Overview
- Connecticut enacted SB 5 when Governor Ned Lamont signed the bill on Friday, May 27, 2026, and the law creates staggered compliance dates for employers to meet.
- Starting October 1, 2026, employers who must file WARN-type notices must tell the Connecticut Department of Labor whether a mass layoff or plant closing was related to AI or other technological change.
- Beginning October 1, 2027, employers must give plain-language notice when applicants or employees interact with automated employment-related decision technology and must provide written disclosures before any decision materially influenced by such tools.
- The Connecticut attorney general has exclusive authority to enforce the notice rules and will offer a notice-and-cure window from October 1, 2026, through December 31, 2027, while employees keep private rights to sue for discrimination and the law bars using AI as a categorical defense.
- Companies should audit AI systems, review vendor contracts and transfer disclosure duties by contract if desired, note trade-secret carveouts where information is withheld, and prepare governance and training to reduce regulatory and litigation risk.