C.R.S. § 8-13.5-101 Short title
8-13.5-101. Short title. The short title of this part 1 is the "Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act".
Workplace Accommodations and Protections
C.R.S. tit. 8, art. 13.5
in effectC.R.S. § 8-13.5-102 Legislative declaration
8-13.5-102. Legislative declaration. (1) The general assembly hereby finds, determines, and declares that:
(a) The American academy of pediatrics recommends breastfeeding exclusively for the first six months of an infant's life and has continuously endorsed breastfeeding for at least one year or longer as the optimal form of nutrition for infants and as a foundation for good feeding practices;
(b) Extensive research indicates that there are diverse and compelling advantages to nursing for infants, mothers, families, businesses, and society, including less illness among children who are nursed and lower health-care costs;
(c) Epidemiologic research shows that breastfeeding infants provides benefits to their general health, growth, and development and results in significant decreases in risk for numerous acute illnesses;
(d) Breastfeeding has been shown to have numerous health benefits for mothers, including an earlier return to prepregnant weight, delayed resumption of ovulation with increased child spacing, improved bone remineralization postpartum with reduction in hip fractures in the postmenopausal period, and reduced risk of ovarian cancer and premenopausal breast cancer;
(e) In addition to individual health benefits, providing opportunities for breastfeeding results in substantial benefits to employers, including reduced health-care costs, reduced employee absenteeism for care attributable to infant illness, improved employee productivity, higher morale and greater loyalty, improved ability to attract and retain valuable employees, and a family-friendly image in the community;
(f) Nursing is a basic, normal, and important act of nurturing that should be encouraged in the interests of maternal and infant health.
(2) The general assembly further declares that the purpose of this part 1 is for the state of Colorado to become involved in the national movement to recognize the medical importance of breastfeeding, within the scope of complete pediatric care, and to encourage removal of boundaries placed on nursing mothers in the workplace.
C.R.S. § 8-13.5-103 Definitions
8-13.5-103. Definitions. As used in this part 1, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Employer" means a person engaged in business who has one or more employees. "Employer" includes the state and any political subdivision of the state.
(2) "Reasonable efforts" means any effort that would not impose an undue hardship on the operation of the employer's business.
(3) "Undue hardship" means any action that requires significant difficulty or expense when considered in relation to factors such as the size of the business, the financial resources of the business, or the nature and structure of its operation, including consideration of the special circumstances of public safety.
C.R.S. § 8-13.5-104 Right of nursing mothers to express breast milk in workplace - private location - discrimination prohibited
8-13.5-104. Right of nursing mothers to express breast milk in workplace - private location - discrimination prohibited. (1) An employer shall provide reasonable unpaid break time or permit an employee to use paid break time, meal time, or both, each day to allow the employee to express breast milk for her nursing child for up to two years after the child's birth.
(2) The employer shall make reasonable efforts to provide a room or other location in close proximity to the work area, other than a toilet stall, where an employee can express breast milk in privacy.
(3) An employer that makes reasonable efforts to accommodate an employee who chooses to express breast milk in the workplace shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirements of this section.
(4) The department of labor and employment shall provide, on its website, information and links to other websites where employers can access information regarding methods to accommodate nursing mothers in the workplace. The department shall consult with appropriate organizations or associations to determine the appropriate information and website links to provide on the department's website so as to provide employers with the most accurate and useful information available.
(5) Before an employee may seek litigation for a violation of this section, there shall be nonbinding mediation between the employer and the employee.
C.R.S. § 8-13.5-201 Definitions
8-13.5-201. Definitions. As used in this part 2, unless the context otherwise requires:
(1) "Agricultural employer" has the same meaning set forth in section 8-3-104 (1).
(2) "Agricultural employment" means employment in any service or activity included in section 203 (f) of the federal "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938", 29 U.S.C. sec. 201 et seq., as amended, or section 3121 (g) of the federal "Internal Revenue Code of 1986", as amended.
