Recently Colorado has passed a number of new employment laws. Below you will find a summary of these new laws and an additional resource by Fisher Phillips is linked below to provider greater details and best practices regarding these changes.
POWR Act – Protecting Opportunities and Workers Rights Act
- Martial status is now a protected class
- Nondisclosure agreements – NDA’s are generally considered void unless specific requirements are satisfied
- Record-keeping requirements – new record-keeping requirements on employers
- Workplace Harassment – POWR Act removes the “severe and pervasive” requirement for it to be considered harassment
- Disability discrimination – An employer need not accommodate an individual with a disability if there is “no reasonable accommodation that would allow the individual to satisfy the essential functions of the job”
Colorado Expands Paid Sick Leave Requirements for Employers
Current reasons employees can use paid sick leave:
- The employee has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; needs a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment related to such illness, injury, or condition; or needs to obtain preventive medical care;
- The employee needs to care for a family member who has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; needs a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment related to such illness, injury, or condition; or needs to obtain preventive medical care;
- The employee or family member has been the victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment and needs to be absent from work for purposes related to such crime; or
- A public official has ordered the closure of the school or place of care of the employee’s child or of the employee’s place of business due to a public health emergency, necessitating the employee’s absence from work.
New (additional) Reasons Employees Can Use Paid Sick Leave:
- To grieve, attend funeral services or a memorial, or deal with financial and legal matters arising after the death of a family member.
- To care for a family member whose school/daycare is closed due to inclement weather, loss of power, loss of heating, loss of water, or other unexpected event.
- To evacuate their residence due to inclement weather, loss of power, loss of heating, loss of water, or other unexpected event.
New Equal Pay for Equal Work Act Obligations
Employers will now have to post wage and benefit information for all covered promotional opportunities and job openings (including remote jobs that can be performed anywhere), unless the work is specifically tied to a non-Colorado worksite
- the range of the hourly and salary compensation;
- a general description of the benefits and other compensation available; and
- the date the application window is expected to close.
Definitions under the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act:
- A “vacancy” is “an open position, whether as a result of a newly created position or a vacated position.”
- Job opportunities do not include “career development” or “career progression.”
- “Career development” is defined as a “change to an employee’s terms of compensation, benefits, full-time or part-time status, duties, or access to further advancement in order to update the employee’s job title or compensate the employee to reflect work performed or contributions already made by the employee.”
- A “career progression” means “a regular or automatic movement from one position to another based on time in a specific role or other objective metrics.”
To read more on the recent Colorado Workplace Laws that have been updated, read Fisher Philips The 10 Things Colorado Employers Should Do After Lawmakers Pass Batch of New Workplace Laws
