On May 22, 2019, Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed into law the Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (CEPEWA) which became effective January 1, 2021. Click here to read the Act.

The Equal Pay for Equal Work Act requires:

• equal pay for substantially similar work
• pay and benefits in job postings
• notification of opportunities for promotion
• protection for employees to share information about pay
• employers cannot use prior pay information to set an employee's pay

How has the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act impacted YOU?
Please share your story.
Advocates for pay equity in Colorado want to learn from community members who work in Colorado, employers, and job seekers. Groups involved include 9to5 Colorado, The Women's Foundation of Colorado, Colorado Women's Bar Association, Towards Justice, Interfaith Alliance, Colorado Fiscal Institute, COLOR, and Colorado Plaintiff Employment Lawyers Association.

Thanks for helping us learn about your experience with Colorado's equal pay law! Questions for us? Please contact louisem@wfco.org.

Esta encuesta está disponible en español aquí // This survey is available in Spanish here.

RESOURCES

The Colorado Women's Bar Association (CWBA) has created a guide to help educate employers about their obligations related to the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. This law provides an unprecedented opportunity to close the gender pay gap and build a more equitable economy in Colorado. Please share! Download the guide here. Download the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Pay and Promotion Transparency Rules here.

The CWBA and The Women's Foundation of Colorado also presented an information webinar for employers in August 2020 called, "The Ins and Outs of the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act." A recording of the webinar is available here and resources about the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act are included below.  A related informational webinar for employees was offered in January 2021 called, "EMPLOYEES & JOBSEEKERS: Make Colorado's New Equal Pay for Equal Work Act Work for You." The recording of this webinar is available here. 

Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (CEPEWA) Resources

• EPEWA Senate Bill 19-085 (Colorado General Assembly)
• Colorado Department of Labor & Employment (CDLE) resources, including rules, employee complaint form, fact sheets, and webinars
• “Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act: What Employment Counsel Need to Know” (Colorado Lawyer, October 2019) 
• “How Companies Can Start Preparing Now for Colorado’s New Equal Pay Law” by Katica Roy (Pipeline, August 3, 2020)
• Colorado Nonprofit Association Nonprofit Pro Bono Legal Assistance Group
• Research on the Economic Status of Women in Colorado, with pay gap data, from 2018 and 2015 (Institute for Women’s Policy Research)

Please stay in touch with us for updates and future news about EPEWA changes or legislative action.

                                                                               Photo Credit: Peggy O'Neill-Jones

We are so grateful to our bill sponsors Senator Jessie Danielson, Senator (now U.S. Representative) Brittany Pettersen, Representative (now Senator) Janet Buckner, and Representative Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez; to the many bill co-sponsors and partners; and all of you for your work on this bill! Thank you for calling, texting, emailing, and testifying for its support.

Past Events

April 30, 2019:  SB19-085 the EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK ACT WAS PASSED BY THE SENATE AND IS ON ITS WAY TO THE GOVERNOR!!! 

Action Alert! April 15, 2019:  Contact your House Representatives. 

Facebook Live Monday, April 22 at 12:30 p.m.!

State Rep Janet Buckner and Representative Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez, HD4 are proud to be the House Co-Prime sponsors on the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (SB19-085). Join them for a Facebook Live Town Hall on Monday, April 22 at 12:30 PM to directly ask the Representatives questions related to the Act.

SB 19-085: The Equal Pay for Equal Work Act was introduced January 18, 2019. 

View our Equal Pay Day photo album on Facebook.

RESOURCES

• Fact sheet outlining the key provisions of the bill.
• Action Alert to share with your networks.
• Social Media Digital Toolkit
  
• Download the Pipeline Equity for All™ report
• Podcast by Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck:  Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck Employment Shareholder Lisa Hogan discusses Colorado Senate Bill 85, the Equal Pay For Equal Work Act, with proponent Charlotte Sweeney. Lisa and Charlotte, who tend to be on opposite sides in employment cases, try to unpack the complicated issue of equal pay and the possible impacts of this proposed legislation. 
• CBS News: Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff Leading By Example to Close The Gender Pay Gap
• "3 Gender Equity Predictions for 2019" by Katica Roy for Forbes; February 13, 2019
• The CWBA’s work on equal pay was highlighted with an article in the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations (NCWBA) April newsletter.