PAID TIME OFF MEASURES, DIFFERENT TIMETABLES & PAYMENT RATES CREATE CONFUSION
MINIMUM WAGE STARTING JAN. 1, 2022
Federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour, which is lower than the 2022 Colorado state minimum wage of $12.56.
DENVER MINIMUM WAGE
DIRECT CARE WORKERS - STATE-WIDE
Starting January 1, 2022, direct care workers funded with any state dollars working in-home and community-based settings are to receive a minimum wage of $15 per hour. The Medicaid rate increase needed to achieve this will be initially funded through federal American Rescue Plan Act funds dedicated to Home and Community-Based Services.
HCPF 2022 RATE SCHEDULES https://hcpf.colorado.gov/sites/hcpf/files/EBD%20CMHS%20BI%20SCI%20January%202021-2022%20Rate%20Schedules%20v1.1.pdf
SICK LEAVE
Two types of paid sick leave are in effect for all companies in 2022
PAID SICK LEAVE
Paid sick leave — Larger employers had to comply with this law in 2021. In 2022, all employers — including those with 15 or fewer employees — must offer workers a way to earn sick leave at the rate of one hour for 30 hours worked. Up to 48 hours unused accrued leave, if unused, carries into the next year.
COVID-related LEAVE
80 hours of COVID-related leave continues into 2022. The COVID leave requirement ends four weeks after all disaster orders and public health emergencies are over. But the 80 hours doesn’t restart in January. If a worker used any of the 80 hours last year, only the remainder can be tapped in 2022.
2022 PAID FAMILY LEAVE LAW DETAILS
New paid family and medical leave doesn’t start until Jan. 1, 2024. It was passed by Colorado voters in 2020 and requires employers to provide 12 weeks of paid family leave plus an extra four weeks in case there are medical complications. Employers will have to start paying into the system in 2023.
Workers can still benefit from 12 weeks of unpaid leave, as part of the Family Medical Leave Act. This is available to new parents or people with serious health problems or relatives they must care for. Workers are entitled to at least 480 hours of unpaid family medical leave — and keep their job. >> U.S. FMLA Act labor laws
EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK ACT
- Post pay and salary ranges for job openings.
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Announce to all employees employment advancement opportunities and job openings and the pay range for the openings.
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Maintain records of job descriptions and wage rate history for each employee while employed and for 2 years after the employment ends. Failure to maintain these records creates a rebuttable presumption, in a lawsuit alleging wage discrimination based on sex, that the records not maintained contained information favorable to the employee's claim.
The act prohibits an employer from:
- Seeking the wage rate history of a prospective employee or requiring disclosure of wage rate as a condition of employment;
- Relying on a prior wage rate to determine a wage rate;
- Discriminating or retaliating against a prospective employee for failing to disclose the employee's wage rate history;
- Discharging or retaliating against an employee for actions by an employee asserting the rights established by the act against an employer; or
- Discharging, disciplining, discriminating against, or otherwise interfering with an employee for inquiring about, disclosing, or discussing the employee's wage rate.
CDLE
CDLE CONTACT NUMBERS - https://cdle.colorado.gov/unemployment/contact-us
2022 POSTER
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment updated its 2022 poster for its workplace public health rights, it added an asterisk and red fonts to note that there is still “a qualifying emergency” as of January 2022.
COVID-related LABOR LAWS
NATION-WIDE
DENVER
the city and county of Denver will maintain current vaccination requirements for city employees, workers in high-risk settings and city contractors,” Courtney Ronner, a spokeswoman for the Denver Public Health & Environment department, said in an email. “Businesses not subject to the vaccination public health order have the flexibility to mandate their own vaccine requirements and those policies/procedures are maintained by those specific businesses.”
COLORADO STATE-WIDE
There’s no statewide vaccine mandate in Colorado for all private employers outside of health care staff in settings with high risk patients and the pending federal rule overseen by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. And some small employers with fewer than 100 employees may not fall under any sort of federal or local mandate. (Here are links to current vaccine mandates in Colorado).
MASK MANDATES
In Colorado, areas with indoor mask mandates for private employers include the counties of Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Eagle, Jefferson, Larimer, Pitkin and San Miguel. Broomfield County’s mask mandate applies only in city and county buildings.
