Fair Employment Practices | All employers are subject to the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act (CADA), with the exception of religious institutions and associations that do not receive financial support from the government. The CADA forbids discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics, which include ancestry, race, color, creed or religion, handicap, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or marriage to a coworker.
Retaliation against someone who opposes, reports, or helps another person fight unlawful discrimination is forbidden under the CADA, as is harassment, which is a type of unlawful discrimination. |
Equal Pay | The Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act forbids gender-based discrimination in the payment of wages for functionally equivalent work. An employer must be able to show, in order to defend against wage discrimination allegations, that pay disparities are based on factors other than gender, such as seniority, merit, amount or quality of output, location, education, training, experience, or regular and required travel. |
Discussion of Wages | The Wage Transparency Act forbids employers from retaliating against workers who talk about their pay with others. |
Pregnancy Accommodation | Employers in Colorado must make a reasonable effort to accommodate applicants and employees with medical issues connected to pregnancy or the physical recovery from childbirth. |
Access to Personnel Files | An employee is entitled to view personnel records that are used to assess whether they are qualified for a position, a promotion, more money, discipline, or termination. |
Credit Checks | Except in some limited circumstances, Colorado's Employment Opportunity Act forbids firms with four or more employees from using consumer credit information for employment reasons. Both job applicants and employees are covered by the law's protections. |
Ban the Box | According to Colorado's "ban the box" law, the Colorado Chance to Compete Act, an employer is not allowed to advertise that a person with a criminal record is not eligible to apply for a position, state this restriction on an employment application, including an electronic application, or ask about or demand that an applicant disclose their criminal history on an initial written or electronic application form. |
Salary History Inquiry Restrictions | According to Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, companies are not allowed to ask potential employees about their pay rates or base pay decisions on their past pay histories. |
Minimum Wage | The hourly minimum wage in Colorado is $13.65. The minimum wage rate has exclusions, and there is a different minimum pay rate for employees who get tips. |
Rest Breaks | For every four hours worked, a company is required to give workers a paid 10-minute break. Breaks should be planned in the midst of the workday, if at all possible. |
Meal Breaks | According to Colorado law, shifts longer than five straight hours of work must include an uninterrupted meal break of at least 30 minutes. |
Breastfeeding Breaks | According to the Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act, an employer must allow a nursing mother to express breast milk for her nursing child for up to two years after the child's birth during reasonable paid meal and/or rest breaks. |
Child Labor | Colorado's child labour regulations include limitations on the kind of jobs that children can hold as well as the hours and days that they can work. |
Pay Frequency | At least once every month or once per 30 days, whichever is longer, employees must be paid on scheduled paydays. Paydays must happen no later than 10 days after each pay period's end. |
Health Care Continuation | All Colorado businesses, regardless of size, are required to offer their employees and their dependents the opportunity to choose continuation coverage in the case of an employee's termination, decrease in hours, death, or divorce. The typical duration of continuation coverage is up to 18 months. |
Paid Family and Medical Leave | Colorado offers a paid family and medical leave insurance (FAMLI) programme that, starting on January 1, 2024, gives eligible employees access to paid leave benefits during specific qualifying events. This programme is funded by company and employee payments. |
Paid Sick Leave | All employers are required by the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA) to offer eligible workers paid sick and safe leave. |
Other Time Off Requirements | A Colorado employer must abide by additional leave and time off laws in addition to the HFWA, including those pertaining to family care leave, crime victim leave, domestic violence leave, jury duty leave, military leave, civil Air Patrol leave, qualified volunteers leave, volunteer firefighters leave, and voting leave. |
Smoke-Free Workplace | With a few select exceptions, smoking is typically prohibited in workplaces under the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act. Additionally, smoking is not permitted within 25 feet of entrances. |
Safe Driving Practices | Both texting and using headphones in both ears while driving are forbidden in Colorado. |
Final Pay | An employee who willingly leaves their position must be paid on the following regular paycheck, while an employee who is fired typically must be paid right away. |