Use of Ai in the company with an obligation of transparency

Companies that employ artificial intelligence systems in staff management processes must clearly and comprehensively inform employees and trade union representatives about how the algorithms work. This is the main effect of Article 11 of the law 132/2025, in force since 10 October, which introduced for the first time in Italian labour law an organic framework on the use of AI.

Article 11, consisting of three paragraphs, defines the general rules of the new balance between innovation and the protection of rights. The first paragraph affirms the aim of promoting a use of artificial intelligence that improves working conditions, protects the health and dignity of the individual and promotes quality and productivity, in compliance with European law. The second paragraph introduces the principle of transparency and security: the use of the systems must be reliable, traceable and respectful of the confidentiality of the data and may not involve forms ofclandestine surveillance or decisions detrimental to the dignity of the worker. Finally, the third paragraph establishes the principle of non-discrimination, requiring that artificial intelligence does not lead to differentiated treatment on the basis of gender, age, ethnic origin, opinions or other personal conditions, and that the employer verifies its impact with human controls and guarantees.

The three paragraphs of Article 11 do not merely define abstract principles, but expressly refer, for the operational part, to Article 1-bis of Legislative Decree 152/1997, introduced by Legislative Decree 104/2022 - the so-called Transparency Decree. It is here that the new information obligations for employers or principals using automated decision-making or monitoring systems are regulated in detail. The decree stipulates that, in all cases in which the AID affects the hiring, management or termination of the relationship, the assignment of tasks or the evaluation of performance, the employer must provide workers with a prior and complete written notice.

This disclosure must describe the aspects of the relationship on which the algorithm intervenes, the logic and purpose of the processing, the categories of data and productivity metrics used, the human control measures and the parties responsible for the quality of the systems, as well as indicating the level of accuracy and potential discriminatory risks.

Any significant change must be communicated at least 24 hours in advance, and the information must also be forwarded to the company trade union representatives or, in their absence, to the most representative territorial trade union representatives.