What is the Minimum Wage in Colorado?
Effective January 1, 2024, the minimum wage rate in Colorado is $14.42 per hour. The minimum wage rate for tipped employees is $11.40 per hour.
The City of Denver has its own minimum wage, which is $18.29 per hour as of January 1, 2024. The minimum hourly wage for tipped employees in Denver is $15.27.
Are Colorado Employers Required to Provide Paid Sick Leave?
The Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act requires employers to provide employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours per year. Once an employee accrues paid sick leave it can be used for a variety of health, safety, and other qualifying reasons.
Does Colorado Have Paid Family and Medical Leave?
Colorado has adopted a paid family and medical leave insurance program, which is funded through employer and employee contributions that began on January 1, 2023. Starting January 1, 2024, eligible employees will have access to paid leave benefits during certain qualifying events.
Do Colorado Employees Have the Right to View Their Personnel Files?
Employees in the private sector have the right to inspect and obtain a copy of their personnel file at least once per year. Former employees have the right to inspect their personnel file once after termination of employment.
Are Noncompete Agreements Enforceable in Colorado?
Noncompete agreements are enforceable in Colorado, subject to certain restrictions. Colorado, along with an increasing number of other states, has enacted laws significantly limiting the conditions under which employers can enforce noncompete and other restrictive covenant agreements.
Noncompete agreements entered into before August 10, 2022 are not enforceable in Colorado unless they are for:
- The sale of a business;
- The protection of trade secrets;
- To recover the expense of educating an employee working for under two years; or
- To restrict executive and management personnel.
Noncompete agreements entered into on or after August 10, 2022 are invalid in Colorado unless they are:
- Entered into with a worker earning at least the threshold for highly compensated workers, in accordance with Colorado's PAY CALC Order, which in 2024 is $123,750;
- Designed to protect trade secrets; and
- Are no broader than necessary to protect an employer's legitimate interest in protecting trade secrets.
Colorado also substantially limits an employer's ability to enforce non-solicitation of customer agreements entered into on or after August 10, 2022. Specifically, non-solicitation agreements are invalid unless they are:
- Entered into with a worker making at least 60% of the salary requirement for a highly compensated employee, in accordance with Colorado's PAY CALC Order, which in 2024 is $74,250; and
- Are no broader than necessary to protect trade secrets.
In addition to the foregoing requirements, noncompete and non-solicitation agreements entered into on or after August 10, 2022 require employers to provide advance notice of any such restrictive covenant agreement, and the notice must meet certain statutory requirements.
When Are Colorado Employees Entitled to Receive Their Final Paycheck?
Employees who quit voluntarily are entitled to receive their final paycheck at the next regularly-scheduled payday. Employees who are involuntarily terminated must generally be paid at the time of termination.