Algorithms on the job: data-driven wages and discrimination drivers

This article was originally published on HR Magazine on May 17th 2023.

As with all things to do with AI, algorithmic or ‘algorithmically personalised’ wages is a hot topic.

Developments in AI and tracking have enabled employers to manage their workers through algorithms based upon data collected from those very same workers, and this practice has extended to automatically determine workers’ wages.

In the context of ride-share drivers, for example, datasets collected from drivers while using the app (such as historic routes, times, fares, bonuses, etc) are analysed by the company’s machine learning technologies to automate drivers’ ride allocations and the payments associated with those allocation.

Recently in the US, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and other federal enforcement agencies announced their joint effort to monitor and “protect the public from bias in automated systems”, which I expect to be a new source of wage-focused litigation.

As such, algorithm-driven workplace technologies need to be continuously evaluated for legal and regulatory compliance.

Read the article in full here to find out how employers can remain compliant.