All Colorado Employers Face Paid Sick Leave Obligations for 2022

By Corey Bartkus

On January 1, 2022, all Colorado employers—regardless of size—became subject to traditional paid sick leave requirements under the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (“HFWA”).[1] This requirement differs from the 2021 version of the Act, which required only employers with 16 or more employees to provide paid sick leave.[2]

Employers must provide paid sick leave to their employees at an accrual of one hour of paid sick leave per each 30 hours worked, up to a maximum of 48 hours.[3] Sick leave begins accruing immediately at the start of the employee’s employment and they may use their sick leave as it accrues.[4] Employers may choose to loan paid sick leave to an employee in advance of its accrual.[5] Accrued sick leave may be carried forward and used in a subsequent year, although employers are not required to allow employees to use more than 48 hours of paid sick leave in a year.[6] The Act does not require employers to provide financial reimbursement of unused paid sick leave to an employee upon termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from employment.[7]

Employers with a more generous PTO, vacation, or sick leave policy—meaning one that provides at least 48 hours of sick leave—do not need to provide additional leave, but the paid sick leave accrual must be as generous as that required in the Act and must be available immediately.[8]

In addition to the new paid sick leave requirements, employers in Colorado have been obligated to provide Public Health Emergency (“PHE”) leave since January 1, 2021—a rule that continues into 2022.[9] PHE leave must be provided, and employees must be allowed to use their PHE leave, until four weeks after the official termination or suspension of a public health emergency—in this case, the COVID-19 pandemic.[10] Full-time employees must be provided at least 80 hours of total PHE leave, while part-time employees must be provided the greater of (1) the amount of time the employee is scheduled to work in a 14-day period, or (2) the amount of time the employee actually works on average in a 14-day period.[11]

Employers may count an employee’s unused accrued paid sick leave toward the supplemental PHE leave to reach the 80-hour threshold.[12] PHE leave is a one-time leave obligation, meaning that if an employee used all of their supplemental PHE leave in 2021, and contract COVID-19 again in 2022, they must rely only on their accrued paid sick leave or take unpaid leave.[13]

The Takeaway:

All Colorado employers will be affected by the HFWA’s new paid sick leave rules. To ensure that your business stays compliant in this ever-changing legal landscape, give the attorneys at Campbell Litigation P.C. a call at (303) 536-1833.

[1] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(1)(c).

[2] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(1)(b).

[3] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(2)(a).

[4] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(3)(a).

[5] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(6).

[6] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(3)(b).

[7] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(5)(a).

[8] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403(4)(a)-(b).

[9] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-405(1)(a)-(b).

[10] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-405(2)(b).

[11] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-405(1)(a)(b).

[12] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-405(2)(a).

[13] C.R.S. § 8-13.3-405(4)(c).