The Details
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) has issued final regulations clarifying employer responsibilities regarding recordkeeping, youth labor, and paid leave. The changes took effect on Feb. 1, 2026.
Background
In 2025, the Colorado General Assembly passed a number of laws amending statutes implemented by the Colorado Overtime Minimum Pay Standards Order (COMPS Order), including House Bill 1001, which amended the Colorado Wage Act (CWA).
Highlights of Amended COMPS Order Regulations
Recordkeeping Requirements
Currently, the regulations required every employer to keep at the place of employment, or at the employer’s principal place of business in Colorado, a true and accurate record for each employee, which contains the following information:
- Name, address, occupation, and date of hire of the employee
- Date of birth, if the employee is under 18 years of age
- Daily record of all hours worked
- Record of credits claimed and of tips
- Regular rates of pay, gross wages earned, withholdings made, and net amounts paid each pay period.
The amended regulations clarify that employers must also keep a record of:
- All vacation pay hours accrued, used, and available for use during the current benefit year, if any; and
- All Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA) leave or sick leave hours accrued, used, and available for use during the current benefit year (to the extent these hours are tracked separately from vacation hours).
The definition of “vacation pay” has the same definition as that set forth in Wage Protection Rule 2.17, and as such, includes all forms of paid leave.
The amended rules also establish a standard for employee access to information about vacation pay similar to an employee’s access to information about HFWA paid sick leave.
Specifically, upon an employee’s request, an employer must provide (in writing or electronically) documents sufficient to show, or a dated statement containing, vacation pay hours accrued, used, and available for use during the current benefit year.
Employees may make such requests no more than once per month, or more frequently as provided by an employer policy.
Employers may choose a reasonable system for fulfilling such requests, including, but not limited to, listing such information on each pay statement, using an electronic system that allows employees to access their own information, or providing the necessary information in a letter or electronic communication.
Other COMPS Order Changes and Clarifications
Other changes to the COMPS Order regulations include:
- Updating the definition of “employer” to include “each individual who owns or controls at least 25 percent of the ownership interests in an employer” unless that minority owner “demonstrates full delegation of its authority to control day-to-day operations of the employer.”
- Clarifying the definitions of “minor” and “emancipated minor.”
- Highlighting the legal requirements for minimum wage, overtime pay, or other wage requirements and the CDLE’s authority to enforce those requirements. For example, direct care workers must be paid the Direct Care Base Wage.
- Identifying the requirements for paying minors a reduced minimum wage.
- Clarifying the definition of “minor” for the purposes of the overtime rule.
- Noting that the $3.02 tip credit applies statewide, and that a greater tip credit may be authorized by a local government with a higher minimum wage, as long as the tipped minimum wage for any such locality is at least the state tipped minimum wage (the state minimum wage less the $3.02 tip credit).
Wage Protection Rules: Changes and Clarifications
The CDLE also amended and clarified its Wage Protection Rules, effective Feb. 1, 2026. For example, the amended regulations clarify how sick leave pay should be calculated under the HFWA in specific scenarios, such as when an employee is paid:
- Solely on a salary, commission, or piece-rate basis
- A wage and commissions
- Multiple hourly rates
Review the amended Wage Protection Rules for details.
Next Steps
Colorado employers should review the regulations in full and ensure that their policies and practices comply.