World of HR: Italy establishes nationwide AI rules for employers

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We’re back and ready to talk about your favorite topic. No, sadly we’re not discussing the disastrous Love is Blind reunion, or Lily Allen’s absolute fire new album. We’re talking about AI at work! (Cue applause and shock.)

Where in the world? Italy recently enacted a national law aimed at limiting AI use, including in the workplace. The country is reportedly the first in Europe to have such a law, known as Law No. 132/2025, putting its own boundaries on the rapidly morphing technology.

The law, which went into effect on Oct. 10, stipulates that people must monitor all AI systems, according to SHRM. The new legislation is consistent with the European Union’s AI Act of 2024, which bars employers from using AI to discriminate against prospective workers, while establishing its own rules.

Companies may use AI to “improve working conditions” or allow enhanced productivity, though they must be transparent about how the technology is used with respect to privacy, according to SHRM. Companies must also conduct impact assessments and outline how humans will oversee AI, according to a blog post from the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright.

Employers must inform job applicants and employees when AI is being used during the recruitment or evaluation processes, and ensure that AI isn’t used in ways that could lead to discrimination based on protected classes such as gender, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic status, SHRM reported.

Satellite view. Europe codified AI rules for employers earlier this year, and some measures will go into effect starting August 2026, HR Brew previously reported. However, most governments have been slow to issue restrictions on the technology.

As the world determines how to handle AI and its impacts on the workforce, some US states like Colorado and Illinois are picking up the mantle, albeit cautiously and slowly. California enacted a new law in October limiting the scope of AI in some instances, HR Brew reported previously (though weeks later Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a law that would have restricted employers’ AI use, HR Dive reported). Texas also passed new AI regulations this year, but they lack boundaries for employers beyond instructing that the technology cannot be used for discriminatory purposes.

Moving forward, President Trump wants the US to establish a more unified approach to regulating AI. “We need one common sense, federal standard that supersedes all states, supersedes everybody. So you don’t end up in litigation with 43 states at one time,” Trump said.

Stay tuned for more AI talk soon!