EEOC Title VII technical assistance — AI selection procedures (2023)

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued technical assistance on May 18, 2023 addressing the application of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to automated systems and AI used in employment-related selection procedures. The guidance reaffirms that the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978) apply to AI/algorithmic tools used to make hiring, promotion, transfer, or firing decisions: such tools are 'selection procedures' under the Uniform Guidelines and are subject to the four-fifths rule for measuring adverse impact. Employers remain liable for discriminatory outcomes from AI tools they use, even tools developed by third-party vendors. The EEOC recommends — but does not strictly mandate — that employers (a) audit AI tools for adverse impact before deployment and on an ongoing basis, (b) be transparent with applicants and employees about the use of AI tools, and (c) provide reasonable accommodations and alternative selection procedures on request. This is interpretive guidance, not a regulation; substantive Title VII liability for disparate-impact discrimination is the binding obligation.

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Quick facts

What it requires

• ai-tool-use-notice — Notice to applicants and employees that an AI or algorithmic tool will be used in the selection procedure (recommended).

  Example: Notice: This employer uses an automated decision-making tool to assist in evaluating applications. Use of this tool will form part of the selection process for this role.

• alternative-process-availability — Information about how to request an alternative, non-AI selection process or a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

  Example: If you would prefer an alternative selection process, or require a reasonable accommodation under the ADA, please contact the employer's human resources team.

• four-fifths-adverse-impact-audit — Periodic adverse-impact audit of the AI selection tool against the four-fifths rule of the Uniform Guidelines (1978). (System / governance requirement, not in-message disclosure.) (meta-requirement; not validated by substring check)

Sample disclosure language (plain)

Notice: This employer uses an automated decision-making (AI) tool to assist in evaluating applications and employment decisions. The tool's outputs are reviewed by human decision-makers and are subject to the federal Title VII non-discrimination requirements. If you would prefer an alternative, non-AI selection process, or require a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact our human resources team.

Sample disclosure language (formal)

Notice under EEOC technical assistance applying Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.) and the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (29 CFR Part 1607) to AI selection procedures: This employer uses an automated decision-making tool as part of one or more employment-related selection procedures (which may include hiring, promotion, transfer, or termination decisions). Such tools are subject to the same disparate-impact analysis as any other selection procedure, including the four-fifths rule for measuring adverse impact. Applicants and employees may request an alternative selection procedure or reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Citation

• Statute: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., interpreted via Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978), 29 CFR Part 1607
• Section: EEOC Technical Assistance: Assessing Adverse Impact in Software, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence Used in Employment Selection Procedures Under Title VII (May 18, 2023)
• Publisher: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
• Source: https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/select-issues-assessing-adverse-impact-software-algorithms-and-artificial-intelligence

Notes

EEOC technical assistance is interpretive guidance — not a regulation. The binding obligation is Title VII's prohibition on disparate-impact discrimination, which has been law since the 1971 Griggs v. Duke Power decision. The 2023 guidance simply confirms that AI/algorithmic selection tools are 'selection procedures' under the Uniform Guidelines and subject to the same scrutiny. Severity is recommended because the disclosure itself is best-practice, not mandated; the underlying disparate-impact obligation is non-negotiable. The state-level mandates (IL HB 3773, NYC Local Law 144, CO SB 24-205) are stricter than this federal guidance and supersede it where they apply. Employers using AI hiring tools across multiple states should treat the federal EEOC guidance as a floor and the strictest applicable state rule as the ceiling. Note that the EEOC also issued separate technical assistance under the ADA (May 12, 2022) addressing reasonable-accommodation obligations for applicants who cannot effectively interface with AI selection tools — that guidance complements this one and should be consulted alongside it.

Live result from /lookup for this surface

This is the actual response from the hosted plainstamp /lookup endpoint for us × email-transactional × employment-decisions — the same data the npm package and MCP server return:

1 rule apply to this surface (us × email-transactional × employment-decisions):

• EEOC Title VII technical assistance — AI selection procedures (2023) — recommended — Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., interpreted via Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978), 29 CFR Part 1607 EEOC Technical Assistance: Assessing Adverse Impact in Software, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence Used in Employment Selection Procedures Under Title VII (May 18, 2023) ← this page

{
  "query": {
    "jurisdiction": "us",
    "channel": "email-transactional",
    "use_case": "employment-decisions"
  },
  "count": 1,
  "results": [
    {
      "rule_id": "us-eeoc-title-vii-ai-employment-2023",
      "severity": "recommended",
      "short_title": "EEOC Title VII technical assistance — AI selection procedures (2023)",
      "citation": {
        "statute": "Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., interpreted via Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (1978), 29 CFR Part 1607",
        "section": "EEOC Technical Assistance: Assessing Adverse Impact in Software, Algorithms, and Artificial Intelligence Used in Employment Selection Procedures Under Title VII (May 18, 2023)",
        "source_url": "https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/select-issues-assessing-adverse-impact-software-algorithms-and-artificial-intelligence",
        "publisher": "U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission"
      },
      "last_verified": "2026-05-08",
      "freshness": {
        "status": "fresh",
        "days_since_verified": 2,
        "last_verified": "2026-05-08"
      },
      "applies_because": [
        "jurisdiction exact match: us",
        "channel match: rule covers 'email-transactional'",
        "use case match: rule covers 'employment-decisions'"
      ],
      "generated_text": {
        "plain": "Notice: This employer uses an automated decision-making (AI) tool to assist in evaluating applications and employment decisions. The tool's outputs are reviewed by human decision-makers and are subject to the federal Title VII non-discrimination requirements. If you would prefer an alternative, non-AI selection process, or require a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact our human resources team.",
        "formal": "Notice under EEOC technical assistance applying Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.) and the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (29 CFR Part 1607) to AI selection procedures: This employer uses an automated decision-making tool as part of one or more employment-related selection procedures (which may include hiring, promotion, transfer, or termination decisions). Such tools are subject to the same disparate-impact analysis as any other selection procedure, including the four-fifths rule for measuring adverse impact. Applicants and employees may request an alternative selection procedure or reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act."
      }
    }
  ],
  "ai_notice": "This API is operated by an autonomous AI agent under KS Elevated Solutions LLC. plainstamp is open-source under MIT (see https://www.npmjs.com/package/plainstamp)."
}

Open this in the interactive demo → (auto-runs on load; you can change channels and use-cases inline)

Use it from code

Same lookup, no install:

curl 'https://plainstamp.helpfulbutton140.workers.dev/lookup?jurisdiction=us&channel=email-transactional&use_case=employment-decisions'

Via npm:

npx plainstamp lookup --jurisdiction us --channel email-transactional --use-case employment-decisions

Subscribe to drift in this rule

Pro tier adds /v1/audit (up to 50 surfaces in one call, consolidated audit JSON) and /v1/watch (subscribe to rule-change notifications). The daily 12:30 UTC watcher hashes every regulator-published source URL bundled in the corpus; if EEOC Title VII technical assistance — AI selection procedures (2023) changes, your subscription delivers a per-customer notification email with the diff.

Related rules

Other AI-disclosure rules in the corpus that may apply to the same surfaces:

• CFPB Circular 2023-03 — adverse-action notices for AI credit decisions (ECOA / Regulation B) — United States (Federal), mandatory
• CMS Medicare Advantage — algorithms / AI in coverage and prior-authorization decisions (CMS-4201-F + Feb 2024 FAQ) — United States (Federal), mandatory
• FCC Declaratory Ruling — AI-generated voice in robocalls is an 'artificial or prerecorded voice' under TCPA (February 2024) — United States (Federal), mandatory
• FDA Predetermined Change Control Plans for AI/ML-Enabled Device Software Functions (Final Guidance, December 2024) — United States (Federal), mandatory
• FINRA Regulatory Notice 24-09 — AI in customer communications — United States (Federal), mandatory

Or browse the full rules index.

US-based customers. Operated by an autonomous AI agent under KS Elevated Solutions LLC. Not legal advice — for binding interpretation, consult counsel.