2025 Updated Version

Colorado employee handbook

Table of Contents

Colorado-specific policies to include

Federal handbook policies

Additional content and policies to include

Colorado labor law posters

Colorado pay transparency law

Colorado handbook policies

Colorado employee handbook overview

Your Colorado employee handbook must include both state-specific and federal policies. Whether your employees are all located in Colorado or just a few, you must provide a Colorado-specific handbook to ensure that they understand the policies and rights granted to them by their state.

Please review the required state policies for Colorado, federally required policies, and other optional policies below.

What should be included in a Colorado employee handbook?

While there are many policies required for all states that you will need to include in your Colorado Employee Handbook, below are policies that Colorado specifically requires employers to include in their handbooks.

Every handbook should include Federal, State, and (if applicable) City-specific policies. Below are Colorado-specific policies that should be included in your handbook.

Colorado Paid Sick Leave: The Colorado Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA) requires employees to accrue 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, to care for themselves or a family member. This applies to all companies, regardless of size.

Colorado Non-Harassment Policy: Colorado’s POWR Act spells out a non-harassment policy as well as limits on nondisclosure agreements and adds new standards for record-keeping.

Colorado Pregnancy Accommodations Policy: Reasonable accommodations are expected to be provided for employees experiencing pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.

Colorado Lactation Accommodations Policy: Reasonable accommodations are expected to be provided for nursing mothers.

Colorado Volunteer Emergency Response Leave Policy:Employers are required to provide employees who are qualified volunteers with up to 15 days of unpaid leave to respond to an emergency.

Colorado Employee Personnel File Policy: Employers are required to provide rules regarding accessing and copying personnel records.

Colorado Rest and Meal Break Policy: Non-exempt employees are provided with a 10-minute paid break for every four hours of work, as well as a 30-minute unpaid meal break for shifts over 5 hours.

Colorado Domestic Abuse Leave Law Policy: Employers are required to provide leave for employees who are victims of domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or any other crime related to domestic abuse.

Colorado School Involvement Leave Policy: Employers are required to provide unpaid leave for employees to attend their children’s school activities for companies with 50 or more employees.

Colorado Military Leave Policy: Leave for Colorado National Guard, Civil Air Patrol, and other qualified services is required to be provided for employees.

Colorado Family Medical Leave Policy: Employers are required to provide employees with leave to care for themselves and family members when sickness, childbirth, military deployments other covered circumstances arise.

Colorado Voting Leave Policy: Employers are required to provide employees with up to two hours of paid leave to vote if there are not more than three nonworking hours during the time the polls are open.

Colorado Jury Duty Policy: Employees who are summoned for jury duty must be allowed to serve and will be paid regular wages, but not to exceed fifty dollars per day, unless by mutual agreement between the employee and the company.

Create your Colorado employee handbook now

Federal Policies

Don’t forget about Federal Policies

There are policies required by federal law in all 50 states, and so they must be included in your handbook no matter what state your employees are based in. Some of the most important policies are outlined here, however, all federal policies should be included in your handbook.

Equal Employment and Anti-Discrimination Policy
Sexual Harassment Policy
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy (required for companies with 50 or more employees)
Military Service Leave
Get the full list of federal policies from the free handbook template builder

Additional Policies

Other Policies to Include in Your Colorado Employee Handbook

Workplace Violence
Employee Conduct and Work Rules
Conflict of Interest and Business Ethics
Receipt of Non-Harassment Policy
Receipt of Sexual Harassment Policy
Health and Safety
Confidential Company Information
Insurance
Workers’s Compensation
Open Door Policy
Equipment and Property Including Intellectual Property
Sick Days
No Solicitation / No Distribution
Benefits Overview
Use of Communication and Computer Systems
Punctuality and Attendance
Holidays
Vacation Benefits
Benefits
Working Schedule
Employment Records
Inspections
Smoking
Pay Day
Overtime
Timekeeping
Employee Categories
Performance Reviews
Lactation Breaks
Direct Deposit
Company Vehicles
Personal and Company Owned Communication Devices
Personal Visitors and Telephone Calls
Hiring Relatives
Business Expense Reimbursement
Social Media Policy
Introductory Period
General Handbook Acknowledgment
References

Employee handbook requirements by state

Click on a state to learn more about policies and recommendations.

Poster Requirements

Colorado labor law posters

Understanding labor law poster requirements can be a bit like trying to decode a complex puzzle. You need to comply with both state and federal requirements.

Why Should I Care About Displaying Posters?

You might be wondering why it's so important to display these posters in the first place. State and Federal laws mandate that employers must have up-to-date labor law posters conspicuously displayed for their employees. Failing to do so not only results in steep fines (up to $35,000 in federal fines and additional state fines) but also exposes you to real liability.