(3) "Agricultural worker" or "worker" means a worker engaged in any service or activity included in section 203 (f) of the federal "Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938", 29 U.S.C. sec. 201 et seq., as amended, or section 3121 (g) of the federal "Internal Revenue Code of 1986", as amended.
(4) "Agricultural worker's representative" means a person or entity designated by an agricultural employee in a confidential, sealed filing with the court.
(5) "Department" means the department of labor and employment.
(6) "Division" means the division of labor standards and statistics in the department.
(7) "Key service provider" means a health-care provider; a community health worker, including a promotora; an education provider; an attorney; a legal advocate; a government official, including a consular representative; a member of the clergy; and any other service provider to which an agricultural worker may need access.
(8) "Occasional or intermittent" means twenty percent or less of an agricultural worker's weekly work time.
(9) "Short-handled hoe" means a handheld tool with a flat blade affixed perpendicularly to a handle that is less than eighteen inches long. "Short-handled hoe" includes a long-handled hand tool that has been modified to be used as a short-handled hoe.
(10) "Whistleblower" means an agricultural worker with knowledge of an alleged violation of this part 2 or the agricultural worker's representative.
C.R.S. § 8-13.5-202 Agricultural workers - right of access to key service providers - rules
8-13.5-202. Agricultural workers - right of access to key service providers - rules. (1) (a) An employer shall not interfere with an agricultural worker's reasonable access to visitors at the agricultural worker's employer-provided housing during any time when the agricultural worker is present at such housing.
(b) An employer shall not interfere with an agricultural worker's reasonable access to key service providers at any location during any time in which the agricultural worker is not performing compensable work or during paid or unpaid rest and meal breaks, and with respect to health-care providers during any time, whether or not the agricultural worker is working.
(c) To ensure that agricultural workers have meaningful access to services, the director of the division shall promulgate rules regarding additional times during which an employer may not interfere with an agricultural worker's reasonable access to key service providers, including periods during which the agricultural worker is performing compensable work, especially during periods when the agricultural worker is required to work in excess of forty hours per week and may have difficulty accessing such services outside of work hours. The rules must be proposed on or before October 31, 2021, and adopted on or before January 31, 2022.
(d) An employer may require visitors accessing a work site to follow protocols designed to manage biohazards and other risks of contamination, to promote food safety, and to reduce the risk of injuries to or from livestock on farms and ranches except on the open range, if the same protocols are generally applied to any other third parties who may have occasion to enter the work site.
(e) An agricultural employer that provides housing and transportation for agricultural workers shall, at least one day per week, provide transportation to the agricultural workers to a location where the workers can access basic necessities, conduct financial transactions, and meet with key service providers; except that transportation must be provided not less than one day every three weeks for range workers who are actively engaged in the production of livestock on the open range. This subsection (1)(e) does not limit or restrict an agricultural worker's ability to travel using the agricultural worker's own means of transportation. Nothing in this subsection (1)(e) requires an employer to violate a state or federal law or regulation.
(f) If an agricultural worker has access to the worker's own vehicle and is permitted to park the vehicle on the employer's property, the employer is not required to provide transportation as set forth in subsection (1)(e) of this section.
(2) No person other than the agricultural worker may prohibit, bar, or interfere with, or attempt to prohibit, bar, or interfere with, the access to or egress from the residence of any agricultural worker by any person, either by the erection or maintenance of any physical barrier, by physical force or violence or by the threat of physical force or violence, or by any order or notice given in any manner.
(3) An agricultural employer shall post notice of an agricultural worker's rights under this part 2:
(a) In a conspicuous location on the agricultural employer's premises, including in the agricultural worker's employer-provided housing; and
(b) In all places where notices to employees, including agricultural workers, are customarily posted; and
(c) Electronically, including by e-mail and on an intranet or internet site, if the agricultural employer customarily communicates with agricultural workers by these means.
