State laws / CO
Colorado pay transparency law
What Colorado employers must disclose in job postings, who's covered, and the penalty for non-compliance.
- Statute
- Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act
- Requirement type
- In-posting disclosure
- Effective
- January 1, 2021
- Applies to
- All employers
- Salary range in postings
- Required
- Benefits description
- Required
- Penalty
- $500–$10,000 per violation
- Enforced by
- Colorado CDLE
- Notes
- First state with a comprehensive pay transparency law. Requires salary range AND a general benefits description in all postings.
Colorado wrote the playbook every other state copied. The Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, in force since January 1, 2021, was the first comprehensive pay transparency law in the country — and it remains one of the strictest: it applies to any employer with even one Colorado employee, and postings need both a salary range and a general description of benefits, not just a number.
Colorado's Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) actively enforces the law, with fines of $500 to $10,000 per violation. Its enforcement history is also where the 'good-faith range' standard got teeth — implausibly wide ranges posted to technically comply have drawn scrutiny. Because a single Colorado-based remote employee brings a company into scope, many employers outside Colorado have been covered for years without realizing it.
Frequently asked questions
Does Colorado require salary ranges in job postings?
Yes. The Equal Pay for Equal Work Act has required a salary range plus a general description of benefits in job postings since January 1, 2021. It applies to any employer with at least one Colorado employee — there is no minimum company size.
Does Colorado's pay transparency law apply to remote jobs?
Yes. A remote posting accessible to Colorado residents is covered, and having even one employee working from Colorado brings an out-of-state employer into scope. This is why many companies exclude Colorado applicants from remote postings — though doing so has its own legal and reputational risks.
What is the penalty for violating Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act?
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment can impose fines of $500 to $10,000 per violation. Missing benefits information is a violation on its own, separate from a missing salary range.
Related guides
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