Tag Archive for: bonus

CDLE publishes searchable index of its citations and appeals

HR professionals and employment lawyers will have noticed that the CDLE has become increasingly active in Colorado employment law issues in recent years. Are you curious what the agency is actually doing as it enforces this crop of Colorado laws? The CDLE is helpfully publishing a searchable index of its citations and appeals.

Available keyword searches include the following:

Advances Business Closure Division Authority Final Wages Pay Periods Retaliation – PHEW Tip Posting Requirement
Agreed Wage/Rate Calculations of Wages/Hours Division Notices/Filings Fine Pay Statements Retaliation – Wages Tip Sharing / Notice Requirement
Alleged Waiver Commissions Draws Handbooks/Manuals Penalties Retaliation Only Tips/Gratuities
Apparent Authority Compensable Time Employee/Contractor Joint Employment Physical Disability Sub-minimum Wage Settlement Vacation Pay / PTO
Bankruptcy Compliance Order Employee/Volunteer Local Minimum Wage Records of Time Worked Sick Pay – 2020 Willful
Benefits COMPS EAP Duties Test Employer Coverage Meal Break/Meal Periods Reduction in Pay Sick Pay – After 2020
Bonuses COMPS Rest Periods Deductions Minimum Wage Reprisal Staffing/Temp Agencies
Bounced Check COMPS Tipped MW 80/20 application Employer Individual Liability Notice of Rights & Posters Retaliation – COMPS Statutory Interpretation
Breaks/Rest Periods Contract Equal Pay – Transparency Overtime Retaliation – HFWA Termination
Burden of Proof Direct Investigation Exemptions Paid Time Off (PTO) Retaliation – Other Third-Party Payments

An example of the kind of information that might be of interest to employers is this recent Notice of Fine For Non-Compliance With Division Orders And Order To Respond issued to one employer apparently based on the CDLE’s own review of the employer’s public job posting, in light of recent Colorado job-posting transparency requirements. There the CDLE discusses its view of specific posting requirements and the proper level of related fines.

The CDLE deserves credit for making this index available and searchable. Employers, individuals and their counsel will benefit from being able to search and find how the CDLE is applying the many laws it now has jurisdiction to enforce.

White House clears path for offers of paid time-off for vaccinations

The White House announced a tax credit for companies who wish to offer paid time-off for employees to be vaccinated. The credit is available to employers with fewer than 500 employees, and permits up to 80 hours/10 days of paid time off, up to $511 per day.

This new credit is not only welcome for employers seeking to avail themselves of it, but it also helps alleviate confusion over an employer’s ability to offer pay for time-off to be vaccinated.

CDLE issues revised INFO #6A

The CDLE has issued a revised INFO #6A, which is its summary explaining the aspects of Colorado’s new sick leave law taking effect 1/1/2021. The CDLE summarized its changes to INFO #6A, as follows:

(1) Pg. 1: In the list of 3 situations that qualify for leave, a non-substantive wording change to category #3 (leave to care for another person) aims to make clearer that it applies when the person being cared for meets the category #2 definition (being ordered/instructed to quarantine/isolate, due to a risk of COVID-19, by a government agent or health provider).

(2) Pg. 1, footnote 3: As to what is and is not a “bonus” excluded from the regular pay rate that applies to paid leave in 2020, footnote 3 has been added to cite, and explain the answer in, the federal rule that applies to 2020 leave.

(3) Pg. 2: An “Example” of the CBA exemption was deleted because stakeholders have expressed differing views of the exemption that warrant consideration before the Division decides whether to adopt any interpretation.

(4) Pg. 3: An elaboration to the paragraph on how “Policies by any name can comply” cites and explains the federal rule that applies to 2020 leave, which draws a key distinction between employer policies that existed prior to April 1, 2020, and those adopted after that date.

(5) Pg. 2-3: Non-substantive citation edits — without changing any wording, numerical citations were added to the federal rules on what documentation (29 C.F.R. 826.100) and notice (29 C.F.R. 826.90) employees can be asked to provide, and numbers were corrected in two HFWA citations (to the 8-13.3-416 provision against waiver of rights, and the 8-13.3-418 provision recognizing employer rights against employee misconduct).

Of these, item 2 may be of particular interest, in that the CDLE revised INFO 6A to provide that, while on paid leave, sick leave must include payment of any “non-discretionary pay based on pre-determined criteria or formulae (e.g., by production or accuracy), whether called a piece rate, bonus, incentive, or other name.” In other words, in contrast what had seemed clear language in the new statute and in conflict with its prior INFO #6A, the CDLE has — without undertaking rulemaking — decided to re-interpret these new laws as excluding from required sick leave only “discretionary” bonuses.