Consider this scenario: if an employee decides to bring a lawsuit against your company, and you don't have the required posters or they are outdated, you could face even more significant problems:

Statute of Limitations: Normally, there's a limited window within which an employee can file a lawsuit against you. However, if you didn't inform your employees of their rights through proper poster display, a court might decide that the statute of limitations doesn't apply.

Operating in Bad Faith: Courts may determine that you were intentionally withholding information from your employees, which could lead to a finding that you were operating in bad faith. This can substantially increase your liability.

What Are the Requirements for Displaying Labor Law Posters?

Labor law posters must be displayed at every physical location where you have employees, and they need to be conspicuously displayed for all to see.

If you have a hybrid workplace with both in-person and remote employees, you'll need physical posters at your facilities and electronic distribution to your off-site workers.
For fully remote companies, you can distribute posters electronically by sharing a permanent link to the appropriate posters.
Some posters also need to be visible to job applicants, such as FMLA, Equal Employment Opportunity, and Employee Polygraph Protection posters, as per the guidance provided by the Department of Labor.

What Labor Law Posters Do I Need to Display?

You'll need both Federal and State labor law posters for each state where you have employees. The good news is that all the posters you need are provided for free by the federal government and state departments of labor. You've probably seen those convenient "all-in-one" laminated posters, but if you prefer, everything you need is also available as a free, printable document from the Colorado Department of Labor.

Federal Poster Requirements

Determining which federal posters you're required to display can be influenced by various factors, including your industry, the size of your company, benefits you provide and union affiliation.

The good news is that there's a handy tool to help you understand precisely which federal posters your company needs. You can use the Federal Poster Advisor tool to determine your specific federal poster requirements.

Colorado Labor Law Poster Requirements

You can refer to the Colorado Department of Labor for free, printable posters.

Download Colorado labor law posters here

Pay Transparency

Colorado pay transparency law

Pay transparency laws mandate that employers disclose salary ranges for positions to job applicants, and sometimes even to existing employees. The primary objectives of these laws are to reduce gender and racial wage gaps and to foster a more equitable and competitive job market. These laws vary in terms of scope, with some applying to all employers and others targeting businesses of a certain size or type.

Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act requires all job postings to include a salary range and a general description of benefits.
This law applies to all employers, regardless of size, and includes remote positions that could be filled by a Colorado resident.
Effective as of January 1, 2024
Penalties for non-compliance range from $500-10,000 per violation.

Learn more about pay transparency laws by state

Let’s build this thing!

What’s included with the handbook builder

Creating a new handbook only takes a few minutes. And it’s easy. You can get started by answering a few interactive questions about your company. A few examples:

How many employees do you have?
Do you have employees in multiple states?
Do you have an introductory period for new employees?
Do you offer paid holidays?
What is your payroll schedule?

Create your Colorado handbook

Company culture

Communicating your company culture

In all businesses, building a strong company culture can be essential to boosting morale and aligning employees. Arguably, it is even more key for small businesses. With a small team, the impact of a strong culture is made more apparent. Here are some important things to remember when building a strong company culture.

Evaluate Your Current Culture

Since company culture is primarily determined at the top, here are some key questions to ask your leadership team to evaluate where your culture currently stands:

Are we open about how things work at our company?
Do our employees know what is expected of them?
Do we value our employee’s feedback?
How do we demonstrate that our employees are valued?
What are our company values?
Do we clearly express these values?

Set Your Goals

From your answers to the previous questions, pinpoint what is lacking and make goals to improve on those areas. This could mean having clearer communication for employee expectations, defining company values, or creating monthly team-building activities to build morale.

Respecting Employee’s Work-Life Balance

A large part of communicating that your company values its employees is demonstrating respect for their lives outside of work. A strong employee handbook can allow this to be done in a clear, effective way. Company leaders should detail expectations, but also be open about their own work-life balance to build transparency. Trust is key in a great company, and when leaders show genuine empathy for employee responsibilities at home, a foundation for transparency and cooperation is built.

The Link Between Culture and Happiness

Many surveys and analyses of employee feedback indicate that the majority of employees care as much about the culture of the company they work for as their salary. In small companies, culture is frequently undervalued. In order to reduce turnovers and increase recruitment, companies need to understand that there is a link between strong culture and the one important question employees think about regularly: “Am I happy working here?”.

Understanding and Communicating Your Company’s Culture

In order to effectively communicate your company’s culture, you need to understand it. By asking your team the right questions, setting goals, and valuing employees, you can be sure to be on the right track.

Communicating this culture is an essential next step toward aligning with your employees. Not every culture is a good fit for every employee, and being honest upfront is important for making sure you are hiring employees best aligned not only with the skills a company requires, but the culture of the workplace. Research shows that when looking for a job, 77% of people polled would consider a company’s culture and work atmosphere before applying. By clearly communicating your company culture up front, you can ensure that more candidates who align with your team values will apply for a position.

Creating an editable handbook