Many AI systems used in performance reviews or promotion decisions fall into the EU AI Act’s high-risk category, bringing specific requirements for providers and employers that deploy them.
The EU AI Act treats many employment systems as high-risk because they can affect people's careers, livelihoods, and rights.
That includes AI systems used for:
These systems fall under the Act's high-risk framework. That means they can be used if the applicable requirements are met; the classification itself is not a ban.
There’s a narrow exception in Article 6 for some Annex III systems that don’t pose a significant risk and don’t materially influence a decision. For example, the exception can cover certain narrow procedural or preparatory tasks.
But there’s an important limit: a system that profiles natural persons is always considered high-risk under Annex III. A provider relying on the exception also has to document that assessment before placing the system on the market or putting it into service.
The Act separately prohibits certain AI practices outright.
One especially relevant to employers is using AI to infer a person's emotions in the workplace, except for narrow medical or safety reasons.
That’s different from using AI to evaluate work output or support an employment decision. A system doesn’t become an emotion-recognition system simply because its output may influence a performance review or promotion.
For employers, these are two separate questions:
The Act divides responsibilities between the company providing the high-risk AI system and the organization deploying it.
High-risk AI providers are responsible for requirements, including:
Organizations using high-risk AI have their own obligations under Article 26, including:
Employers also have workplace-specific duties. Before using a high-risk AI system at work, they must inform affected workers and workers' representatives. Some deployers must also inform individuals when an Annex III system makes or assists with decisions about them.
The timeline changed in 2026.
Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, the Digital Omnibus on AI, moved the application date for high-risk systems classified under Article 6(2) and Annex III to December 2, 2027. That category includes the employment systems discussed here.
That gives buyers and vendors more implementation time, but it doesn't make readiness irrelevant.
A vendor doesn’t necessarily need to have completed every future requirement today. What matters now is whether it can explain how it plans to meet them.
If you're evaluating AI that may affect employee monitoring, performance, promotion, or termination, ask:
Specific answers are more useful than a generic claim that a product is “EU AI Act compliant.”
No. Many AI systems used to monitor or evaluate workers or support promotion and termination decisions are classified as high-risk rather than prohibited. Their use comes with specific compliance requirements.
Generally, yes. The Act prohibits AI used to infer emotions in the workplace, subject to narrow exceptions for medical or safety reasons.
Yes. Deployers have duties around human oversight, monitoring, logs, and proper use of the system. Employers also have specific notification duties for workers and workers' representatives.
Larridin helps organizations measure AI adoption, proficiency, spend, and business impact without using individual employee rankings as the measure of success.