By Mack Wilding
Montana is the latest state to create employee protections to prevent forced human microchip implantation by enacting S.B. 286. Effective on October 1, 2019, Montana employers must obtain written permission before implanting a microchip in an employee. Under this new law, a microchip must be removed upon an employee’s request and cease transmitting data when the employee leaves the job. This may seem like an idea straight out of a dystopian science fiction novel, but Montana actually joins a small number of states to proactively address this issue including California (Cal. Civ. Code § 52.7), Maryland (Md. Code Ann. § 20-1902), Missouri (Mo. Rev. Stat. § 285.035), North Dakota (N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-15-06), Oklahoma (Okla. Stat. tit. 63, § 1-1430), and Wisconsin (Wis. Stat. § 146.25). Pending bills in Iowa and New Jersey would ban the forced microchipping of workers and another in Tennessee would ban mandatory microchipping for anyone.
While the trend has not gotten much traction in the United States, the idea is apparently more well received in Europe where people are using implanted microchips to store emergency contact information, pay for train rides and store their gym membership. This may be a view of things to come in Colorado workplaces, which are increasingly dominated by tech-savvy young professionals. If you have questions about involuntary microchip implantation, or other more down-to-earth employment law questions, please contact Fortis Law Partners employment law group.
