Colo. Rev. Stat. § 8-5-203 (2026)

(1) The director has the power to administer, carry out, and enforce all of the provisions of this part 2 and may promulgate rules for that purpose. The director shall provide written copies of rules promulgated pursuant to this section to all employees and employers upon written request. (2) (a) A person who claims to be aggrieved by a violation of section 8-5-201 or 8-5-202 may file a written complaint with the director within one year after the date that the person learned of the violation. The written complaint must state the name and address of the employer and a detailed account of the alleged violation. (b) An employer's failure to comply with section 8-5-201 (1) for one promotional opportunity is considered one violation. (c) An employer's failure to comply with section 8-5-201 (2) for one job opening is considered one violation regardless of the number of postings that list the job opening. (3) The director shall investigate complaints of violations of this part 2 and shall promulgate rules necessary to govern the investigations. (4) Upon finding that an employer has violated this part 2, the director may order the employer to pay a fine of no less than five hundred dollars and no more than ten thousand dollars per violation. (5) If an employee bringing suit for a violation of section 8-5-102 demonstrates a violation of this part 2, and the court finds a violation of this part 2, the court may order appropriate relief, including a rebuttable presumption that records not kept by the employer in violation of section 8-5-202 contained information favorable to the employee's claim and an instruction to the jury that failure to keep records can be considered evidence that the violation was not made in good faith.

Source: L. 2019: Entire part added, (SB 19-085), ch. 247, p. 2416, § 8, effective January 1, 2021.

ARTICLE 6

Minimum Wages of Workers

Law reviews: For article, "An Overview of Federal and State Wage-Hour Laws -- Part I", which discusses the federal wage-hour laws, see 14 Colo. Law. 384 (1985).

8-6-101. Legislative declaration - minimum wage of workers - authority of a local government to enact minimum wage laws - enforcement - report - severability - definition. (1) The welfare of the state of Colorado demands that workers be protected from conditions of labor that have a pernicious effect on their health and morals, and it is therefore declared, in the exercise of the police and sovereign power of the state of Colorado, that inadequate wages and unsanitary conditions of labor exert such pernicious effect. (2) Repealed. (3) (a) (I) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a local government may enact through its governing body or, when available, through its initiative or referendum powers, a law establishing minimum wages for individuals performing, or expected to perform, four or more hours of work for an employer in any given week within the geographic boundaries of the local government's jurisdiction. Minimum wages established in accordance with this section may exceed the statewide minimum wage established in accordance with section 15 of article XVIII of the state constitution, any other minimum wage established by state law, or any minimum wage established by federal law; except that a local government that enacts a minimum wage in accordance with this subsection (3) shall provide a tip offset for employees of any business or enterprise that prepares and offers for sale food or beverages for consumption either on or off the premises equal to the tip offset provided in section 15 of article XVIII of the state constitution. The tip offset applies only to employees who regularly receive tips and only when a tip offset is permitted by state law. A local government shall not include in its minimum wage law time spent in the local government's jurisdiction by an employee solely for the purpose of traveling through the local government's jurisdiction from a point of origin outside of the local government's boundaries to a destination outside of the local government's boundaries, with no employment-related or commercial stops in the local government's jurisdiction, except for refueling or the employee's personal meals or errands. (II) All adult employees and emancipated minors, whether employed on an hourly, piecework, commission, time, task, or other basis, shall be paid not less than the minimum wage enacted by the local government through its governing body or through initiative or referendum powers. (b) A local government that enacts a minimum wage law in accordance with this subsection (3) may adopt provisions for the local enforcement of the law, including: (I) A private right of action to enforce the requirement in a court of competent jurisdiction; (II) At levels that may exceed those set by state law: (A) Fines and penalties; (B) Payment of unpaid wages or unpaid overtime based on those wages; (C) Liquidated damages; (D) Interest; (E) Costs and attorney fees payable to any affected prevailing employee; and (F) Costs and attorney fees payable to the local government or its designated enforcement departments; (III) Procedures for the local government to order any appropriate or equitable relief; and (IV) Other provisions necessary for the efficient and cost-effective enforcement of a local minimum wage law. (c) (I) Except as provided in subsection (3)(c)(II) of this section, a local minimum wage adopted by a county is only enforceable within the unincorporated portion of the county. (II) One or more contiguous counties and any municipality within each county may enter into intergovernmental agreements to establish a local minimum wage law within the unincorporated portion of each county and within each municipality. An intergovernmental agreement entered into in accordance with this subsection (3)(c) must establish the manner in which a local government minimum wage law will be enforced and administered. (d) Before enacting a minimum wage law, a local government shall consult with surrounding local governments and engage stakeholders, including chambers of commerce, small and large businesses, businesses that employ tipped workers, workers, labor unions, and community groups. (4) For purposes of this section, "local government" means a: (a) City; (b) Home rule city; (c) Town; (d) Territorial charter city; (e) City and county; (f) County; or (g) Home rule county. (5) If any provision of this section is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional, the remaining provisions of this section are valid, unless it appears to the court that the valid provisions of this section are so essentially and inseparably connected with, and so dependent upon, the void provision that it cannot be presumed the legislature would have enacted the valid provisions without the void one; or unless the court determines that the valid provisions, standing alone, are incomplete and are incapable of being executed in accordance with the legislative intent. (6) A local government that enacts a local minimum wage law pursuant to this section must specify that an increase in the local minimum wage must take effect on the same date as a scheduled increase to the statewide minimum wage required under section 15 of article XVIII of the state constitution. (7) If a local government enacts a local minimum wage law requiring a minimum wage that exceeds the statewide minimum wage, the local government may only increase the local minimum wage each year by up to one dollar and seventy-five cents or fifteen percent, whichever is higher, until the local minimum wage reaches the amount enacted by the local government. (8) (a) By July 1, 2021, the executive director of the department of labor and employment shall issue a written report regarding local minimum wage laws in the state. The report must include the location, nature, and scope of enacted local minimum wage laws. To the extent feasible, the executive director shall also include in the report economic data, including jobs, earnings, and sales tax revenue, in the jurisdiction of any local government that has enacted a local minimum wage law pursuant to this section, as well as data for neighboring jurisdictions, relevant regions, and the state. The report may include recommendations for possible improvements to this section. (b) The executive director shall update the report by July 1 each year thereafter if an additional local government enacts a minimum wage law after July 1 of the year prior. (c) (I) The executive director shall submit the report required in this subsection (8) to the senate local government committee and the house of representatives transportation and local government committee, or their successor committees. (II) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), the report required in this subsection (8) continues indefinitely. (9) (a) The executive director of the department of labor and employment shall notify the executive director of the department of health care policy and financing if a local government enacts a minimum wage that exceeds the statewide minimum wage. (b) If the executive director of the department of health care policy and financing receives notice pursuant to subsection (9)(a) of this section, the executive director shall, as soon as practicable, submit a report to the joint budget committee with recommendations about whether provider rates, with the exception of rates for an eligible nursing facility provider as defined in section 25.5-6-201 (15.5), need to be increased to accommodate the local government's minimum wage increase and if establishing a fund to pass through those increases to facilities in the jurisdiction of the local government that has raised the minimum wage is necessary. (c) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), the report required in this subsection (9) continues indefinitely. (10) (a) If at any point ten percent of local governments in the state have enacted a local minimum wage law pursuant to this section, a local government that has not previously enacted a local minimum wage law shall not enact a local minimum wage law pursuant to this section until the general assembly has amended this section to authorize additional local governments to enact local minimum wage laws. A local government that enacted a local minimum wage law prior to the point at which ten percent of local governments have enacted a local minimum wage law may continue to amend that law. (b) For purposes of determining whether ten percent of local governments in the state have enacted a local minimum wage law pursuant to this section, when a county enacts a local minimum wage law, if a local minimum wage law is enacted by any local government located within that county, only the county's minimum wage law counts toward the calculation of the ten percent. If local governments enter into an intergovernmental agreement on the enforcement or administration of local minimum wage policies, that will only be counted as one local minimum wage for determining the calculation of the ten percent.

