Colorado General Assembly Passes New Laws Applicable to Employers

The Colorado General Assembly passed several new laws with which employers will need to comply. This article discusses HB26-1207, related to employer disclosure of demographic workforce data to the state; HB26-1272, which is aimed at protecting workers from extreme temperatures; HB26-1283, which sets forth new prohibitions related to employees’ identification documents; and SB26-189, amending Colorado law regarding employer use of automated decision-making technology.

New Laws for Colorado Employers

HB26-1207: Disclosure of Demographic Workforce Data

HB26-1207 requires private entities conducting business in Colorado that employ 100 or more workers to submit EEO-01 demographic workforce data currently collected by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to the Colorado Secretary of State in the entities’ periodic reports, even if the EEOC ceases to collect that information.

HB26-1207 takes effect on August 12, 2026*, but employers must comply with the new law beginning on July 1, 2027. HB26-1207 is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. § 7-90-501.

HB26-1272: Extreme Temperatures Worker Protections 

HB26-1272 requires the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics (the Division) in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) to begin collecting data about temperature-related injury or illness or temperature-related emergencies at worksites by January 15, 2027. A “heat-related injury or illness” is defined by the new law to mean a serious medical condition resulting from the body’s inability to cope with heat stress. Signs and symptoms of heat-related injury or illness may include headache, nausea, weakness, dizziness, elevated body temperature, muscle cramps, and muscle pain or spasms. A “temperature-related injury or illness” means cold- or heat-related injury or illness, or both.

The Division is further charged with developing a platform on the CDLE’s website where users can report temperature-related injury or illness or temperature-related emergencies and with collecting data from the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, the Division of Workers’ Compensation, and the Center for Improving Value in Health Care. By July 1, 2028, the Division is also required to develop a model temperature-related injury and illness prevention plan (TRIIPP) to be made available to the public on its website.

HB26-1272 takes effect on August 12, 2026* and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 8-14.4-101 and 18-14.4-101.5.

HB26-1283: Protections Regarding Seizures of Identification Documents

Subject to certain exceptions, an employer or an employer’s agent is prohibited from demanding, confiscating, retaining, or otherwise requiring an individual who is an employee, job applicant, or otherwise working for the employer (including a migrant worker or seasonal employee), to surrender the individual’s government-issued identification card. A person who knowingly violates the new law commits a class 2 misdemeanor. A person commits a bias-motivated crime, which is a class 1 misdemeanor, if the person violates the new law or provides, or threatens to provide, an individual’s government-issued identification document to federal immigration authorities with the intent to intimidate or harass another individual, in whole or in part, because of that individual’s actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national original, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, or transgender identity.

HB26-1283 is effective immediately and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 8-2-124.5, 18-5-903.5, and 18-9-121.

SB26-189: Automated Decision-Making Technology

SB26-189 replaces the Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence Act (SB24-205), which was set to take effect on June 1, 2026, in its entirety, and significantly decreases the burden on employers who use AI to make important employment decisions about hiring, job performance, compensation, and termination. The new law governs the deployment of automated decision-making technology (ADMT) used to “materially influence” a “consequential decision” and creates new notice and disclosure requirements for employers while providing employees with processes for challenging decisions made by ADMT. Employers who deploy covered ADMT must comply with SB26-189 by January 1, 2027. Failure to comply with the new law constitutes a deceptive trade practice under the CCPA, allowing the state Attorney General to assert claims against developers and deployers and impose expensive monetary penalties for each violation. Failure to comply may also constitute discrimination, subjecting developers and deployers to anti-discrimination claims. Notably, the Act does not create a private right of action for consumers.

SB26-189 takes effect on January 1, 2027, and is codified at Colo. Rev. Stat. §§ 6-1-1701 to 6-1-1709, 6-1-105, and 10-3-1104.9.

To learn more about SB26-189, read Colorado Legislature Passes New Law Governing Consumer Protections for Artificial Intelligence: What Employers Need to Know About SB26-189.

Our Team

BHGR’s Employment Group is well-versed in state and federal employment laws and regulations and routinely counsels our clients on compliance issues. If your business has questions about these new laws and how they may affect you as an employer, contact us today.

*All bills discussed in this article that are effective on August 12, 2026 are, in fact, effective on that date unless a referendum petition related to the new law is timely filed and voted on in the November 2026 general election. Should that happen, the new law will take effect on the date of the official declaration of the vote thereon by the governor.