EU AI Act (and Its Impact on HR)

The EU AI Act is the European Union's regulation governing the development and use of artificial intelligence, in force since 1 August 2024 and applying in phases. It classifies most HR uses, including recruitment, screening, promotion, termination, task allocation, and performance monitoring, as high-risk, which triggers obligations for both the vendor that builds the system and the employer that deploys it.

For HR, the practical impact is a division of labor. All HCM vendors, as providers, must deliver risk management, data governance, technical documentation, logging, and human-oversight design. The employer, as deployer, must use the system as intended, ensure trained human oversight, keep logs, and inform employees and their representatives before the system is used on them.