C.R.S. § 8-13.5-203 Extreme overwork protections - heat stress training - short-handled hoe prohibited - rules
8-13.5-203. Extreme overwork protections - heat stress training - short-handled hoe prohibited - rules. (1) The director of the division shall promulgate rules that require agricultural employers to protect agricultural workers from heat-related stress illnesses and injuries when the outside temperatures reach eighty degrees or higher, with discretion to adjust requirements based on environmental factors, exposure time, acclimatization, and metabolic demands of the job as set forth in the federal department of health and human services centers for disease control and prevention national institute for occupational safety and health 2016 revised publication: Criteria for a Recommended Standard, Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot Environments. The rules must be proposed on or before October 31, 2021, and adopted on or before January 31, 2022.
(2) (a) Using a short-handled hoe is prohibited in agricultural employment for weeding and thinning in a stooped, kneeling, or squatting position.
(b) The performance of weeding and thinning by hand or with a short-handled tool, other than a short-handled hoe, in a stooped, kneeling, or squatting position is strongly disfavored unless there is no suitable long-handled tool or other alternative means of performing the work that is suitable and appropriate to both the production of the agricultural or horticultural commodity and the scale of the operation. Nothing in this subsection (2) is construed to allow the use of the short-handled hoe.
(c) Beginning January 1, 2022, this subsection (2) does not prohibit:
(I) Occasional or intermittent hand weeding or hand thinning in a stooped, kneeling, or squatting position that is incidental to a non-hand-weeding operation;
(II) Hand thinning of high density plants spaced less than two inches apart when planted;
(III) Hand weeding or thinning of any agricultural or horticultural commodity grown in fields or greenhouses for which the employer maintains a current certification from the Colorado department of agriculture or an authorized certifying body as meeting the standards of the United States department of agriculture's national organic program;
(IV) Hand weeding, thinning, or tending any agricultural or horticultural commodities when they are seedlings;
(V) Hand weeding, thinning, or tending agricultural or horticultural commodities grown in tubs or planter containers with an opening that does not exceed fifteen inches in width;
(VI) Seeding, planting, transplanting, or harvesting by hand or with a hand tool; or
(VII) Hand weeding, thinning, or tending the soil-exposed area immediately surrounding agricultural or horticultural commodities grown using polyethylene film or plastic mulch. This exemption does not permit the hand weeding of the spaces between rows of plants grown using polyethylene film or plastic mulch.
(d) The commissioner of the department of agriculture shall promulgate rules regarding allowances for and limitations to hand weeding and hand thinning for agricultural employers actively engaged in the transition to certified organic agriculture for a period of no more than three years while ensuring that agricultural workers are not at risk of acute, chronic, or debilitating injuries. The rules must be proposed on or before October 31, 2021, and adopted on or before January 31, 2022.
owances for and limitations to hand weeding and hand thinning for agricultural employers actively engaged in the transition to certified organic agriculture for a period of no more than three years while ensuring that agricultural workers are not at risk of acute, chronic, or debilitating injuries. The rules must be proposed on or before October 31, 2021, and adopted on or before January 31, 2022.
(e) On or before January 31, 2022, the commissioner of the department of agriculture shall promulgate rules that establish a procedure for agricultural employers to seek a certificate of variance from the Colorado department of agriculture that allows for more than occasional or intermittent hand weeding of agricultural or horticultural products if the agricultural employer establishes that:
(I) The hand weeding does not involve prolonged and unnecessary stooping, kneeling, or squatting, and does not create a risk of acute, chronic, or debilitating injuries for agricultural workers;
(II) There is no suitable long-handled tool or other alternative means of performing the work that is suitable and appropriate to both the production of the agricultural or horticultural commodity and the scale of the operation; and
(III) The hand weeding cannot be performed pursuant to an existing exemption pursuant to this subsection (2).
