Colorado Paid Leave & Whistleblower Poster Mandatory

Colorado Workplace Public Health Rights Poster: 
PAID  LEAVE	
, WHISTLEBLOWING	, & 	PROTECTIVE  EQUIPMENT 	
Updated July 14, 2023 	
may be updated periodically 	
THE HEALTHY FAMILIES  & WORKPLACES ACT (“HFWA”): Paid Leave Rights 	
Coverage: All Colorado employers, of any size, must provide paid leave 	
• All employees  earn 1 hour	  of paid leave per 30 hours worked (“accrued  leave”), up to 48 hours a year. 
•  Employees  are
 required
 to	

 be paid their regular pay rate  during leave, and the employer  must continue their benefits. 
•  Up to 48 hours of unused accrued leave
 carries  
over  

for use during the next year. 
•  For details on
 specific
 situations  
(irregular
  hours, non-hourly pay, etc.), see Wage Protection  Rule 3.5, 7 CCR 1103-7. 
•  Up to 80 hours of supplemental  leave
 applies  
in  

a public health emergency (PHE), until  4 weeks after the PHE ends.* 	
Employees can use accrued leave for the following safety or health needs: 	
(1) a mental  or physical illness,	  injury, or health condition that prevents work, including  diagnosis or preventive care; 
(2)  domestic  abuse, sexual  assault,
  or criminal harassment leading  to health, relocation,  legal, or other services needs; 
(3)  caring for a family
  member  experiencing  a condition described in category  (1) or (2); 
(4)  grieving, funeral/memorial  attendance, or financial/legal
  needs after  a death of a family  member; 
(5)  due to inclement  weather, power/heat/water  loss,
  or other unexpected occurrence, the employees  needs to either 
(a) evacuate  their residence,  or (b) care for a family  member whose school or place  of care was closed; or 
(6)  in a PHE, a public  of
ficial  
closed
 the

 workplace, or the school or place  of care of the employee’s child. 
Employer Policies (Notice; Documentation; Incremental Use; Privacy; and Paid Leave Records) 	
• Written  notice and posters.  Employers  must  (1)  provide  notice to	  new  employees  no later  than other  onboarding 
documents/policies;  and (2) display updated posters, and provide updated  notices to current employees, by end of year. 
•  Notice  for “foreseeable”  leave. Employers	
  may  adopt  “reasonable  procedures”  in	  writing as to how employees should 
provide notice  if they require “foreseeable”  leave, but 
cannot deny paid leave for noncompliance  with 
such  
a	
  policy. 
•  An  employer
 can  
r
equir e	

 documentation  to show  that accrued leave  was for a qualifying reason only if leave  was 
for four or more consecutive work days  (i.e. days when an employee would 
have  
worked,	
  not calendar days). 
•  Documentation  is
 not  
r
equir ed	

 to  take  accrued  leave, but can  be required  as	  soon as an employee returns to work or 
separates from work (whichever  is sooner). 
No documentation can be required for PHE leave. 
•  To  document  leave for an employee’	
 s (or  an employee’s  family member’s)  health-related  need, an employee  may 
provide:	
  (1)  a document  
from
 a  
health
 or	
  social  services  provider  if services  were received  and a document	  can  be 
obtained  in reasonable  time and without added expense; 
otherwise (2) the employee’s own writing. 
•  Documentation  as to  domestic  abuse, sexual	
  assault,  or criminal  harassment  can be a document  or writing	  under 
(1) above ( e.g. legal or 
shelter  
services	
  provider) or (2) above, or legal  document (restraining  order, police  report, etc.). 
•  If  an
 employer  
r
easonably  
deems	
  an  employee’s  documentation  deficient, the employer  must: (A) notify  the	  
employee  within seven days of either  receiving  the documentation  or the  employee’s  return to work  or separation 
(whichever is sooner), and (B) give the employee  at least seven days to cure the deficiency. 
•  Incremental Use. Depending on employer  policy
, 
employees  
can	
  use leave in either hourly or six-minute  increments. 	
• Employee Privacy. Employers  cannot require  employees  to disclose	  “details”  about an employee’s  (or their  family’s) 
HFWA-related health  or safety information;  such information must be treated as a confidential  medical record. 
•  Records  must be retained 	
 and provided upon request. Employers must provide documentation	  of the current  amount 
of  paid  leave  employees  have (1) available  for use,  and (2) already  used during  the current  benefit year, including  any 
supplemental  PHE leave. Information  may be requested once per month or when the need for HFWA leave  arises. 	
Retaliation or Interference with HFWA Rights 	
• Paid leave cannot be counted as an “absence” that may result in	  firing or another  kind of adverse action. 
•  An employee can’t be required to find a “replacement worker”
 or
 job	

