Colorado HR Laws for Small Employers (2026)

Colorado at a glance

Pay range in job posts: Every employer with at least one Colorado employee must list the pay or pay range, a general description of benefits, and how and by when to apply in each posting, and must tell current employees about openings.
New-hire reporting: Report to the Colorado State Directory of New Hires within 20 calendar days of hire, or by the first scheduled payroll after that if it falls later.
Paid sick leave: Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA): 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours a year, for all employees of every employer.
Paid family and medical leave: FAMLI: the 2026 premium is 0.88% of wages, split 0.44% employer and 0.44% employee. Employers with 9 or fewer employees send in only the 0.44% employee share. Up to 12 weeks of paid leave.
Final pay when you end employment: Immediately. If the payroll office is closed, within 6 hours of the start of its next workday, or 24 hours if payroll is handled off-site.
Final pay when they quit: By the next regular payday.
Unused vacation at exit: Required. All earned, unused vacation must be paid at separation, and any policy that forfeits it is void.

Hiring in Colorado

Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act covers every employer with at least one employee in Colorado. Its transparency rules apply to internal and public postings alike, and to remote jobs that could be done from Colorado, even if the post says Coloradans will not be considered. Postings for jobs done entirely outside the state are excluded. See pay transparency in job posts.

What every Colorado job posting must include
Item	What the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics expects
Pay	The rate or a range you honestly believe you may pay, and whether it is hourly or salary. No open-ended ranges like "$30,000 and up".
Benefits	A general description of health care, retirement, paid time off and any tax-reportable benefits. Small perks can be left out.
How to apply	Instructions for applying.
Application deadline	A good-faith estimate of when applications close. "Open until filled" does not count. You may extend it if you update the post.

Tell current employees about openings: make reasonable efforts to announce each job opportunity to all employees on the same day and before you choose someone. Within 30 days of filling it, tell the people the new hire will work with regularly who got the job and how to express interest in similar roles. Some regular, metric-based promotions are exempt if you disclose them.
No wage history: you cannot ask applicants for their pay history or rely on it to set pay.
Criminal history (Chance to Compete Act): employers of every size cannot ask about criminal history on an initial application or say in a posting that people with records cannot apply. A background check after a conditional offer is allowed. See employee background checks.
Age: you cannot ask an applicant's age or dates of schooling, and must tell applicants they may redact age information from items such as transcripts.
New-hire report: report each new hire, and anyone returning after 60 consecutive days away, to the State Directory of New Hires within 20 calendar days. Colorado Child Support Services also asks you to report independent contractors who give you a Social Security number. See new-hire reporting.

Noncompetes. Colorado voids most noncompetes. One is allowed only for a worker who earns at least the state's highly compensated threshold ($130,014 a year in 2026) when the agreement is signed and when it is enforced, and only if it protects trade secrets and is no broader than needed. Customer nonsolicitation agreements need pay of at least 60% of that threshold ($78,008.40 in 2026). Even then, the employer must give a separate, signed notice of the noncompete before the candidate accepts the offer (or at least 14 days ahead for a current employee). Presenting a void noncompete can cost $5,000 per worker plus damages. Other exceptions exist, including rules for health care providers.

Leave: paid sick leave and FAMLI

Paid sick leave under HFWA applies to every employer and nearly every employee, including part-time and temporary staff. Employees earn 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours a year, starting on day one. Overtime-exempt employees accrue as if they work 40 hours a week, even if they work more. Up to 48 unused hours roll over, but you do not have to allow more than 48 hours of use in a year. Leave covers the employee's or a family member's illness, injury or preventive care, needs related to domestic abuse or sexual assault, a public-health closure of the workplace or a child's school, bereavement, and evacuation or care needs after unexpected events such as power loss. You can ask for documentation only for absences of four or more consecutive days. During a declared public health emergency, employees also get extra paid leave (up to 80 hours for full-time employees); no such emergency is in effect now. See paid sick leave laws.

Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) in 2026
Item	2026 rule
Premium	0.88% of wages, up to the Social Security wage cap ($184,500 in 2026)
10 or more employees (counted nationwide)	Send in the full 0.88%; you may deduct up to half (0.44%) from pay
9 or fewer employees	Send in 0.44% of wages (the employee share); no employer share owed
Benefit	90% of weekly wages up to half the state average weekly wage, 50% above that, capped at $1,448.02 a week (based on the 2026 to 2027 state average wage)
Length	Up to 12 weeks, plus 4 weeks for pregnancy or childbirth complications, plus up to 12 weeks of neonatal care leave
Job protection	Employees who have worked for you at least 180 days get their job or an equivalent one back
Your duties	Register, file wage reports and pay premiums each quarter, update your headcount by February 28, and give employees the Required Program Notice

You cannot require employees to use accrued vacation or sick leave before or during FAMLI leave, though you and the employee can agree to use it to top up their pay. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) still applies separately if it covers you. See paid family leave by state and how to handle an FMLA request.

