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Putting the bow on Colorado’s 2025 Legislative Session

    May 27, 2025

    By Michael Santo, COSHRM Legislative Director and Managing Attorney at Bechtel & Santo

    The 120 day-journey of the Colorado Legislature came to a close on May 7, 2025, with a number of Employment/Human Resources bills now sitting on the Governor’s desk for signature. In fact, of the 25 Labor and Employment Bills identified on the General Assembly’s Labor and Employment website, which does not include a significant workers’ compensation bill that was identified on the General Assembly’s Health Care & Health Insurance website, only a handful were not passed by House and Senate. In short, Governor Polis has a lot of decisions to make in the next 30 days on some significant HR/Employment bills.

    Here’s a summary of some of the HR-related bills that are (or “were” in two cases) on the Governor’s desk.

    Worker Protection Collective Bargaining (SB25-005). By far the most talked about HR bill of this legislative session was the bill that would have repealed a Colorado labor law that has been in place since the early 1940s. The existing law, which is known as the Colorado Labor Peace Act, requires a union to win two votes approving the union, with the second requiring an affirmative vote of 75% of the employees, before all employees are required to pay dues. So, in short, in union elections in Colorado, there is one vote to form a union, and a second vote to collect mandatory fees for representing workers, which is different than every other state in the union where only one vote is required. Governor Polis said earlier this year that he would veto the bill if there weren’t any compromises made to it. Yet, SB25-005 showed up on his desk with nary a compromise, amendment, etc.  And the Governor, true to his word, vetoed the bill on May 16, 2025. So, for now, Colorado remains a two-vote state.

    Enforcement Wage Hour Law (HB25-1001).  This bill, which has now been signed by the Governor, will, among other things, raise the threshold for employees to file a wage claim with the Colorado Department of Labor.  The current threshold to file a wage claim with the Colorado Department of Labor is $7,500.  HB25-1001 will raise that threshold to $13,500, and this amount will increase every year in the future based on inflation. Also, if passed, this Bill will:

    • Greatly increase the penalties that can be imposed on organizations that incorrectly classify employees as independent contractors;
    • Limit remedies for organizations that have wage claims filed against it;
    • Permit the CDLE to publish on its website the names of all employers violating the Colorado wage law with relevant determination or written opinion and whether the violation was willful;
    • Permit the CDLE to report an employer it determined willfully violated the law, which remains unremedied for 60 days, to any government body with authority to deny, withdraw, or otherwise limit or impose remedial conditions on the employer’s license, permit, registration, or other credential.

    In short, while this bill does not amend the Colorado wage laws, it will greatly modify the way these claims are processed and the damages that can be imposed on employers.  

    Local Governments Tip Offsets for Tipped Employees (HB25-1208).  This Bill provides the opportunity for a city or county to increase the amount of tip offset associated with a local government’s minimum wage for restaurants where the city or county has raised the minimum wage above the state-required amount of $14.81 per hour. 

    Concerning Limitations On Restrictive Employment Agreements (SB25-083). This bill, if signed by the Governor, would take away an organization’s opportunity to have an agreement with a medical provider wherein upon leaving the organization, the provider must pay the organization for any damage suffered by the organization due to the provider leaving.  Further, if signed by the Governor, the Bill would also prohibit organizations from preventing providers from providing the provider’s current patients with information about where the provider plans to move the provider’s practice. 

    Workers' Compensation Benefits Proof of Entitlement (HB25-1300).  The bill provides injured workers control over the selection of their primary treating physician in workers' compensation cases, allowing them to choose from any Level I or Level II accredited physician through the Division of Workers' Compensation. The bill also creates the mechanism by which an injured worker may select the treating physician and requires the employer or insurer to choose the physician when an injured worker is unable or unwilling to select the treating physician.  In short, while current law permits organizations to offer injured workers a choice of four (4) physicians selected by the employer, this bill would require the employer to offer the employee a state-approved list of doctors to choose from.  If signed by the Governor, this bill would become effective in 2028. 

    In sum, it has not been a quiet legislative year for employment/HR bills in Colorado.  But as the old saying goes, “the only constant in the HR/Employment arena is change.”  And this year, it looks like there may be quite a few changes depending on what Governor Polis decides to do.