 coverage when taking paid leave. 
•  An  employer
 cannot  
fir
e, 
thr
 eaten, or otherwise  retaliate against, or interfere  with use of leave  by, an  employee 
who:  (1) requests	
  or  takes  HFWA  leave; (2) informs  or assists  another  person in exercising  HFWA rights; (3) files  a 
HFWA complaint;  or (4) cooperates/assists  in investigation of a HFWA violation. 
•  If  an
 employee’ s
 r	

easonable, good-faith HFWA complaint, request, or other activity is incorrect, an employer  need 
not agree  	
or grant it, but cannot  act against the employee  for 
it.  
Employees	
  can face consequences for misusing	  leave. 	
PROTECTED HEALTH/SAFETY EXPRESSION &  WHISTLEBLOWING (“PHEW”): 	
Worker Rights to Express Workplace  Health/Safety Concerns & Use Protective  Equipment 	
Coverage: All Employers and Employees, Plus Certain Independent Contractors 	
• PHEW  covers not just  “employers”  and  “employees,”  but all “principals”  (an employer  or a business	  with  at least  5	  
independent  contractors) and “
workers” (employees  or independent contractors 
working
 for
 	
 a “principal”). 	
Worker Rights to Oppose Workplace Health/Safety Violations: 	
• It is unlawful to  retaliate against, or interfer	 e with, the following acts: 
(1)  raising  reasonable  concerns, including informally	
 , to  the	  principal,  other workers,  the government,  or the public, 
about workplace  violations of government  health or safety rules, or a significant  workplace health or safety threat; 
(2)  opposing  or testifying,  assisting,
 or  
participating
 in  
an	
  investigation  or proceeding  about	  retaliation  for, or 
interference  with, the above-listed  conduct. 
•  A  principal
 need  
not
 address  
a	
  worker’s  PHEW-related  concern, but it still  cannot  fire or take  other  action  against the 
worker 	
for raising	
 such a concern,  as long as the concern  was reasonable and in good-faith. 	
Workers’ Rights to Use Their Own Personal Protective Equipment (“PPE”): 	
• A  worker  must be allowed  to  voluntarily  wear their own PPE  (mask,	  faceguard,  gloves, etc.) 	 if the PPE (1) provides 
more  pr
otection  than 
equipment
 provided  
at	
  the  workplace,	  (2)  is recommended  by a government  health agency 
(federal,	
  state, or local),  and (3) does not make  the worker 
unable to do the job. 	
COMPLAINT RIGHTS (under both HFWA & PHEW) 	
• Report violations  to the Division  as complaints or anonymous tips,  or file in court after  exhausting pre-lawsuit remedies. 	
This Poster summarizes two Colorado workplace  public health laws:  C.R.S. § 8-13.3-401 et  seq., (paid  leave)	, and C.R.S. § 8-14.4-101 et  seq. (healthy and safety  whistleblowing) including  amendments current as of the date of this poster. 
It  does not  cover other health or safety laws, rules, and  orders, including under the federal Occupational  Safety and Health  Act (OSHA), from  the Colorado  Department  of Public Health and Environment  (CDPHE), or from  local public 
health agencies. Contact  those agencies for such  health and safety information. 	
*In a PHE, employees gain additional  hours of lea	 ve for inability  to work, testing, quarantining, caring for family  in such  situations, and related  needs. No PHE is now in effect; this poster will  be updated  if one is declared. 	
This poster must be displayed where easily accessible to workers, shared with remote workers, provided in other languages as needed, and replaced with any annually updated versions. 
This Poster is a summary and cannot be relied on as complete labor law information. For all rules, fact sheets, translations, questions, or complaints, contact: 	
DIVISION OF LABOR STANDARDS & STATISTICS,  ColoradoLaborLaw.gov, [email protected] , 303-318-8441 / 888-390-7936.