Summary: Paid Leave under Colorado's Healthy Families & Workplaces Act (HFWA)
Division of Labor Standards and Statistics
707 17th Street, Denver, CO 80202 | 303-318-8441
www.ColoradoLaborLaw.gov | www.LeyesLaboralesDeColorado.gov
Interpretive Notice & Formal Opinion ("INFO") # 6:
Summary: Paid Leave under Colorado's Healthy Families & Workplaces Act, "HFWA"
EMPLOYEE PAID LEAVE RIGHTS:
A. Accrued leave — one hour per 30 hours worked, up to 48 per benefit year, for a wide range of needs:
1. inability to work due to a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition;
2. obtaining preventive medical care (including vaccination), or medical diagnosis/care/treatment;
3. needs due to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or criminal harassment including medical attention, mental health care or other counseling, legal or other victim services, or relocation;
4. care for a family member who needs the sort of care listed above;
5. in a PHE,[^1] a public official closed an employee's workplace, or school or place of care of their child;
6. bereavement, or financial/legal needs after a death of a family member; or
7. due to inclement weather, power/heat/water loss, or other unexpected event, the employee must
(a) evacuate their residence, or
(b) care for a family member whose school or place of care was closed.*
*Note: #6 and #7 are included as reasons for HFWA leave only as of August 7, 2023.
B. The right is to take leave with full pay, and return to work, without negative consequences:
1. pay must be given for all time on leave, without extra delay, and at the same pay rate as time worked;
2. not counted against employees as absences that may lead to firing or other negative action; and
3. with a right to return to work, without retaliation, or other acts interfering with taking leave and return.
C. Notice of HFWA rights from their employers:
1. Employers must provide both a poster in a visible place, and written notice to each employee.
2. The Colorado Workplace Public Health Rights Poster — available in English, Spanish, and a number of other languages — satisfies both requirements.
EMPLOYER POLICIES:
A. All employers must provide HFWA leave to all employees in Colorado — regardless of the employer's size, industry, headquarters site, or exemption from other laws.
B. A paid time off policy or collective bargaining agreement satisfies HFWA if it gives all the same rights — covers all HFWA conditions, at the same pay, with no tougher requirements (documentation, notice, etc.).
C. If an employee has unused, accrued leave when a need for PHE leave occurs, an employer can count the accrued leave toward the amount of PHE leave it must provide. But employees are allowed to use PHE leave before using accrued leave, if the reason for leave qualifies for either accrued or PHE leave.
D. Employers can require documentation for accrued leave, but not PHE leave, and (1) only for absences of four or more consecutive days, and (2) employees can provide documentation after their leave ends.
FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: See INFOs #6B-6C for more detail on these topics and common questions to the Division. Then with further questions, call 303-318-8441, or email [email protected].
[^1]: During a public health emergency ("PHE"), employees are also entitled to additional paid leave, supplementing their unused, accrued leave as of the request: enough PHE leave to ensure they can take up to 2 weeks (80 hours if full-time, less if part-time) for inability to work, testing, quarantining, caring for family in such situations, and related needs. The COVID-19 PHE leave requirement was in effect January 1, 2021 through June 8, 2023; no PHE is now in effect.
INFOs are not binding law, but are the Division's officially approved opinions and notices to employers, employees, and others on how the Division applies and interprets statutes and rules. The Division continues to post and update INFOs on various topics; for up-to-date INFOs, rules, and other materials, visit the Division's Laws, Regulations, & Guidance page. Last updated Jul. 19, 2023