(3) An agricultural employer shall provide agricultural workers engaged in hand weeding and hand thinning an additional five-minute rest period, which, insofar as is practicable, must be in the middle of each work period. The authorized rest period must be based on the total hours worked daily at the rate of fifteen minutes net rest time per four hours of work, or a major fraction thereof. The agricultural employer shall count the authorized rest period as hours worked and not deduct the rest period from the agricultural worker's wages.
(4) An agricultural employer shall provide gloves and knee pads, as necessary, to each agricultural worker engaging in hand weeding, hand thinning, or hand hot-capping.
(5) If any provision of this section or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional, such provision or application does not affect other provisions or applications of this section that can be given effect without the invalid or unconstitutional provision or application, and the provisions of this section are severable.
C.R.S. § 8-13.5-204 Enforcement - penalties - relief - rules
8-13.5-204. Enforcement - penalties - relief - rules. (1) An aggrieved agricultural worker, a whistleblower, or a key service provider who was unable to access an agricultural worker due to a violation of this part 2 may:
(a) Commence an action in district court against an agricultural employer for a violation of this part 2; or
(b) Assert a claim with the division pursuant to rules adopted by the director of the division against an agricultural employer. The director may investigate and order all remedies available in district court or may decline to investigate and thus authorize the complainant to file suit in district court. A decision by the director to decline to investigate must be made within ninety days after the claim is filed as established by rule of the director. The statute of limitations is tolled for the purpose of filing a claim in district court from the date that the claim is asserted until ninety days after the director declines to investigate the claim.
(2) (a) A court may:
(I) Order injunctive relief to enjoin the continuance of the violation of this part 2;
(II) Award the plaintiff actual damages or ten thousand dollars, whichever is greater; and
(III) Award the plaintiff attorney fees.
(b) Any amounts recovered by a whistleblower or key service provider pursuant to this section must be distributed to agricultural workers affected by the violation who can be located, insofar as such disbursement is economically feasible.
(3) An aggrieved agricultural worker or whistleblower is entitled to all rights, remedies, and penalties afforded under section 8-2-206.
C.R.S. § 8-13.5-205 Agricultural work advisory committee - creation - report - repeal
8-13.5-205. Agricultural work advisory committee - creation - report - repeal. (1) On or before April 1, 2022, the director of the division shall establish the agricultural work advisory committee, referred to in this section as the "advisory committee". The advisory committee consists of nine members as follows:
(a) The director of the division shall appoint:
(I) Two members who have worked as agricultural workers; and
(II) Two members who are advocates of workers' rights;
(b) The commissioner of agriculture shall appoint:
(I) Three members who represent agricultural employers; and
(II) Two representatives from the Migrant Farm Worker Division of Colorado Legal Services, or its successor organization.
(2) (a) The terms of the members are four years.
(b) If a member fails to complete the member's term, the appointing authority shall appoint a new member to complete the remainder of the term.
(c) Members shall serve without compensation for their service; except that members may receive a per diem as established by the executive director of the department and reimbursement for travel and other necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.
(3) (a) The advisory committee shall gather and analyze data and other information regarding the wages and working conditions of agricultural workers and report its findings and any legislative recommendations to the general assembly.
(b) To the extent possible, the executive director of the department shall ensure that the advisory committee has the opportunity to meet with appropriate representatives from the department of labor and employment, the department of public health and environment, the department of agriculture, and the governor's office for purposes of conducting its work pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of this section.
(c) Notwithstanding section 24-1-136 (11)(a)(I), on or before January 1, 2023, and each January 1 thereafter, the advisory committee shall report its progress, findings, and legislative recommendations to the agriculture, livestock, and water committee and the business affairs and labor committee of the house of representatives, or their successor committees, and the agriculture and natural resources committee and the business, labor, and technology committee of the senate, or their successor committees.
(4) This section is repealed, effective September 1, 2031. Before the repeal, the advisory committee is scheduled for review in accordance with section 2-3-1203.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/crs2024-title-08.docxFetched: 10/6/2026