued collaboration with other state agencies. It said it would publish next steps when available.IDHR update The statutory violations were unaffected and have applied since 1 January 2026.Public Act 103-0804 · Section 99

The proposal shows how the Department read the statute. It would have required:

Notice whenever the output of an AI system influences or facilitates a covered employment decision, whether or not the use has a discriminatory purpose or effect. The examples include computer-based assessments of skills or personality, targeting job advertisements, screening resumes for terms or patterns, analyzing facial expression, word choice or voice in interviews, analyzing third-party data about candidates, scoring productivity for discipline, and assigning work that affects pay.50 Ill. Reg. · 2520.900, 2520.910(b)
No notice for AI used for other business purposes, such as drafting a job posting, for ordinary software that is not AI, or for AI features of a system that the employer does not use in a covered decision.50 Ill. Reg. · 2520.910(b)(4)
Notice to current employees and their exclusive bargaining representatives every year and within 30 days of adopting a new or substantially updated AI system, and to prospective employees in the job notice or posting.50 Ill. Reg. · 2520.910(c)
Delivery by every applicable means: the employee handbook or policies, the physical notice board, the intranet or external website with a link from the homepage, and each job posting.50 Ill. Reg. · 2520.910(d)
Content naming the system's developer, product and vendor, the decision it influences, its purpose and the categories of personal data it processes, the positions it is used for, a point of contact, and the right to request a reasonable accommodation, in plain language and in the languages the workforce commonly speaks.50 Ill. Reg. · 2520.910(e), (f)
Retention of AI notices and records of AI use for three years after the use, and a longer retention period, from one year to three, for applicant records and personnel files. The December draft had proposed four years for the AI records.50 Ill. Reg. · 2520.110(a)IDHR draft · 2520.110(a)(4)

The proposal would also have treated a third party acting for the employer in a covered decision, such as a recruiting agency or screening vendor with control over the decision, as an employer for the notice duty.50 Ill. Reg. · 2520.900

A charge goes to the Department first, then to the Commission or a court

Enforcement runs through the Human Rights Act's ordinary charge process. An aggrieved person may file a charge with the Department within two years of the alleged violation, and the Director may issue a charge on the Department's own initiative. A charge filed with the EEOC within 300 days is treated as filed with the Department.775 ILCS 5/7A · 7A-102(A), (A-1)

The complainant may opt out of the Department's investigation within 60 days of being notified of that right, and then has 90 days to sue in circuit court. Otherwise the Department investigates and the Director decides whether there is substantial evidence of a violation. If there is, the complainant may sue in circuit court or have the Department file a complaint with the Illinois Human Rights Commission. If the Department issues no report within 365 days, the complainant may go to the Commission or a court directly.775 ILCS 5/7A · 7A-102(C-1), (D), (G)

When the Commission finds a violation it may order the employer to stop, pay actual damages, hire, reinstate or promote with back pay, pay attorney and expert witness fees, report on compliance, and post notices.775 ILCS 5/8A · 8A-104

Once a charge has been served, the employer must preserve all records and other evidence that relate to it until the matter is finally adjudicated. Outside a charge, the current rule keeps applications and personnel files for one year, half the two-year window for filing a charge.56 Ill. Adm. Code 2520 · 2520.110(a), (d)775 ILCS 5/7A · 7A-102(A)(1)

The evidence an employer needs is about outcomes and delivery

Because the discrimination test is effect, a charge about an AI tool asks what the tool did to the people it assessed. Because notice is its own violation, it also asks whether a specific employee was told, when, and how. Both questions are answered from records made at the time, which is why they belong in place before a charge arrives.

An employer that can answer them keeps an inventory of every AI system that touches a covered decision, the notice text and a record of its delivery, testing of outcomes by protected class, documentation of which inputs each model receives, and the vendor's own documentation for each tool.

Control mapping

What a reviewer expects to be able to see.

Obligation	What the system must do	Evidence a reviewer expects
Inventory	Identify every AI system whose output influences a covered decision, including AI features inside vendor tools and general-purpose assistants	Inventory with system, vendor, version, decision stage, positions, and the date use began
Notice	Tell employees that AI is used in covered decisions, and keep the notice current as tools change	Notice text, delivery records by channel and date, and the systems each notice covers
Discriminatory effect	Test whether each system's outcomes differ by protected class, and act on what the testing finds	Dated outcome testing by protected class, with the remediation record
Zip-code proxy	Show that zip codes do not stand in for a protected class in any model input or rule	Input documentation per model and records of which candidate data reached each system
Vendor documentation	Obtain what each vendor can show about its tool's design, inputs, and testing	Vendor documentation and contract terms, filed with the inventory entry
Record preservation	Keep applicant, personnel and AI-use records for at least the one-year rule period, and everything relevant once a charge is served	Retention schedule and a litigation hold procedure with its operating records

Key dates

Timeline, drawn to scale

Illinois HB 3773: the statute and its notice rules

In effect as of November 4, 2026Obligations take effect

Dates from the HB 3773 bill status, the Illinois Register of 15 May 2026 and the Department's 2 June 2026 update. Status as of November 4, 2026.

24 May 2024HB 3773 passes both houses of the Illinois General Assembly.
9 August 2024The Governor approves HB 3773 as Public Act 103-0804.
December 2025The Department of Human Rights shares a draft Subpart J with stakeholders.
1 January 2026Section 2-102(L) takes effect: the discrimination, zip-code and notice violations apply.
15 May 2026Proposed Subpart J published in the Illinois Register, opening a 45-day comment period.
2 June 2026The Department postpones the 10 June hearing and temporarily withdraws the proposed rules.

Sources cited

Common gaps

Where employers most often fall short.

Waiting for the rules before giving notice. Failing to give notice has been a violation since 1 January 2026. The postponed rules would have settled its timing and means. Until rules are adopted, the employer sets both itself, and the record of what it chose and when it delivered is the evidence.775 ILCS 5 · 2-102(L)(2)
AI inside a tool nobody classified. Resume ranking in an applicant tracking system, interview analysis, and an assistant that summarizes candidates all infer outputs that can influence a decision. If nobody decided whether a feature is in use for a covered decision, the notice and the testing never started.
Reviewing design intent and leaving effect untested. The statute asks what the AI did to people in protected classes. A vendor's statement that the model excludes protected attributes leaves that question open until outcomes are tested.
The zip code that arrives inside another field. The statute names zip codes. A model that receives a full address, a commute radius or a location history receives the zip code with it, so the input documentation has to cover every location field.
Records that expire before a charge can be filed. The current rule keeps applications for one year from the date of application, and a charge may be filed for two years after the violation. Applicant records kept only to that minimum may be gone by the time a charge asks for them.56 Ill. Adm. Code 2520 · 2520.110(a)775 ILCS 5/7A · 7A-102(A)(1)

In practice

How Meilynx evidences Illinois HB 3773 →

Last reviewed November 4, 2026. This reference summarises publicly available regulatory guidance and is provided for general information. It is not legal advice. Obligations depend on an institution's charter, registration status, size, and activities. Verify against the primary sources cited above and consult counsel before relying on any summary here.