Source: L. 17: p. 380, § 1. C.L. § 4262. CSA: C. 97, § 236. CRS 53: § 80-9-1. C.R.S. 1963: § 80-7-1. L. 77: Entire section amended, p. 428, § 2, effective July 1. L. 99: Entire section amended, p. 289, § 2, effective April 14. L. 2019: (2) repealed, (3) amended, and (4) to (10) added, (HB 19-1210), ch. 320, p. 2972, § 4, effective January 1, 2020.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in HB 19-1210, see section 1 of chapter 320, Session Laws of Colorado 2019.

8-6-101.5. Minimum wage for agricultural workers - rest periods - overwork protections - definition. (1) (a) On and after January 1, 2022, except as provided in subsection (1)(b) of this section, the minimum wage requirements of section 15 of article XVIII of the state constitution, and any minimum wage laws enacted pursuant to this article 6, apply to agricultural employers employing agricultural workers. (b) The Colorado minimum wage that an agricultural employer must pay to an agricultural worker who is principally engaged in the range production of livestock, as described in 29 CFR 780.323 to 29 CFR 780.329, on the open range is: (I) Beginning January 1, 2022, and through December 31, 2022, five hundred fifteen dollars per week; and (II) Beginning January 1, 2023, the minimum wage required in the prior calendar year adjusted annually as measured by the United States department of labor's bureau of labor statistics consumer price index for Denver-Aurora-Lakewood or its predecessor or successor index. The director may set a higher minimum wage than is required in this subsection (1)(b)(II) consistent with the director's authority and duties, including under this article 6. (2) (a) An agricultural worker is entitled to an uninterrupted and duty-free meal period of at least a thirty-minute duration when the agricultural worker's shift exceeds five consecutive hours. The meal periods, to the extent practicable, must be at least one hour after the start, and one hour before the end, of the shift. An agricultural worker must be relieved of all duties and permitted to pursue personal activities for a period to qualify as nonwork, uncompensated time. If the nature of the business activities or other circumstances makes the uninterrupted meal period impractical, the agricultural employee must be permitted to consume an on-duty meal while performing duties. An agricultural employee must be permitted to fully consume a meal of choice while working and be fully compensated for the on-duty meal period without any loss of time or compensation. (b) An agricultural worker is entitled to an uninterrupted and duty-free rest period of at least ten minutes within each four hours of work. (c) This subsection (2) does not apply to a truck driver whose sole and principal duty is to haul livestock or to a combine or harvester operator while harvesting. (3) As used in this section, "agricultural worker" has the meaning set forth in section 8- 13.5-201 (3).

Source: L. 2021: Entire section added, (SB 21-087), ch. 337, p. 2176, § 3, effective June 25.