The 2016 legislative session is half over. The deadline for introduction of bills has come and gone; however, late bill introduction is very common. This is a brief summary of some of the introduced legislation of interest to clients:
Workers Compensation
Right now there are no pending bills regarding workers’ compensation. It is anticipated that there will be a bill introduced regarding first responders and compensability of posttraumatic stress disorder. A joint bill arising from discussions between Pinnacol Assurance, WCEA and CSIA is also a possibility, along with a bill from Pinnacol Assurance to allow it to establish a separate corporate entity that could write policies outside of Colorado.
Other Bills of Interest
Senate Bill 16–056
This bill broadens the protections of the state whistleblower laws by including state employees disclosing information that is not subject to public inspection under the Colorado Open Records Act, when the disclosure is made to state entities that are designated as whistleblower review agencies. This bill is in the Judiciary Committee.
Senate Bill 16–070
This bill prohibits an employer from requiring any person, as a condition of employment, to become or remain a member of a labor organization, or to pay dues, fees or other assessments to a labor organization or to a charity organization or other third-party in lieu of a labor organization. Further, any such agreement violates these prohibited activities and are deemed void. This bill was originally assigned to the Business, Labor & Technology committee. After several amendments, the bill passed out of Senate and was sent to the House where it is assigned to State, Veterans & Military Affairs and will likely die.
House Bill 16-1002
In 2009 a bill passed known as the Parental Involvement in K-12 Education Act. This allowed an employee subject to the Family Medical Leave Act to take leave from work to attend various academic activities with, or for, the employee’s child. The leave was limited to 6 hours per month and 18 hours in any academic year. The employer was allowed to restrict the use of the leave in cases of emergency for the employer, or where the employment situation could endanger a person’s health or safety if the employee were absent. Further, the leave was limited to 3 hour increments at any time and required the employee to submit written verification from the school of the activity. The bill had a sunset provision repealing it effective September 1, 2015. This bill re-creates the 2009 bill with a couple of changes. It expands the type of academic activities to include attendance with school counselors. It also requires school districts and charter schools to post information about this statute on their websites. This bill was assigned to the Education committee in the House and eventually passed through the House without amendment. When introduced into the Senate it was assigned to State, Veterans & Military Affairs where it was postponed indefinitely.
House Bill 16 – 1078
This bill concerns whistleblowing protection for public employees not employed directly by the state. The bill prohibits county, municipality or local education providers from imposing disciplinary action against an employee for statements made by the employee about the local government that the employee believes shows a violation of state or federal law, a local ordinance or resolution, or a local education policy provider regarding waste, misuse of public funds, fraud, abuse of authority, mismanagement or danger to the health or safety of students, employees or the public. The bill would allow the employee to file a written complaint with the Office of Administrative Courts alleging some form of disciplinary action that the employee believes violates the whistleblower protection and would allow the employee to seek injunctive relief and damages. If the employee loses at the administrative hearing level, the employee would still have the ability to file a civil suit District Court. This bill was introduced and assigned to the local government committee in the House where an amended version was referred to appropriations. As there will be a fiscal note attached to the bill and given the Office of Administrative Courts involvement, the bill stands virtually no chance of passing.
House Bill 16 1114
This bill eliminates current employment verification standards requiring an employer to attest that it verified the legal work status of an employee and has not knowingly hired an unauthorized alien. It additionally eliminates the requirement for an employer in Colorado to submit documentation to the director of the Division of Labor in the Department of Labor and Employment that demonstrates the employer complied with federal employment verification requirements. This bill was assigned to Business Affairs and Labor where no activity has been taken and it will likely die.
House Bill 16 – 1154
This bill purports to clarify the definition of “employer” to only include a person that possesses the authority to control an employee’s terms and conditions of employment and has the ability to actually exercise that authority directly. The bill eliminates a franchisor from being considered an employer of a franchisee’s direct employees unless the franchisor has control over those employees. This bill was assigned to Local Government where no activity has been taken and it will likely die.
House Bill 16 – 1202
Current law requires employers to examine the legal work status of any newly hired employee within 20 days by using paper-based forms for identification. This bill would require employers to participate in the Federal e-verification program to determine work eligibility for newly hired employees. It then requires the employer to maintain documentation of this practice and submit it to the director of the Department of Labor and Employment. If an employer fails to do this it would be subject to a fine of up to $5000 for the first offense and up to $25,000 for the second offense, along with suspension of the employer’s business license for up to 6 months for continued offenses. This bill was assigned to the State, Veterans & Military Affairs where it was postponed indefinitely and will likely die.
