Illinois Postpones Proposed Regulations on AI in Employment

Quick Hits

• Illinois has postponed proposed rules on notice of AI use to make employment decisions.
• The rules would have implemented the 2024 amendments to the state’s human rights law.
• The IDHR cited the need to collaborate with other state agencies.
• The impact of the postponement on the proposed AI rules is currently unclear.

The surprise move comes just weeks after the agency, on May 15, 2026, published the proposed rules to implement the August 2024 amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA). Publication in the Illinois Register triggered a forty-five-day notice period that now appears to have been halted.

According to the announcement, “IDHR is currently reviewing matters related to the proposed rulemaking and will provide updated information regarding next steps as it becomes available. Postponement is necessary to allow for continued collaboration with other state agencies.”

A public hearing scheduled for June 10, 2026, on the proposed rules “has been temporarily postponed,” IDHR’s announcement stated.

The proposed rules are meant to implement changes to the IHRA made under Illinois House Bill (HB) 3773, Public Act 103-0804, which was enacted in August 2024 and took effect on January 1, 2026. The law prohibits the use of AI that discriminates against employees based on protected characteristics, even if the discrimination is unintentional, and requires employers to provide notice of the use of AI for “recruitment, hiring, promotion, renewal of employment, selection for training or apprenticeship, discharge, discipline, tenure, or [other] terms, privileges or conditions of employment.”

The proposed rules aim to clarify employers’ notice and recordkeeping requirements for their use of AI in employment decisions. Specifically, the proposed rules would clarify that employers must provide notice to employees and prospective employees when covered AI is used “to influence or facilitate a covered employment decision.”

Next Steps

The impact of the postponement on the proposed AI rules is currently unclear. IDHR may consider substantive changes to the rules before receiving public input. The agency cited the need to collaborate with other agencies. IDHR encouraged stakeholders to monitor its Legislative Updates webpage for further updates. In the interim, employers utilizing AI to assist or facilitate employment-related processes in Illinois may wish to remain mindful of the continued applicability of the law, even in the absence of clarifying rules.

Ogletree Deakins’ Chicago office and Technology Practice Group will continue to monitor developments and will provide updates on the Illinois, Cybersecurity and Privacy, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Compliance, Employment Law, and Technology blogs as additional information becomes available.

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