Equal Pay for Equal Work

What is it?

Effective 1/1/2021 Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPA) amended Colorado law and provides new wage discrimination and employer provisions that differ from federal law and other state equal pay laws. EPA applies to all employers and employees in the state of Colorado, both public and private. There are several components to EPA, some of the provisions are:

ÌýÌýÌý The Act requires providing notice of job openings and promotional opportunities, including the hourly or salary rate or range, and a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation offered to the hired applicant.
ÌýÌýÌý Prohibits using pay history for prospective employees by requiring that an employer shall not seek the wage rate history, or rely on the wage rate history, of a prospective employee to determine a wage rate.Ìý Discrimination or retaliation against a prospective employee for failing to disclose wage rate history is prohibit

  1. Prohibits wage discrimination by requiring that an employer shall not discriminate between employees on the basis of sex, or on the basis of sex in combination with another protected status, by paying an employee of one sex a wage rate less than the rate paid to an employee of a different sex for substantially similar work (based on a composite of skill; effort, which may include consideration of shift work; and responsibility), regardless of job title. A wage rate differential is permissible if at least one of the following factors accounts for the entire wage rate differential:
    • A seniority system;
    • A merit system;
    • A system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production;
    • The geographic location where the work is performed;
    • Education, training, or experience to the extent that they are reasonably related to the work in question;
    • or Travel, if the travel is a regular and necessary condition of the work performed.
  2. The Act requires providing notice of job openings and promotional opportunities, including the hourly or salary rate or range, and a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation offered to the hired applicant.
  3. Prohibits using pay history for prospective employees by requiring that an employer shall not seek the wage rate history, or rely on the wage rate history, of a prospective employee to determine a wage rate.Ìý Discrimination or retaliation against a prospective employee for failing to disclose wage rate history is prohibited.