AI Hiring and HR Governance Kit

Put working governance around the AI in your hiring: a policy you adopt, notices candidates get before a tool runs, vendors held to their audit results, and the four-fifths check run on your own numbers.

Seven pieces that put governance around every tool

A policy you adopt, notices you paste in, a letter that holds vendors to account, a memo that documents the math, and a tracker that keeps the whole record. Built to be used together.

• Start Here. What each piece does, the order to use them, and the rules the kit tracks in plain language. One page, read it first.
• AI in Hiring Use Policy. A twelve-section internal policy you adapt and adopt: scope and definitions, principles, the tool inventory, human oversight, bias and adverse-impact testing, candidate notice, records, vendor management, roles, prohibited uses, and the review schedule. A plain definitions table settles what counts as a covered tool.
• AI Candidate Notice. Five copy-ready notices, Options A to E: a one-line statement, wording that names what the tool assesses and offers an alternative, a human-review version, the video-interview notice and consent, and the advance notice with the 10-business-day lead time. Each carries accommodation contact language.
• Vendor Bias-Audit Request. A ready-to-send letter asking each vendor for its most recent bias-audit results, methodology, data categories, selection rates and impact ratios, known limitations, and how it supports notice and accommodation, with a response grid for the vendor to complete and a reply-by date.
• Adverse-Impact Review Memo. An internal memo that documents a four-fifths review of a tool or hiring round: the selection-rate table, the findings, the action taken, and a sign-off line. A flagged result is framed as a screen for a closer look, not a verdict.
• Governance Tracker. Six tabs: a Start Here, the AI tool inventory, the bias-audit tracker with the next-audit date calculated, the adverse impact log that runs the four-fifths math, the candidate notice log with the business-day count, and a governance log for approvals and reviews. Opens on a worked example. Works in Excel or Google Sheets.
• Governance Assessment. Check your hiring against the bias-audit, notice, and human-oversight rules in any browser, and see which obligations each of your locations triggers. Its result is a self-assessment, not a compliance determination.

The method in the order governance runs

Scope first, policy second, then the checks and the record. The kit structures and documents; counsel makes the close calls.

• Confirm what you use and where. List every tool that screens, scores, ranks, or assesses candidates, and check which places apply: New York City, Illinois, California, Colorado, the EU, plus federal law everywhere. The Start Here and the assessment walk through it.
• Inventory the tools, adopt the policy. One row per tool in the tracker, an owner named for each, and the use policy adapted and adopted, setting the oversight, notice, and recordkeeping rules your team follows.
• Run the checks. Run the four-fifths check on your own selection data, send each vendor the bias-audit request, and give candidates the right notice before a tool is used.
• Log it and review on a schedule. Record audits, notices, approvals, and decisions in the tracker. Review at least yearly and whenever a law changes or a tool is added, and take the edge cases to counsel.

Who it is built for

Built for

• An HR team running resume rankers, automated scoring, chatbot screeners, or AI video analysis, with no governance structure around them yet.
• A company hiring into New York City, Illinois, California, or Colorado, or employing in the EU, that needs the notice, audit, and oversight rules handled in one place.
• A team that has to answer a board, customer, or counsel question about how its AI hiring is governed, and needs the policy and the paper trail to show for it.

If you are looking for

• One AI policy for all of HR, not a hiring governance system. The AI in HR Policy and Risk Checklist covers AI use across the function.
• EU AI Act readiness on its own. The EU HR AI Risk Checklist maps the Act’s employment obligations and timelines.

Before you buy

What format are the files and can I edit them?

One Excel tracker, four editable Word documents, a Start Here PDF, and a web assessment that opens in any browser. The tracker works in Excel or Google Sheets, everything is editable, and the files are yours to keep.

Which rules does the kit track?

There is no single law for AI in hiring, so the kit tracks the common requirements: New York City Local Law 144, the Illinois Human Rights Act and AI Video Interview Act, California’s FEHA automated-decision rules, Colorado’s SB 26-189, federal Title VII, the ADA, and the ADEA with the four-fifths screen, and the EU AI Act. Each file names its sources and shows its review date.

What counts as an AI or automated tool here?

The policy uses a plain definition: a machine-based system that infers from its input to produce a score, ranking, recommendation, or decision used in hiring. Resume rankers, automated scoring, matching algorithms, chatbot screeners, and AI analysis of video interviews usually qualify. A plain keyword filter or an applicant database that only stores records usually does not. The close calls go to counsel.

What is the four-fifths rule?

Divide each group’s selection rate by the rate of the group selected most often. A result below 0.80 flags a potential adverse impact that needs a closer look. It is a screen, not a verdict, and a flagged result is not proof of discrimination on its own. The tracker runs the math and the memo documents the review.

We only use one resume-screening tool. Do we still need this?

The obligations attach to the tool, not the count. One screening tool used in New York City still needs the independent bias audit, the posted summary, and the advance notice; one video-analysis tool in Illinois still needs notice, an explanation, and consent. The kit is the same amount of structure whether you govern one tool or ten.

Does it cover the New York City notice timing?

Yes. Notice Option E gives the advance-notice wording, and the tracker’s candidate notice log counts the business days between notice and use and checks the result against the 10-business-day minimum. The count excludes weekends but not public holidays, so the log tells you to treat a result at exactly 10 as marginal and add lead time when a holiday falls in the window.

Colorado and the EU rules are not in force yet. Why set up now?

Colorado’s SB 26-189 takes effect January 1, 2027, and the EU AI Act’s high-risk hiring obligations were deferred to December 2, 2027 by Digital Omnibus amendments formally adopted in June 2026 that take effect on publication in the Official Journal. Both expect an inventory, oversight, notice, and records, which take months to stand up. The kit builds that structure now, and each file shows its review date so you can see how current it is as the rules move.

What is the refund policy?

Digital products are covered by a 14-day money-back guarantee. See the refund policy for the full terms.

What happens after I buy?

Checkout delivers an instant download link, and a receipt with the same link arrives by email. Open the Start Here page first; it tells you the order to work in. Questions or want a hand getting set up? Email support@truestephr.com.

How the download works

Your files arrive as a single ZIP download, best opened on a computer: save it, extract it (right-click and Extract All on Windows, double-click on a Mac), and open the Start Here file first. PDFs open in any reader, and the editable files work in Microsoft Word and Excel or their free equivalents, including LibreOffice and Google Docs and Sheets. No other software is needed. Step-by-step help for every device is at truestephr.com/pages/download-help.

Scope

This kit is a set of working tools and editable templates for running an HR process in a clear, consistent, and defensible way. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for qualified counsel on your specific situation. The rules in this area vary by jurisdiction, they change, and applying a template to the wrong facts can create the exact exposure you are trying to avoid. Have your policies, your notices, and any individual decision reviewed against applicable law before you act on them.