Employees need clear guidance on use of AI in the workplace

Travel Weekly has teamed up with leading industry employment lawyer Ami Naru for a regular column offering answers to readers’ legal questions on employment/HR matters. Ami covers the latest employment issues facing the industry and responds to questions and dilemmas posed by you. In this column, she answers a question about integrating AI tools.

Q. 

We are a small travel company of about 20 employees. We have started to notice AI tools being used across the industry and by our staff. We’re looking at ways in which we can keep up to date and take advantage by adopting some of these tools in a secure and safe way. I know this is a fast-developing area, so is there anything we should be considering for our employees from both a practical and legal point of view? 

A.

This is a really common question we are being asked at the moment. The rise of generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) tools across all businesses is transforming the ways individuals are working. 

You need to be open and honest with your employees about when and how AI tools can be used in the workplace. If you haven’t already done so, a crucial starting point would be to introduce an AI policy and share it with your employees. It should then be kept in an easily accessible location for future reference, for example as part of a staff handbook. 

In this policy you should address specific issues to ensure employees are using AI safely and lawfully. Your policy should clearly explain why you are introducing AI tools, what types of AI tools are being considered and who is authorised to use them. 

As you will already know, there are many uses of AI and you need to be clear on what AI can and can’t be used for within the business. Make sure you are clear on restrictions and identify the potential consequences of any unauthorised use. This will help reduce any potential legal risks and create a manageable environment.

Equally, trust goes both ways, so if you are considering using AI tools for performance management purposes, inform your employees of this and ensure you are carefully considering how you plan to use any AI tools and why AI use is needed. If you are planning to use it for data sets, make sure you are considering GDPR. Employees have a right to know why their data is being collected and how it is being collected, so transparency is key. 

You also won’t be surprised to hear that as AI becomes more advanced, this is inevitably creating a fear culture and you will need to think about how introducing AI within your business may create uncertainty or fears around job security. Being candid with your employees about its uses and potential benefits for the business and its staff, such as workload management and admin assistance, will significantly help, reassuring them that AI is here to assist their jobs, not replace them. 

It also goes without saying that while we all want to keep up with the latest technical developments, you need to make sure there is a level of human oversight incorporated into any AI use. AI can be useful for a magnitude of reasons, but if used without human oversight, there is potential for things to go seriously wrong. 

In summary, embrace the use of AI to assist and not replace employees, but ensure you provide clear guidance to your staff on AI use in the workplace.