Tue, 12/29/2020
On January 1, 2021, as the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act and the Colorado Department of Labor’s implementing rules go into effect, Colorado will usher in a new era of wage transparency and protections against wage discrimination by employers. See H.B. 18-1375 (Colo. 2019) (enacted); Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 8-5-101 to 8-5-203; 7 C.C.R. 1103-13 (Nov. 10, 2020 Equal Pay Transparency Rules “EPT Rules”) (available at: https://cdle.colorado.gov).
In fashioning the Act, the Colorado legislature took notice of several troubling statistics showing a striking gender wage gap in the state’s workforce. See S.B. 19-085 (Colo. 2019). Citing a March 2018 report by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and the Woman’s Foundation of Colorado (fact sheet available at: https://www.wfco.org), the legislature noted that women in Colorado “earn just 86 cents for every dollar men earn,” that “Latinas earn 53.5 cents and black women earn 63.1 cents for every dollar earned by white men,” and that eliminating the wage gap in Colorado would lead to a raise of approximately $7,000 per year on average for working women in Colorado.
As signed into law in May of 2019, the Act will prohibit wage discrimination on the basis of sex and allow employees to seek assistance from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment or file suit in court for “economic damages” plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, costs and attorneys’ fees, and other “[l]egal and equitable relief.” Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 8-5-103, 8-5-104, 8-5-203 (2021). The Act also prohibits employers from asking for (or relying on) prospective employees’ prior wage rate when hiring, requires employers to take reasonable efforts to announce promotional opportunities to all employees on the same calendar day, requires employers to disclose hourly/salary ranges and benefits for each opening, and requires employers to keep detailed records of job descriptions and wage history. See Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 8-5-102(d), 8-5-201, 8-5-202 (2021).
The November 10, 2020 Equal Pay Transparency (“EPT”) Rules set forth the procedures for submitting complaints to the Colorado Department of Labor and clarify several of the Act’s transparency/recordkeeping requirements. For example, the EPT Rules require promotional announcements (1) to be in writing, (2) to include the job title, compensation and benefits, and (3) to include information on how an employee can apply for the new position. 7 C.C.R. 1103-13, Rule 4.2.2. Significantly, the EPT Rules also require that employers notify employees of all promotional opportunities, regardless of whether the employee meets the minimum qualifications for that posting. 7 C.C.R. 1103-13, Rule 4.2.4. The EPT Rules also provide exceptions to the Act’s notice requirements for confidentiality, automatic promotion after trial period, temporary/acting/interim hires, and employees, jobs, or postings entirely outside Colorado. 7 C.C.R. 1103-13, Rule 4.2.5, Rule 4.3.
For more information on MSE’s efforts to secure equal pay for equal work, visit https://www.mselaborlaw.com/practice-areas/metoo-in-the-workplace. If you believe your employer has discriminated against you on the basis of sex, contact us at info@mselaborlaw.com or 202-833-8855.
