Colorado Sick Leave
Colorado Sick Leave or HFWA Regular Paid Leave Requirements
Employees begin to accrue sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to a yearly maximum of 48 hours. Employees will immediately be able to begin using their sick leave as it is accrued. (CDOL Interpretive Notice #6A.)
Employees may use regular HFWA accrued paid sick leave for the following purposes:
The employee: has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; needs a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment related to such illness, injury, or condition; or needs to obtain preventive medical care.
The employee needs to care for a family member who: has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition; needs a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment related to such illness, injury, or condition; or needs to obtain preventive medical care.
The employee or family member has been the victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment and needs to be absent from work for purposes related to such civil or criminal proceeding.
Employers may choose to "front load" sick leave, providing employees with the total amount of required sick leave at the beginning of the year rather than waiting for the employee to accrue the hours.
An employee's unused sick leave must be carried over to the next year; however, an employer may limit the use of sick leave to 48 hours per calendar year.
Employers are not required to pay employees for unused sick leave upon termination, resignation, retirement or other separation from employment. However, if a former employee is rehired by the same employer within six months of the separation, the employer must reinstate any paid sick leave that the employee had accrued but not used prior to the separation.
Employers with a preexisting sick leave policy are not required to provide any additional sick leave if the employer's plan meets or exceeds the requirements under the new law.
Paid sick leave must be paid at the same rate of pay the employee is paid for regular working hours, or at the state minimum wage, whichever is greater. Employees transferred to a separate division of the same employer or to a successor employer must be allowed to transfer their accrued sick leave to their new place of employment.
Employers are required to notify each employee in writing of their right to paid sick leave and to display a poster in the workplace that will be developed by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. The Department will publish a model notice to satisfy the requirement of providing written notice to each employee.
For a two-year period, employers must retain records documenting, by employee, the hours worked, paid sick leave accrued, and paid sick leave used and make such records available to the Department. The Department must adopt rules to administer the paid sick leave law.
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