Final pay and vacation payout

When final wages are due in Colorado
Situation	Deadline
You fire or lay off the employee	Immediately
Your payroll unit is not open at the time	Within 6 hours after the start of its next regular workday
Your payroll unit is off-site	Within 24 hours after the start of its next regular workday
The employee quits	By the next regular payday

When payroll is closed or off-site, the pay can go to the worksite, your local office, or the employee's last known mailing address. You may take up to 10 days to check that money or property entrusted to the employee was returned, with written-notice rules for any deduction. If an employee or the Division sends a written demand, you have 14 days to pay before penalties apply. See final paycheck laws.

Vacation is wages in Colorado. You do not have to offer paid vacation, but once an employee earns it, you must pay all of it at separation, whether they were fired or quit with or without notice. The Colorado Supreme Court (Nieto v. Clark's Market, 2021) held that policies forfeiting earned vacation are void. This covers any paid time off the employee can use for any reason, such as a combined PTO bank. Leave usable only for specific needs, like HFWA sick leave or holidays, is not vacation pay. You may cap how much vacation can build up. See unused PTO payout.

Minimum wage, overtime and exempt salaries

Colorado pay floors for 2026 (COMPS and PAY CALC Orders)
Rule	2026 amount
State minimum wage	$15.16 an hour ($12.14 for tipped employees)
Salary for executive, administrative or professional exemption	$57,784 a year ($1,111.23 a week)
Highly technical computer employees	$34.85 an hour
Highly compensated employee exemption	$130,014 a year

Overtime is 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 40 in a week, over 12 in a day, or over 12 consecutive hours, whichever pays more. You cannot average hours across weeks or give comp time instead. A salary alone does not make someone exempt; the job duties must qualify too. Some cities have a higher minimum wage (Denver's is $19.29 in 2026). You must display the current COMPS Order poster, and if you hand out a handbook, include the COMPS Order or poster with it and, if employees sign the handbook, have them sign an acknowledgment of it. See overtime rules.

Other things to know

Discrimination: the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act covers any employee working in Colorado, so there is no minimum company size. Complaints must be filed within 300 days. See HR laws by company size.
Separation notice: at every separation, including quits, you must give the employee the state's Notice of Potential Availability of Unemployment Insurance Benefits, on paper or electronically, with their dates of work, earnings and the reason for separation. See the offboarding checklist.
Workers' compensation: required once you have one employee, part-time or full-time. Buy a policy from a commercial carrier or qualify to self-insure; Pinnacol Assurance must offer coverage to any Colorado employer. Report injuries to your carrier within 10 days. See workers' compensation requirements.
Posters and notices: the COMPS Order poster, the Colorado Workplace Public Health Rights Poster (which covers HFWA sick leave and doubles as the required written notice), a notice of regular paydays, the Colorado Civil Rights Division employment notice, and the FAMLI Required Program Notice. For remote employees, send the public health rights poster within their first month. See labor law posters.

Common questions

Do Colorado pay range rules apply to remote jobs?

Yes, if the job could be done from Colorado. A remote posting is covered even if it says Coloradans will not be considered. Only jobs that must be done entirely outside Colorado are excluded.

Can a Colorado job post say "open until filled"?

No. Each posting needs a good-faith estimate of the application deadline. You may extend it later if you update the posting. Roles you hire for continuously, such as to keep up with turnover, have no deadline to list.

Do I have to pay out unused PTO in Colorado?

Yes, if it is vacation or PTO the employee can use for any reason. Earned vacation must be paid at separation no matter why the person left. Leave usable only for sickness or holidays does not have to be paid out.

Do very small Colorado employers pay FAMLI premiums?

Employers with 9 or fewer employees do not owe the employer share, but must still register, file quarterly wage reports and send in the 0.44% employee share, which they may deduct from pay.

How MambaHR handles this

MambaHR keeps your employee records and hiring pipeline and does the HR admin itself, with a person approving the decisions that matter. Job posts go out with pay ranges, and at an exit MambaHR removes system access, works out final pay (including earned vacation) under Colorado's rules for a person to approve, and drafts the separation paperwork.

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Sources

Last reviewed October 2, 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice. Laws change and exceptions apply, so check the sources above or an employment lawyer before you act on a specific case.