Unpaid Wages and Overtime in Colorado

Unpaid wages in Colorado are a serious violation of state and federal labor law.

Wage theft costs Colorado workers an estimated $728 million every year, according to the Colorado Fiscal Institute. It is the most common workplace violation in the state, affecting roughly 440,000 low-wage workers annually. Latino workers and women are disproportionately affected. If your employer is not paying you everything you have earned, the law provides significant remedies, including penalties, interest, and attorney fees.

Minimum Wage

Colorado’s state minimum wage is $14.42 per hour as of 2024, adjusted annually for inflation. But several Colorado cities have set their own, higher minimum wages. Denver’s minimum wage is $18.29 per hour (January 2024), rising to $18.81 in January 2025. Boulder County’s minimum wage is $15.69 per hour (January 2024), with scheduled increases reaching $25.00 by 2030. If you work in a city with a local minimum wage ordinance, your employer must pay whichever rate is higher.

Overtime

Under Colorado law, you are entitled to overtime pay at one and a half times your regular rate for any hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek or beyond 12 in a single workday. Colorado’s daily overtime threshold makes it more protective than federal law, which only requires overtime after 40 hours in a week. Your employer cannot avoid overtime obligations by averaging hours across multiple weeks.

Being paid a salary does not automatically make you exempt from overtime. To qualify as exempt, you must be paid at least $55,000 annually under Colorado law (higher than the federal threshold of $43,888) and your actual job duties must meet the criteria for an executive, administrative, or professional exemption. Job titles do not determine exemption status; the work you actually perform does.

What Counts as Compensable Time

Many employers fail to pay for all hours that legally count as work time. Under Colorado law, compensable time includes mandatory training (unless it is outside regular hours, truly voluntary, unrelated to your specific job, and involves no productive work), rest breaks (Colorado requires a paid 10-minute rest period, and denying it constitutes an unpaid wage violation), on-duty meal periods, time spent donning and doffing required equipment, and waiting time when you are required to remain on the employer’s premises.

Prohibited Deductions

Colorado law requires that wages be paid free and clear. Your employer cannot deduct the cost of uniforms, tools, work supplies, gasoline for work travel, mandatory equipment, insurance premiums that primarily benefit the employer, cleaning supplies, or raw materials from your paycheck. These are costs of doing business, and passing them on to employees through payroll deductions violates state law.

Training Repayment Agreements (TRAPs)

Some employers require employees to sign agreements requiring repayment of training costs if they leave within a certain period. Under Colorado law, these agreements are only enforceable if the employer made full consumer credit disclosures, the training was not on-the-job training, the repayment amount equals the actual cost to the employer, and the amount is forgiven entirely within two years. If your employer is threatening to withhold wages or pursue you for training costs that do not meet these requirements, the agreement may be unenforceable.

Wages Upon Termination

When you are fired, Colorado law requires your employer to pay all wages owed immediately. If you resign, wages are due by your next regular payday. Wages include not only your hourly or salary pay but also earned bonuses, commissions, and accrued vacation pay if your employer’s policy or agreement provides for it. If your employer fails to pay on time, you may be entitled to penalties and interest.

Remedies for Unpaid Wages in Colorado

If you prevail on a wage claim, available remedies include all unpaid wages, overtime compensation at the applicable rate, liquidated damages (often equal to or a multiple of the unpaid amount), interest at 12 percent per annum from the date wages were first due, penalties up to $100 per day under Denver’s wage ordinance, and attorney fees and costs. You can pursue claims through the Colorado Division of Labor and Employment, directly in court, or both.

Helpful Resources

• Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order
• Colorado Division of Labor Standards
• Fair Labor Standards Act

One of the most important things to understand: your statutory wage rights cannot be waived. No matter what you have signed, no contract, settlement, or agreement can take away rights guaranteed by Colorado’s wage laws.