Denver minimum wage.
Denver Revised Municipal Code § 58-15
in effectSec. 58-15. - Denver minimum wage.
(a) Required. Subject to the terms of this division, every employer shall ensure its workers are paid not less than the "Denver Minimum Wage" as calculated pursuant to this section for work performed in accordance with this division. Any agreement providing for indemnifications or recovery from third parties shall in no way excuse an employer from taking whatever steps are necessary to ensure compliance by all persons engaging in work on behalf of or for the benefit of an employer, nor serve as a basis for an employer to avoid payment of any monetary penalties or occurrence of other consequences for violation(s) of this division.
(b) Exclusions. This division shall not apply to:
(1) Work performed by independent contractors while acting solely in such capacity;
(2) Work performed by persons providing volunteer services that are uncompensated except for reimbursement of expenses such as meals, parking, or transportation; or
(3) Work not performed physically within the geographic boundaries of the city;
(4) Work performed by a worker totaling less than four (4) hours in any given week for a particular employer within the geographic boundaries of the city; or
(5) Work performed in the city solely for the purpose of traveling through the city from a point of origin outside of the city to a destination outside of the city, with no employment-related or commercial stops in the city except for refueling or the worker's personal meals or errands.
(c) Calculation of Denver minimum wage.
(1) City council hereby declares that it is in the best interest of the city to establish the Denver minimum wage that shall be paid to workers in the manner described in this article.
(2) The Denver minimum wage, exclusive of fringe benefits and any other deductions or credits except as described in this article, shall be calculated as follows:
a. Beginning January 1, 2020: Twelve dollars and eighty-five cents ($12.85) per hour;
b. Beginning January 1, 2021: Fourteen dollars and seventy-seven cents ($14.77) per hour; and
c. Beginning January 1, 2022: Fifteen dollars and eighty-seven cents ($15.87) per hour.
(3) Tips regularly and actually received by a food and beverage worker may be applied to an employer's obligation to pay such food and beverage worker the Denver minimum wage. However, no more than three dollars and two cents ($3.02) per hour in tip income (tip credit) may be used to partially offset payment of the Denver minimum wage.
(4) Employers may pay wages for work performed equal to the then-current Denver minimum wage reduced on an hourly basis by up to fifteen (15) percent when compensating unemancipated minor workers for work performed pursuant to a certified youth employment program. The Denver economic development and opportunity agency may issue rules and regulations related to certification and maintenance of eligibility of an employer as a certified youth employment program. The foregoing shall not affect any tip credit offset prescribed by this article, which shall also be permitted.
(5) In order to prevent inflation from eroding the value of the Denver minimum wage rate, on January 1, 2023, the Denver minimum wage rate shall increase by an amount corresponding to the prior year's increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index (Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, Denver-Aurora-Lakewood) or its successor index as published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Department of Labor or its successor agency (CPI) observed between the first half of 2021 and the first half of 2022, as calculated by the manager of finance. Annually thereafter, on the first of January, the Denver minimum wage rate shall increase by an amount corresponding to the increase, if any, in CPI observed between the first half of the year two (2) years prior and the first half of the year prior to the effective date of the increase, as calculated by the manager of finance.
(d) Application of this division to prevailing wage and contract minimum wage. Nothing in this division shall be deemed to lessen any obligations of employers to comply with the Denver Revised Municipal Code concerning payment of prevailing wage and/or the contract minimum wage to workers. Should a prevailing wage or contract minimum wage requirement be greater than the Denver minimum wage requirement, the greater wage rate shall be paid. If the Denver minimum wage requires payment of a higher wage rate than an applicable prevailing wage or contract minimum wage requirement for work, the Denver minimum wage shall be paid to any worker for such work.
(Ord. No. 1614-22, § 2, 1-9-23)
Source: City and County of Denver, Revised Municipal Code and Charter (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/co/denver/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=TITIIREMUCO_CH58WAWOPR_ARTIWA_DIV2DEMIWA_S58-15DEMIWAFetched: 10/27/2026