Colorado Legislature passes paid sick leave, other bills affecting employers

In an extraordinary legislative session interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic—which led to a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that lawmakers could reconvene after initially adjourning in late March 2020, despite a constitutional provision limiting regular sessions to “one hundred and twenty calendar days”—the Colorado General Assembly passed a number of important bills affecting employers. On July 15, Governor Jared Polis signed into law the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HWFA), which goes into effect for covered employers with 16 or more employees on January 1, 2021, and for all other covered employers (regardless of how many people they employ) on January 1, 2022. Read on for more details about the new law and other legislative developments.

Paid sick leave for all Colorado employees

The HFWA requires that nearly all employees working for public and private employers in Colorado must begin accruing at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours total, with the balance carrying over from year to year, subject to the limit. It permits the use of paid sick leave hours, as soon as they accrue, for numerous reasons including: