Employee Handbook

EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK

State of Colorado

[COMPANY LEGAL NAME]

Effective Date: [MM/DD/YYYY]

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Handbook Status and Administration
2. Equal Employment and Pay Practices
3. Wage, Hour, and Break Policies
4. Paid Sick, Family, Medical, and Civic Leave
5. Safety and Workers' Compensation
6. Records, Privacy, and Protected Activity
7. Conduct, Attendance, and Corrective Action
8. Separation of Employment
9. Acknowledgment

1. HANDBOOK STATUS AND ADMINISTRATION

1.1 Purpose and Scope

This Handbook states the general policies of [Company Legal Name] (the “Company”) for Employees working in or regularly reporting to a Colorado worksite. It must be completed for the Company's workforce, benefits, locations, industry, and any collective bargaining agreement before distribution.

1.2 Not a Contract; Employment Relationship

This Handbook is not an employment contract, a promise of employment for a fixed term, or a guarantee that any particular corrective-action step will be used. Unless a signed agreement, collective bargaining agreement, or applicable law provides otherwise, either the Employee or the Company may end employment at any time. Only [AUTHORIZED TITLE] may sign an agreement changing that relationship.

1.3 Reporting Channels and Anti-Retaliation

An Employee may report a concern orally or in writing to [SUPERVISOR], [HR CONTACT], or [ALTERNATE/ETHICS CONTACT], and may bypass anyone involved in the concern. The Company will respond promptly and impartially and prohibits retaliation for good-faith reports, accommodation requests, wage discussions or complaints, protected leave, jury or voting activity, safety reports, workers' compensation activity, participation in an investigation, or other legally protected conduct.

1.4 Definitions and Coverage Review

“Employee” means an individual employed by the Company, whether full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal.

“Workweek” means the seven-day period beginning at [DAY/TIME] and ending at [DAY/TIME] for payroll and overtime purposes.

Complete before issue:

• Total Employees: [____]
• Employees within seventy-five miles of this worksite: [____]
• Employees with at least 180 days of service: [identify/report method]
• FMLA-covered employer and eligible worksites: ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Review required
• Local minimum-wage ordinance applies: ☐ Yes ☐ No ☐ Review required
• FAMLI private plan approved: ☐ Yes ☐ No
• Collective bargaining agreement applies: ☐ Yes ☐ No

2. EQUAL EMPLOYMENT AND PAY PRACTICES

2.1 Equal Employment Opportunity

The Company prohibits unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation because of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, religion, age forty or older, national origin, ancestry, marital status, pregnancy, childbirth, related conditions, or any other status protected by applicable law. Employment decisions will be based on lawful job-related considerations.

The Company will provide reasonable accommodations required by applicable disability, pregnancy, and religious-accommodation laws after an appropriate interactive process. Employees should contact [HR/ACCOMMODATION CONTACT].

2.2 Complaint Procedure

Employees should report discrimination, harassment, retaliation, or an accommodation need to [HR CONTACT] or [ALTERNATE CONTACT]. Reports will be addressed promptly and as confidentially as reasonably possible. Employees may contact a government agency or pursue another protected remedy without first exhausting this internal process.

2.3 Equal Pay, Salary History, and Wage Discussions

The Company will pay Employees performing substantially similar work without unlawful sex-based disparity, subject to the lawful factors recognized by the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. The Company will not seek or rely on an applicant's wage-rate history, prohibit Employees from discussing wages, or retaliate for protected wage discussions or equal-pay activity.

2.4 Job and Promotion Notices

Human Resources will review every external and internal posting for current Colorado disclosure rules. Covered postings and notices will include compensation, benefits, and application information; covered job opportunities will be announced to Employees; selection notices and career-progression information will be provided when required. Wage-rate and job-description records will be preserved as required by current law and rules.

3. WAGE, HOUR, AND BREAK POLICIES

3.1 Classification and Minimum Wage

Human Resources will classify workers based on actual duties and the working relationship, not labels alone. Salaried status by itself does not establish an exemption.

Employees covered by the Colorado COMPS Order will receive at least $15.16 per hour in 2026, subject to lawful exemptions, tip-credit rules, and any higher local minimum wage. The 2026 Colorado salary threshold for the executive, administrative, and professional exemptions is $57,784, in addition to the applicable duties and salary-basis requirements. Human Resources must recheck annual state and local rates before each January payroll.

3.2 Timekeeping and Overtime

Non-exempt Employees must accurately record all time worked, including authorized or unauthorized work before or after a shift, remote work, compensable travel, training, interrupted meals, and work communications. Working off the clock is prohibited, but all time actually worked must be recorded and paid.

Covered non-exempt Employees will receive one and one-half times the regular rate for hours worked over forty in a Workweek, over twelve in a workday, or over twelve consecutive hours, whichever calculation produces the greater pay. Overtime should be approved in advance, but lack of approval does not permit unpaid work.

3.3 Meal and Rest Periods

Employees working a shift longer than five hours will receive an uninterrupted, duty-free thirty-minute meal period. It may be unpaid only when the Employee is completely relieved of duty. When the nature of the work makes an uninterrupted meal impractical, the Employee will be permitted to eat while working and the time will be paid.

The Company will authorize and permit a paid ten-minute rest period for each four hours worked or major fraction of four hours, using the current COMPS schedule. Employees must promptly report a missed, interrupted, or shortened meal or rest period to [CONTACT] so payroll can make any required correction.

3.4 Pay Periods, Paydays, and Deductions

The regular pay period is [____], and payday is [____]. Unless a lawful mutual agreement provides otherwise, regular pay periods will not exceed one calendar month or thirty days, whichever is longer, and payday will be no later than ten days after the pay period closes.

The Company will make deductions only when required by law or permitted by C.R.S. § 8-4-105 and other applicable wage law. Employees should report a pay or timekeeping concern promptly to [PAYROLL/HR CONTACT]; no internal reporting deadline waives a statutory right.

3.5 Vacation and General PTO

Vacation or general PTO is earned under the written policy selected below:

• Accrual method: [____]
• Accrual cap, if any: [____]
• Scheduling and approval rules: [____]

Once vacation is earned and determinable, it will not be forfeited and will be paid at separation as required by Colorado wage law. A general PTO plan used to satisfy the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act will not be administered in a way that leaves an Employee with less protected paid sick leave than the Act requires.

4. PAID SICK, FAMILY, MEDICAL, AND CIVIC LEAVE

4.1 Healthy Families and Workplaces Act Paid Sick Leave

Employees accrue at least one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked, up to forty-eight hours per year. Up to forty-eight hours of unused accrued leave carries forward, although annual use may be limited to forty-eight hours unless the Company provides more.

Protected leave may be used for the Employee's or a covered family member's health needs; preventive care; specified bereavement needs; certain closures caused by inclement weather, power loss, heating loss, water loss, or another unexpected event; and needs arising from domestic violence, sexual assault, or harassment. Requests, reasonable documentation, confidentiality, reinstatement after rehire, and anti-retaliation protections will be administered under current HFWA law and rules.

Additional public-health-emergency leave will be provided only when a qualifying public health emergency is in effect and the statutory conditions are met. Human Resources must check current CDLE notices rather than assume that emergency leave is continuously available.

4.2 Colorado FAMLI

Most Employees become eligible for Colorado FAMLI benefits after earning at least $2,500 in Colorado wages during the last five completed calendar quarters. Eligibility for benefits can begin from the first day of employment after the wage requirement is met; job protection generally begins after more than 180 days with the Company.

FAMLI generally provides up to twelve weeks of paid leave for covered medical, caregiving, bonding, safe-leave, or military-family reasons. A birthing parent with a qualifying pregnancy or childbirth complication may receive up to four additional weeks. Beginning in 2026, an eligible parent may also receive up to twelve additional weeks of Neonatal Care Leave while the parent's infant is receiving inpatient neonatal care. The FAMLI Division determines benefit eligibility and duration.

Employees should notify [LEAVE CONTACT] at least thirty days before foreseeable leave when practicable and follow the Company's usual call-in procedure for unforeseeable leave. FAMLI, FMLA, short-term disability, Company leave, and workers' compensation will be coordinated only as current law permits.

4.3 Federal Family and Medical Leave

The FMLA applies to private employers with fifty or more Employees in at least twenty workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year and to covered public employers. An Employee generally must have twelve months of service, 1,250 hours worked in the prior twelve months, and fifty Employees within seventy-five miles of the worksite.

Eligible Employees may receive up to twelve workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for qualifying family, medical, and military-exigency reasons and up to twenty-six workweeks in a single twelve-month period for qualifying military-caregiver leave. A separate FMLA policy and required notices control administration.

4.4 Jury Service

An Employee summoned for trial or grand jury service must provide the summons or juror-service acknowledgment to [CONTACT] promptly. The Company will pay a regularly employed juror regular wages up to $50 per day for the first three days of jury service, unless another lawful arrangement or court-approved hardship procedure applies. The Company will not deprive an Employee of employment or benefits, harass, threaten, coerce, or substantially interfere with jury service.

4.5 Voting Leave

An eligible elector who has fewer than three consecutive off-job hours while voter service and polling centers are open may request up to two hours of paid voting leave on a day those centers are open. The Company will administer the timing and notice rules under current C.R.S. § 1-7-102, as amended effective June 1, 2026, without loss of pay or retaliation. Requests should be directed to [CONTACT] as early as practicable.

4.6 Military and Other Protected Leave

The Company will provide military leave and reemployment rights required by USERRA and other applicable law. Human Resources will also evaluate requests for reasonable accommodation, workers' compensation absence, and any other state or federal protected leave rather than treating the absence as ordinary attendance misconduct.

4.7 Company Leave

5. SAFETY AND WORKERS' COMPENSATION

5.1 Workplace Safety

Employees must follow safety rules, use required protective equipment, and promptly report hazards, injuries, and illnesses to [CONTACT]. The Company prohibits retaliation for a good-faith safety or injury report.

5.2 Workers' Compensation

The Company will maintain Colorado workers' compensation coverage when required. Coverage is employer-paid and no portion of the premium will be deducted from an Employee's wages. Employees should report a work-related injury or illness promptly to [CONTACT] so the Company can meet carrier, provider-list, posting, recordkeeping, and reporting duties.

6. RECORDS, PRIVACY, AND PROTECTED ACTIVITY

6.1 Company Systems

Company systems and equipment are provided for business use. To the extent permitted by law, the Company may access, preserve, and review information on Company systems for legitimate business, security, legal, and compliance purposes. This policy does not authorize access prohibited by law.

6.2 Confidentiality and Lawful Disclosures

Employees must protect legitimate confidential and trade-secret information learned through work. This policy does not prohibit an Employee from reporting suspected unlawful conduct to a government agency or attorney, cooperating in an investigation, discussing wages or working conditions, or engaging in other legally protected activity.

6.3 Personnel and Medical Records

The Company will maintain payroll, leave, accommodation, medical, and personnel records with access limited to legitimate business and legal needs. Medical and protected leave information will be stored separately or treated confidentially when required.

7. CONDUCT, ATTENDANCE, AND CORRECTIVE ACTION

7.1 Expected Conduct

Employees must perform assigned duties safely and honestly; comply with lawful policies; accurately record time and business records; protect Company, customer, and coworker property; avoid unlawful harassment, threats, or violence; and disclose actual conflicts of interest to [HR/COMPLIANCE].

7.2 Attendance and Call-In

Employees unable to report as scheduled must notify [CONTACT] by [METHOD] at least [____] before the shift when practicable. This policy will be administered consistently with accommodation, HFWA, FAMLI, FMLA, jury, voting, military, workers' compensation, and other protected-absence laws.

7.3 Corrective Action

The Company may use coaching, verbal warning, written warning, final warning, suspension, or termination. It may select or skip steps based on the circumstances. This policy does not create a contract or authorize action for a protected reason.

8. SEPARATION OF EMPLOYMENT

8.1 Notice and Return of Property

Employees are requested, but not required by this Handbook, to provide [____] days' resignation notice. At separation, Employees must return Company property and records. Earned wages will not be withheld as leverage for a disputed debt or unreturned property outside deductions permitted by Colorado law.

8.2 Final Pay and Vacation

When the Company discharges an Employee, earned, vested, and determinable wages are generally due immediately, subject to the limited payroll-unit and accounting extensions in C.R.S. § 8-4-109. When an Employee resigns, wages are due by the next regular payday. Earned and determinable vacation will be included and will not be forfeited. Commissions, bonuses, severance, expenses, and benefits will be handled under the governing written plan, agreement, and current law.

9. ADMINISTRATION AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

9.1 Policy Administration

The Company may prospectively revise policies in writing, subject to applicable law, earned wages and leave, contracts, and collective bargaining agreements. If a policy conflicts with controlling law, the law controls and the policy will be administered as closely as possible to its lawful purpose.

9.2 No Mandatory Internal Exhaustion

Employees are encouraged to use internal reporting channels, but nothing in this Handbook requires an Employee to waive or delay a right to contact a government agency, file a charge, report a crime, seek emergency assistance, consult counsel, discuss wages or working conditions, or pursue another protected remedy.

9.3 Separate Agreements

Any arbitration, restrictive-covenant, invention-assignment, confidentiality, commission, bonus, or employment agreement must be separately drafted and reviewed for current Colorado and federal law. This Handbook itself does not impose arbitration, a jury waiver, employee indemnity, a damages cap, attorney-fee shifting, an exclusive court forum, or a force-majeure excuse from wage, sick-leave, or family-leave obligations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT

I, [EMPLOYEE NAME], acknowledge that I received the [Company Legal Name] Employee Handbook effective [MM/DD/YYYY] and understand that I am expected to follow its lawful policies. I understand that this acknowledgment and the Handbook are not employment contracts and do not promise employment for a fixed term.

Sources and References

• Colorado CDLE — INFO #1: 2026 COMPS and PAY CALC Orders
• Colorado CDLE — INFO #6B: Healthy Families and Workplaces Act
• Colorado FAMLI — Individuals and Families
• Colorado FAMLI — FAMLI and FMLA
• Colorado FAMLI — Individuals and Families FAQs
• Colorado Judicial Branch — Information for Employers
• Colorado Secretary of State — Election Day FAQs
• Colorado General Assembly — HB26-1113 Modifications to Elections
• Colorado Civil Rights Division — Employment Discrimination
• Colorado General Assembly — HB25-1312 Legal Protections for Transgender Individuals
• Colorado CDLE — Colorado Wage Act, revised August 6, 2025
• Colorado CDLE — INFO #3E: Payment of Earned Vacation upon Separation
• Colorado CDLE — Equal Pay for Equal Work Act
• Colorado CDLE — Workers' Compensation Insurance Requirements
• U.S. Department of Labor — FMLA Frequently Asked Questions