Leave - Colorado

Jury duty

Colorado law requires all regularly employed trial or grand jurors must be paid regular wages not to exceed fifty dollars per day by their employers for the first three days of juror service.

Voting

For general, primary, congressional, and municipal elections, Colorado law allows an employee up to two hours to vote. The time off for voting can be at the beginning or end of the regular working shift, if the employee so requests. Deductions of pay are allowed for periods of more than two hours. Employee must give notice that time off for voting is needed. This time off for voting doesn’t apply if there are three or more hours between the time of opening and the time of closing of the polls and the employee is not employed on the job.

Domestic violence/crime leave

Employers with 50 or more employees must allow an employee who has worked for the employer for 12 months or more to request or take up to three working days of leave from work in any 12-month period, with or without pay, if the employee is a victim of domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or any other crime including an act of domestic violence. The employee must be using leave to protect himself or herself by:

• Seeking a civil protection order to prevent domestic abuse;
• Obtaining medical care or mental health counseling or both for himself or herself or for his or her children to address physical or psychological injuries resulting from the act of domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or other crime involving domestic violence;
• Making his or her home secure from the perpetrator of the act of domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or other crime involving domestic violence or seeking new housing to escape the perpetrator;
• Seeking legal assistance to address issues arising from the act of domestic abuse, stalking, sexual assault, or other crime involving domestic violence, and attending and preparing for court-related proceedings arising from the act or crime.

Employees seeking leave must provide appropriate advance notice and documentation as may be required by the employer or the employer's policy.

Before receiving leave, employees must exhaust any and all annual or vacation leave, personal leave, and sick leave, if applicable, that may be available, unless the employer waives this requirement.

In addition, an employer may not discharge or discipline an employee who is a victim or who is a member of a victim's immediate family for honoring a subpoena to testify in a criminal proceeding or for participating in the preparation of a criminal proceeding. (CO Rev. Stat. Sec. 24-4.1-303(8))

Parental involvement in education

Employees of private and public employers may take leave for attending their children’s “academic activities.” There are no eligibility criteria except that the individual must work for working for a covered employer as defined in the federal FMLA (50 or more employees) and be the parent or legal guardian of child enrolled in Kindergarten through the 12th grade.

“Academic activity” means meetings or conferences regarding the employee’s child or any child for whom the employee has primary legal responsibility, including: a parent-teacher conference; or a meeting related to special education services, response to intervention, dropout prevention, attendance, truancy, or disciplinary issues.

Employers may restrict the leave in no greater than three-hour increments and may limit such leave to six hours per month and 18 hours per academic year. Employers may limit the ability of an employee to take such leave in cases of emergency or where the absence would result in a halt of service or production.

Employers may require that the employee provide written verification from the school or school district of the academic activity. The employee must make reasonable attempts to schedule the activities outside of regular work hours, and must provide the employer with a notice at least one calendar week in advance. In cases of emergency, the employee must provide as much notice as possible.

Leave taken does not have to be paid, but employees may use vacation, sick leave, or other paid leave to the same extent that they can use such leave for other purposes.

Volunteer firefighter leave

Employees who respond to emergency situations instead of reporting to work are entitled to up to 15 days of job-protected, unpaid leave per calendar year.

There are some considerations, however.

• The employee cannot be essential to the operation of the employer’s daily enterprise.
• The employer has received written documentation from the fire chief notifying the employer of the employee’s status as a volunteer firefighter.
• The emergency is within the response area and is of such magnitude that the employee must respond.
• The employee provides a written statement from the fire chief that the absence was due to the response, verifying the time, date, and duration of the response.
• No more than 20 percent of the company workforce is taking such leave on a given workday.