Increasing Protections for Minor Workers

Beginning January 1, 2025, the act increases penalties for violations of the "Colorado Youth Employment Opportunity Act of 1971" (CYEOA) and requires that the monetary penalties collected be deposited into the wage theft enforcement fund. Entities that violate CYEOA must also pay specified damages to the individual who is aggrieved. The act eliminates a provision in current law penalizing a person, having legal responsibility for a minor, who knowingly permits the minor to be employed in violation of CYEOA. The director of the division of labor standards and statistics (director) is required to include a description of the penalties and damages owed in the written notice issued to an employer if CYEOA is violated. The division of labor standards and statistics (division) may reduce or decline to impose penalties or damages for violations of CYEOA if: The minor worker intentionally misled the employer with regard to the minor's age; and The employer engaged in outreach to a reliable third party to verify the minor worker's age if any reasonable employer could have believed that the minor worker might be under 18 years of age at the time of hiring. The act specifies that the receipt of an age certificate issued by the school superintendent of the district or county in which the worker resides constitutes outreach to a reliable third party. The division is required to treat all final orders issued for violations of CYEOA as public records and to release information related to a violation to the public upon request pursuant to the "Colorado Open Records Act", unless the director makes a determination that the information is a trade secret. The director may, or, at the request of the individual aggrieved, must, file a certified copy of a final order for a violation of CYEOA with the clerk of any court having jurisdiction over the parties at any time after the entry of the order. The act applies the state's discrimination and retaliation prohibitions to individuals attempting to exercise rights protected by CYEOA and creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliatory action if an entity engages in disciplinary or adverse action against an individual aggrieved within 90 calendar days after the individual exercises a right protected by CYEOA. For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $125,255 is appropriated to the department of labor and employment for use by the division to implement the act. APPROVED by Governor June 4, 2024 EFFECTIVE January 1, 2025(Note: This summary applies to this bill as enacted.)