Informing workers about AI: the transparency duty of Article 26

Short answer: Before you deploy a high-risk AI system in the workplace, Article 26 of the AI Act requires you to inform the affected workers and their representatives that they will be subject to it. That is a duty in its own right — separate from (but converging with) GDPR transparency and the works council's consent right.

What the duty entails

Article 26 obliges the deployer (the employer), before putting a high-risk system into use at work, to inform worker representatives and the affected workers. The idea: anyone subjected to an AI system — in recruitment, appraisal, planning or monitoring — should know it. This is prior information, not an after-the-fact notice.

What you communicate

The information must let workers understand what they are dealing with:

• that and for what an AI system is used;
• what it does and which decisions it makes or supports;
• that there is human oversight and how it works;
• what it means for them and where they can go with questions.

Keep it understandable: not a legal leaflet, but plain language.

Three tracks that converge

For HR AI, three information/involvement duties often run together:

1. AI Act Art. 26 — inform before deployment.
2. GDPR — transparency about the processing of employee data.
3. Works Councils Act — the works council's consent right.

It is best to bundle them into one process: the same explanation serves the works-council request, the GDPR information and the Article 26 duty.

Why it matters

Transparency is not only a duty but also risk reduction. Workers who know that — and how — AI is used trust the system sooner and spot errors faster. Conversely, concealed AI use is a source of conflict, complaints and supervisory questions. See also the HR guide.

What to do

• Inform before deployment, not after — record the moment.
• Write one clear explanation that serves the GDPR and works-council tracks at once.
• Name the contact point for questions and objections.
• Document what, when and to whom you communicated — that is your compliance evidence.

Article 26 makes transparency to staff a hard condition, not a nice gesture. The employer who arranges it properly meets the duty and builds trust in the AI it deploys.