Effective January 1, 2022, all Colorado employers — regardless of size — are required to provide employees with accrued leave and public health emergency (PHE) leave per the Colorado Healthy Families & Workplaces Act (HFWA). This leave must be paid at the same hourly rate or salary and with the same benefits the employee normally earns during hours worked.

Colorado employers are required to provide PHE sick pay for qualified COVID-19 absences through June 8, 2023.

If your policies already comply with HFWA, or offer more sick leave or PTO than what’s required, great! Just be certain your policy meets the HFWA availability and use requirements.

Colorado HFWA Paid Leave Requirements Effective Jan. 1, 2022

All employers, regardless of size, industry or headquarters site, are required to provide the following types of paid leave to all Colorado employees upon start date:

HFWA Accrued Leave: Employees earn 1 hour of leave per 30 hours worked (up to 48 hours per benefit year), which can be used for qualified health- and safety-related needs.

• Unused accrued leave rolls over into the following year (capped at 48 hours per benefit year)
• Employers may use an accrual method of tracking or provide a lump sum at the beginning of each year
• Employers are not required to payout accrued leave upon termination, unless sick and vacation hours are tracked under one PTO policy
• In 2021, HFWA accrued leave (aka General Paid Sick Leave or PSL) only applied to employers with 16 or more workers in Colorado. This paid leave requirement extended to all employers — regardless of size — on Jan. 1, 2022
• If you are an ASAP payroll client, ask your account manager about receiving a copy of our Sick Leave Policy template (one-time fee)

HFWA Public Health Emergency Leave (PHE): During a public health emergency, all employees receive additional paid leave hours to supplement their total unused, accrued leave at the time of the request for PHE-related absences. (Up to 80 hours for full-time employees or two weeks of their regular hours if part-time.)

Although the federal COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) expired on May 11, 2023, Colorado employers are required to provide COVID sick pay through June 8, 2023 (four weeks after the end of all applicable PHE declarations). All CO employers have been required to provide up to 80 hours of PHE paid leave for COVID-related absences since January 1, 2021.

PHE Quick Notes

• PHE leave remains available until 4 weeks following the end of a declared Federal, State, or local public health emergency
• On Jan. 1, 2021, “80-Hour COVID Leave” went into effect for all Colorado employers and continued through June 8, 2023
• Supplemental leave is provided only once per public health emergency and hours do not “reset” on the first of the year or any other time during the same declared emergency
• NOTE: Tax credits are not available for COVID-19 sick pay taken in 2022 & 2023 (Federal tax credits for qualified leave per FFCRA / ARPA ended Sept. 30, 2021)

There are certain criteria for how HFWA time is used or approved for use. If you are already satisfying the accrual of time portion of the Act, also be certain that your current policy allows for the following uses of the time:

1. Having a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition that prevents employee from working;
2. Needing to get preventative medical care, or to get a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment, of any mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition;
3. Needing to care for a family member who has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, or who needs the type of care listed in #2;
4. The employee or a family member having been a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or criminal harassment, and needing leave for related medical attention, mental health care or other counseling, victim services (including legal services), or relocation; or
5. Due to a public health emergency, a public official having closed either the employee’s place of business, or the school or place of care of the employee’s child, requiring the employee needing to be absent from work to care for the child.

All HFWA accrued leave must be paid at the same hourly rate or salary, and with the same benefits the employee normally earns during hours worked. The rate must be at least the applicable minimum wage, but need not include overtime, bonuses, or holiday pay.

As you formulate your organization’s policies for HFWA, please keep the following in mind:

• Documentation can be required only if leave is “four or more consecutive workdays”
• Only reasonable documentation can be required, not more than needed to show a valid reason for leave
• You cannot require “details” about the employee’s (or their family’s) HFWA-related health or safety information; any such information you receive must be kept confidential and stored in a separate file
• Documentation “is not required to take paid sick leave,” but it can be required as soon as the employee reasonably can provide it (reasonable documentation can be required)
• Unused HFWA accrued leave rolls over year-to-year, but does not require more than 48 hours leave in a year

Employers are not required to pay out an employee’s unused sick leave when an employee separates from employment. However, if your PTO policy tracks vacation and sick pay together, you may have to pay out unused HFWA accrued leave. If an employee is rehired within six months, they are entitled to have their previously accrued sick leave hours reinstated unless it was paid out. For details, refer to CDLE INFO #14: Payment of Earned Vacation upon Separation of Employment (updated 3/4/2022).

• INFO #6: Summary – Paid Leave under Colorado’s Healthy Families & Workplaces Act (HFWA) (updated 5/12/2023)
• INFO #6B: Employer/Employee Rights and Obligations Under the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (updated 5/12/2023)
• CDLE HFWA Website
• Colorado Paid Leave & Whistleblower Poster (updated June 2022)