Colorado Passes Healthy Families and Workplaces Act to Provide Workers with at Least Six Days of Paid Sick Leave Per Year
This week, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 20-205, known as the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (“HFWA”), into law, providing Colorado workers with up to six paid sick days per year.FN1 Starting January 1, 2021, employers in Colorado with at least sixteen (16) employees will be required to provide their employees one (1) hour of paid sick leave for every thirty (30) hours worked. Such employees, however, may only use up to forty-eight (48) hours of paid sick leave per year, unless their employer increases the limit.FN2
Under the HFWA, employees using paid sick leave are required to be compensated at the same hourly rate or salary and with the same benefits that the employee normally earns for hours worked.FN3 Paid sick leave may be used if the employee:
Has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition that prevents the employee from working;
Needs to obtain medical care, treatment, or preventative care;
Needs to care for a family member who has a mental or physical illness, injury or health condition; or
Is a victim of domestic abuse or sexual assault and needs to seek medical attention, counselling services, relocation, or legal services.FN4
In the event a public health emergency is declared, such as COVID-19, employers are required to provide full time employees an additional eighty (80) hours of paid sick leave.FN5
Employers are required to provide written notice to their employees of their entitlement to paid sick leave and are also required to display a poster in a “conspicuous and accessible” location in the workplace describing the same. Employers who willfully violate the notice requirement may be fined up to $100.00 per violation.FN6
Employers are required keep employee health or safety information confidential and are prohibited from retaliating or discriminating against a current or former employee because of the employee’s exercise and use of paid sick leave; this prohibition makes it unlawful for an employer to count an employee’s paid sick leave as an absence that may lead to or result in discipline, discharge, demotion or suspension.FN7
Takeaway
In light of the newly passed Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, employers in Colorado with at least 16 employees are encouraged to update their paid sick leave policies to ensure compliance with the Act by January 1, 2021. Starting January 1, 2022, the HFWA will apply to all employers in Colorado, regardless of their number of employees.FN8.
Footnotes:
FN1: SB20-205, enacting C.R.S. § 8-13.3-401, et seq., https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2020a_205_signed.pdf.
FN2: See C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(2)(a).
FN3: See C.R.S. § 8-13.3-402(8)(a).
FN4: See C.R.S. § 8-13.3-404(1).
FN5: See C.R.S. § 8-13.3-405(1).
FN6: Employers without a physical location must provide notice through electronic communication or on a conspicuous place on its web-based platform. See C.R.S. § 8-13.3-408.
FN7: See C.R.S. §§ 8-13.3-412(1), 407(2).
FN8: See C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(1)(b).