In the News

Wage Theft Legislation Anticipated for 2013 Legislative Session

During the past week, The Colorado Chamber member Dan Block, an employment attorney with the Law Firm of Robinson, Waters & O’Dorisio, P.C., Larry Hudson, contract lobbyist for The Colorado Chamber, and Loren Furman, The Colorado Chamber, met with the sponsors and proponents of House Bill 1227 (Wage Theft), which died during the 2013 Legislative Session.

The sponsors and proponents shared their interest in continuing the dialogue that deteriorated last session on this legislation and the possibility of introducing another wage theft bill during the 2013 Session. The Colorado Chamber can attribute the lion’s share of the work conducted on this bill to Dan Block who helped point out to the sponsors and proponents the areas within the legislation that hurt all Colorado employers and helped draft amendments to the bill that would cure many of those provisions.

Dan Block and the The Colorado Chamber staff will continue to work with the sponsors to determine if any agreement can be reached on this legislation, specifically the three areas where there was an impasse with the proponents of the bill. Those areas include:

  1. Definition of employer in the Colorado Wage Claim Act;
  2. A balance in the award of attorney’s fees;
  3. Piercing the corporate veil / lawsuits against individuals who have filed bankruptcy;

The Colorado Chamber does not support actions by employers that withhold wages from their employees. However, as we saw in many employment bills last session, the wage theft bill took a very broad brush that impacted all Colorado employers and not just those businesses who may have intentionally withheld a worker’s wages.

If you need more information or have questions regarding this issue, please contact Loren Furman at [email protected] or Larry Hudson at [email protected].