WA lawmakers advancing bill restricting employers from microchipping workers
Lawmakers are advancing HB 2303 to preemptively ban companies from requiring or pressuring employees to receive subdermal microchip implants, though no U.S. companies currently mandate the technology. Supporters argue the bill protects civil rights and prevents invasive workplace surveillance, while some critics worry it is a government overreach that prevents employers and workers from even discussing the technology.
FOX 13 Seattle — OLYMPIA, Wash. - With hundreds of bills dying with less than two weeks left before the end of this year ’s legislative session, one of the bills advancing has to do with microchipping. Lawmakers want to restrict companies from requiring or pressuring employees to have microchips implanted under their skin.
Do companies require employees to get microchipped?
Dig deeper: It’s not a real-life problem right now in the US. There are no known cases of companies requiring or forcing workers to be microchipped.
The measure is intended as a pre-emptive step just in case. The main sponsor of HB 2303 is Rep. Brianna Thomas, who represents areas like West Seattle.
The proposal has drawn little testimony or debate among lawmakers this session. But the bill has already passed the House, which kicked the issue to the Senate side.
What we know: This week, the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee voted to advance the measure to the next step after laughing about it briefly before passing it.
From looking at the way lawmakers are voting so far, there is some bipartisan fear over human microchipping. But one lawmaker who voted against the measure during an earlier House committee hearing said he was concerned over government overreach. Rep. Joel McEntire said he was initially supportive of the measure but, after some thought, realized it was too restrictive to tell a company and a worker that they could not even talk about an issue.
"They can’t even ask and that’s how I understand the bill as its written. I thought to myself, ‘Then what right do I have, even as a lawmaker, to come into the workplace and say that this novel technology cannot be even discussed or requested by the employer to the employee?’" Rep. McEntire said.
Supporters argue the legislation would ensure employers are never able to surveil or track workers through subdermal chips. The bill only regulates employers and does not weigh in what people do outside of work. There are also exceptions made for microchips used for medical purposes.
What they're saying: In a statement, Thomas said: "There are reports of voluntary microchipping. It would be extraordinarily difficult — if not impossible — to mitigate the civil rights and workers’ rights issues that would come if and when companies start requiring these.
"Because of the power dynamic, true employee consent for these programs is impossible. We don't want to have to try to clean up an impossible mess after it’s too late. So we are getting ahead of the problem."