Colorado Amends the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act

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Patricia Tsipras

June 15, 2023

On June 2, 2023, Colorado amended its Healthy Families and Workplaces Act to expand the reasons for which Colorado workers can use paid sick leave. See 2023 Bill Text CO S.B. 17. Under the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act, eligible employees accrue paid sick leave at a rate of at least one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours per year.

Currently, Colorado workers may use their paid sick leave for:

• a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition that prevents work
• obtaining preventive medical care (including a vaccination), or a medical diagnosis, care, or treatment, of any mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition
• 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
• 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 the above categories
• 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

The amendments will allow workers to use paid sick leave:

• to grieve, attend funeral services or a memorial, or deal with financial and legal matters that arise after the death of a family member
• 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
• 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

The law defines family member as:

• an employee’s immediate family member (i.e., a person who is related by blood, marriage, civil union, or adoption)
• a child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis or a person who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee was a minor
• a person for whom the employee is responsible for providing or arranging health- or safety-related care

The amendments become effective on August 7, 2023.  Employers should update their sick leave policies and workplace posters to address the new grounds on which workers are entitled to use accrued paid leave.

The author of this article, Patricia Tsipras, is a member of the Bar of Pennsylvania. This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice in Colorado, or Pennsylvania, or any other jurisdiction, nor does it establish an attorney-client relationship with any reader of the article where one does not exist. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.