City of Denver Minimum Wage Increase
Effective January 1, 2023, the City of Denver minimum wage will increase from the current $15.87 per hour, to $17.29 per hour.
State law requires tipped employees like servers and bartenders can only be paid $3.02 an hour less than the minimum wage. If their tips don’t take them up to the actual minimum wage the employer must pay them in “tip credit make-up”.
State of Colorado Exempt Salary Wage Increase
Effective January 1, 2023, the State of Colorado exempt salary wage will increase from $865.38 per week ($45,000 per year) to $961.54 per week ($50,000 per year). Employees cannot be considered exempt if they earn less than this amount, annually, with limited exceptions (Outside Sales persons paid on a commission basis do not fall under these parameters).
Colorado FAMLI (Family and Medical Leave Insurance)
Colorado FAMLI (Family and Medical Leave Insurance) was voted into law by Colorado voters in November of 2020. This law will require that ALL Colorado employees have access to paid family leave for up to 12 weeks (16 for extenuating circumstances following childbirth) any of these circumstances (following 180 days of employment) EFFECTIVE 1/1/2024:
- Care for a new child, including adopted and fostered children
- Care for themselves, if they have a serious health condition
- Care for a family member’s serious health condition
- Make arrangements for a family member’s military deployment
- Address the immediate safety needs and impact of domestic violence and/or sexual assault.
Employers and their employees are both responsible for funding the program and may split the cost 50/50. The premiums are set to 0.9% of the employee’s wage, with .45% paid by the employer and .45% paid by the employee. Employers may also elect to pay the full amount if they choose to offer this as an added perk for their employees. THE PREMIUMS MUST BEGIN TO BE COLLECTED AS OF 1/1/2023, THOUGH BENEFITS CAN’T BE USED UNTIL 1/1/2024.
Businesses with nine or fewer employees do not have to contribute to the program, but do need to remit their employees’ share (.45%) of premium payments on behalf each quarter. This can be done through a simple payroll deduction. InTANDEM HR will handle the payroll deductions for each of our clients.
While an employee is on leave, any of their benefits must be maintained in the same manner with the same employer contribution, and their jobs must be held (so it is similar to FMLA in that manner, but impacts all of us and not just larger employers, like the FMLA).
Employers who offer their own paid leave program may apply for an exemption. Exemption applications will be reviewed to determine whether or not the employer’s private plan is adequately comparable to the benefits provided by the FAMLI program.
The state of Colorado has an AMAZING website to address our questions about FAMLI:
Colorado Secure Savers Program
The Colorado Secure Savers Program requires that any employer in the state of Colorado with five (5) or more employees, whom as an employer has been active for more than two years and does NOT ALREADY OFFER a qualified retirement program (like 401(k)), offer the Colorado Secure Savings program. This is an automatic enrollment program that places savings into a Roth IRA, which means that contributions are made with after-tax dollars. When you retire and start taking money out of your Roth IRA (like you’re paying yourself), there are no taxes. In other words, all the interest that your account earns over the years is tax-free.
Upon enrollment, employees will be opted into the default savings rate for Colorado Secure Savings: 5% of their gross pay. Beyond this, deferral rates may vary depending on how much you want to save each year. In addition, age, marital status, and income play a role in the amount that you can contribute. The new Colorado plans will “travel with” people even if they change jobs or leave the state. Keep in mind that the program is voluntary and flexible. Employees are not required to participate and can always cancel their participation at any time.