Time off - Colorado

Adoption leave

Civil Air Patrol leave

An employee who is a member the Colorado Civil Air Patrol is entitled to an unpaid leave of absence of up to 15 days per year. Upon their return, employees must provide evidence to the employer of the satisfactory completion of the civil air patrol service.

They must also be reinstated to their positions with the same seniority, status, leave time and other benefits as if leave had not been not taken. Colorado Revised Statutes 28-1-105

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))

Family Care Act

This law takes the federal FMLA (employer coverage and employee eligibility provisions included) and tries to expand upon it by entitling eligible employees to take FMLA leave to care for a domestic partner or a partner in a civil union. These reasons do not otherwise qualify for leave under the federal FMLA.

The federal FMLA applies to private employers with 50 or more employees and all public employers. There is also a worksite provision under the federal law.

The state provisions indicate that leave taken under the state law run concurrent with leave taken under the federal FMLA. However, the federal FMLA does not allow for leave taken to care for the same family members as does the state law. Therefore, leave taken under the state provisions is in addition to leave taken under the federal FMLA.

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.

Organ donation

Colorado's Living Organ Donor Support Act offers employers a tax credit when they provide a paid leave of absence for living organ donors for up to 10 work days. The time off is not mandated, and the credit does not apply to any period during which an employee uses any annual leave or sick days provided by the employer. Employers may not claim the tax credit for employees who earn more than $80,000 annually.

Paid time off (PTO)

The Colorado Wage Law does not require that vacation time be given. Colorado does not require paid vacation and does not require that an employer establish a vacation policy. An employer may establish a vacation policy in writing or by custom and practice. Employees must be made aware of the policy. Employers and employees must follow established policy unless and until that policy is changed. It is recommended that employers develop their vacation policy in consultation with legal counsel.

The Colorado Wage Law provides that vacation pay may be classified as wages or compensation. If an employer provides paid vacation, the employer shall pay upon separation from employment all vacation pay earned and determinable in accordance with the terms of any agreement between the employer and the employee.

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.

Pregnancy accommodations

All employers must provide reasonable accommodations for health conditions related to pregnancy or the physical recovery from childbirth to an applicant or employee so she can perform the essential functions of a job. The individual is generally expected to request an accommodation, if needed.

You need not provide an accommodation that would pose an undue hardship. You must, however, provide written notice of the rights under the law to new employees when they are hired, and post a notice in a conspicuous place at the worksite.

You may require an applicant or employee to provide a doctor’s note stating the necessity of a reasonable accommodation.

If an accommodation is requested, you and the employee must engage in an interactive process to determine an effective reasonable accommodation. You are not required to provide paid leave beyond that which is provided to similarly situated employees.

Unemployment after FMLA leave

Employees who exhaust FMLA leave are also eligible for unemployment benefits if they are separated from a job because the employee's family member is suffering from a disability that requires the employee to care for the family member for a period that exceeds FMLA leave or the employer's leave provisions.

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.

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.