Governor Jared Polis signed into law Senate Bill 23-017 on June 2, 2023. This Bill expands the reasons employees can use paid sick leave under Colorado’s Healthy Families & Workplaces Act (HFWA). They may now us it for qualifying bereavement and natural disaster-related reasons.
The current mandate under HFW requires that at a minimum, CO employees accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, to be accessed for any of these reasons:
1. A mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition that prevents work;
2. Obtaining preventive medical care (including a vaccination), or a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment, of any mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition;
3. Obtaining medical attention, mental health care or other counseling, legal or other victim services, or relocation required as a result of being a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or criminal harassment;
4. To care for a family member who has a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, or who needs the sort of care listed in categories 1-3;
5. Closure by a public official of the employee’s place of business or the employee’s child’s school or place of care due to a public health emergency (as defined by the law), requiring the employee to care for the child.
Effective August 7, CO employees may also take accrued sick leave for the following reasons:
6. To grieve, attend funeral services or a memorial, or deal with financial and legal matters that arise after the death of a family member;
7. To care for a family member whose school or place of care has been closed due to inclement weather, loss of power, loss of heating, loss of water, or other unexpected events; or
8. To evacuate the employee’s place of residence due to inclement weather, loss of power, loss of heating, loss of water, or other unexpected events.
InTANDEM HR will be updating all of our client’s Employee Handbooks to comply with this law, and will further update the PHEW poster once it is available through the state of Colorado. Contact your HR Generalist or the HR Director of InTANDEM HR if you are a client or employee with questions on this enhanced change to sick leave usage in Colorado.
