With only six weeks left in Colorado’s legislative session, one would think things would be starting to crystallize. But not in the wild, wild world of employment/human resources law. Because in this wild, wild world, things happen in the blink of an eye.

Here are just a few things making news at the Capitol in Denver:

Workers’ Compensation Benefits Proof of Entitlement (HB25-1300):

In 2014, the Colorado General Assembly passed a bill that increased the number of provider options that employers are required to offer injured workers from two to four. Now, the Colorado House of Representatives has proposed a bill that would give workers much more discretion in selecting their physician.

For example, HB25-1300 permits workers to choose from a full list (i.e., not just four) of providers located within 70 miles of the worker. The bill also expands the 90-day window to change doctors to an unlimited amount of time before the patient achieves maximum medical improvement that typically requires a return to work if there is not a permanent disability. And it would allow the worker to choose a provider within a 100-mile radius if there are three or fewer accredited workers-compensation doctors within a 70-mile radius.

Enforcement Wage Hour Laws (HB25-1001):

The Colorado House of Representatives also propounded a bill that would modify the Colorado Wage Act, which covers most state wage issues. This bill would greatly amend Colorado’s Wage Act by providing increased penalties against employers who incorrectly classify a worker as independent contractors when the worker should be classified as an employee.

For example, the bill, if passed, implements fines from $5,000 to $50,000, depending on the violation for such misclassification.

The bill would also provide employees more opportunities to file claims against their employers with the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, instead of having to file those claims in court, by raising the maximum threshold from $7,500, which is the current threshold, to $13,000 in 2026.

The bill would also require the Colorado Division of Labor to determine if a claimed violation of the state’s wage law is a “willful” violation. Then, for each willful violation, the division director shall publish on the division’s website the names of all employers determined to be in violation and whether the violation was willful.

If violation is not remedied within 60 days after the division’s finding that there was a violation, the division must notify all government bodies with the authority to deny, withdraw or otherwise limit or impose remedial conditions on the employer’s license, permit, registration or other credential.

Protecting Workers from Extreme Temperatures (HB25-1286):

This 26-page bill would have required employers to implement protections for workers who are exposed to extreme hot and cold temperatures at the worksite (both inside and outside), including temperature-mitigation measures, rest breaks and temperature-related injury and illness prevention plans. The Bill defined “extreme temperatures” as anything below 30 degrees and anything above 90 degrees.

This Bill was proposed in the House in late February 2025, but never made it out of Committee. So, it will not become law.

Colorado Worker Protection Collective Bargaining (SB25-005):

As discussed in this publication previously, this bill would remove a second vote required in Colorado when a union seeks to represent the workers at an organization that has been in place since the 1940s. Recently, the Senate passed the bill, and sent it to the House, where it is also expected to pass, which would send it to the governor.

As the Collective Bargaining bill moves through the legislature, one of Colorado’s largest unions recently filed a ballot initiative that would ask Colorado voters if they would like to make Colorado a “just-cause” state. If passed by the voters, the just-cause initiative would mean that companies would be required to justify any termination of a private-sector worker, and, if the worker disagreed, the worker could file a lawsuit seeking reinstatement.

While the Collective Bargaining bill and the initiative aren’t tied together, the timing does seem a little more than coincidental and may be designed to “encourage” the governor to sign the Collective Bargaining bill when/if it reaches his desk, which it is expected to do.

Michael Santo is co-founder and managing attorney of the Bechtel & Santo law firm in Grand Junction. He also represents employers in claims of trade-secret misappropriation, unfair competition and employee raiding. Santo is a member of the Western Colorado Human Resource Association. Visit www.wchra.org.