The Colorado Legislature recently passed the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, which was signed into law on July 14, 2020. See C.R.S. § 8-13.3-403. The new law requires Colorado employers with more than 16 employees to provide 48 hours of paid sick leave to exempt and non-exempt employees beginning on January 1, 2021. The law will extend to all Colorado employers beginning on January 1, 2022. The law sets the minimum amount of paid sick leave an employer must offer, but does not set a maximum amount an employer may offer to its employees. The law also sets forth the methods for how an employee accrues paid sick leave, rules for carrying paid sick leave over from one year to the next year, and defines how an employee may use paid sick leave. Notably, the law applies to mental and physical health conditions including those caused by domestic abuse, sexual assault, or harassment. It also applies to leave needed to care for an employee’s family member. The law also applies to leave taken due to a public health emergency if the employee’s place of business is closed or a school or place of care is closed and the employee must miss work to care for employee’s child. It provides for supplemental amounts of paid sick leave when there is a public health emergency. Employers may contact William T. O’Connell, III or Katherine M.L. Pratt for additional information on compliance with the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act.
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