Healthy Family and Workplaces Act: employer obligations today and tomorrow

The Colorado General Assembly has passed sweeping legislation to combat COVID-19's detrimental impact on the state’s workforce, including by sending the Healthy Family and Workplaces Act (HFWA) to Governor Jared Polis for his signature. The Act is now law, and Colorado employers are already seeking answers about what their obligations are now, as well as what they will be in the future.

Background

Last month, we generally described the parameters of the HFWA. (For more, see “Colorado Legislature passes paid sick leave, other bills affecting employers” in our August issue.) The law has already caused some confusion over what obligations employers face currently, what obligations they will face in the future, and how their obligations under state law dovetail with preexisting federal requirements under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) as well as their own paid sick leave policies.

In short, for today, the HFWA expands the FFCRA's emergency paid sick leave provisions to all employers and employees in Colorado. For tomorrow, the HFWA imposes mandatory paid sick leave accruals for all employers (except for certain small businesses with fewer than 16 employees) to take effect beginning in 2021, with coverage extending to all employers beginning in 2022.

Obligations today