The Alabama House of Representatives has passed a bill to prohibit employers from requiring their employees to have a microchip implanted as a condition of employment.

The bill sponsor, Rep. Prince Chestnut, D-Selma, said he did not know of any employers in Alabama requiring microchips but said his bill would be preemptive. Eleven other states had passed similar bills, also preemptive, as of two years ago, according to the Society for Human Resources Management.

“I don’t think that has a place in labor and employment,” Chestnut said.

The ban on microchip mandates in the bill, HB4 applies to employers, state officials, insurance agents, and those in the bail bond business. A violation is a Class D felony.

The House made one change in the bill before passing it. The House Judiciary Committee had carved out an exception that would have allowed the Bureau of Pardons and Paroles to use microchips to keep track of people on probation and parole.

“The Board of Pardons and Paroles shall promulgate rules and policies governing microchipping insertion, maintenance, and timely removal,” the bill read.

Rep. Kenneth Paschal, R-Pelham, told Chestnut he supported the original bill but had concerns about that Pardons and Paroles exception. Chestnut reassured him that he was already planning to ask the House to go back to the original version. Chestnut said he had talked with Pardons and Paroles Director Cam Ward, who told him the bureau had no plans to use microchips. At Chestnut’s request, the House voted 105-0 to go back to the original bill.

Before a final vote on the bill, Republican lawmakers Ritchie Whorton of Owens Cross Roads and Ernie Yarbrough of Trinity told Chestnut they supported his bill and drew parallels to vaccine requirements by employers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whorton sponsored a bill in 2021 to oppose employer vaccine mandates. His bill and other similar proposals drew opposition from the Business Council of Alabama. Whorton asked Chestnut if the BCA opposed his bill. Chestnut said he did not know BCA’s position, but said he had to work hard to get the bill to the House floor for a vote.

The House passed it 105-0. It moves to the Senate.