California Moves Bills Blocking Employer Mask Bans, Setting AI Restrictions

California lawmakers continue to advance worker safety-related bills, including a measure to prohibit employers from preventing workers from wearing masks or respirators if it is safe, and another to bar employers from relying on automated decision-making systems (ADS) to make a variety of employment decisions without human oversight. But the state legislature is rejecting for now a bill -- AB 1371 that would expand job-security protections for employees who refuse to perform “hazardous” tasks by providing such protection in cases...