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Colorado Implements Equal Pay Law...Effective January 1, 2021


A week or two ago, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed the Equal Pay For Equal Work Act into law which is set to take effect January 1, 2021.

This new legislation prohibits employers in the state from paying their employees different wages based upon an employee’s sex or the basis of sex in connection with another protected status (ie disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, age, national origin, or ancestry) unless one of the Act’s exceptions applies.  As well, employers will be prohibited from asking about an applicant’s wage rate history or discriminating or retaliating against an applicant for failing to disclose their wage rate history.

As noted, there are certain exceptions provided for by the Act that allow an employer to pay different wages based on sex if the employer is able to establish the difference in wages is reasonably based upon any of the following factors:  a seniority system; a merit system; a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; the geographic location of where the work is performed; education, training, or experience to the extent they are reasonably related to the work in question; or travel if the travel is a regular and necessary condition of the work performed.

In addition, once the Act takes effect in 2021, employers will be required to announce to all employees employment advancement opportunities and job openings (and the pay range of the job openings.)  Further, employers will be required to maintain records of job descriptions and wage rate history for each employee for the duration of their employment, plus two years.

For those aggrieved employees, they will have a two year statute of limitations for their claims under the Act.  Notably, a violation of the Act occurs each time a person is paid a discriminatory wage rate. Accordingly, employees are entitled to recover both economic and liquidated damages along with their attorney’s fees and other equitable relief.  One benefit extended to employers is a good faith defense in so much that they can avoid paying liquidated damages if they can show that they had a reasonable basis for believing their pay rates were not in violation of the Act.

With over a year and a half until the Act takes effect, employers in Colorado would be wise to start implementing steps to ensure they are in compliance with the Act by January 1, 2021.


For additional information:  https://www.natlawreview.com/article/colorado-enacts-equal-pay-equal-work-law-effective-2021

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