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Denver Post: Colorado equal pay bill passes General Assembly after years of trying

“There was a provision in (the original bill) that said if an employer acted in good faith, a court still had discretion to award damages. That, to us, was just a totally unreasonable provision,” said Loren Furman, chief lobbyist for the Colorado Chamber of Commerce. So, the bill was amended to say courts should not award payments to employees if the salary difference was unintentional.

A House amendment compels employees to take their complaints to the Department of Labor before filing a lawsuit. A Senate amendment changed the salary compensation length from six years to three. Another added more exceptions to the law, allowing companies to pay employees of one gender more if they’re in a different geographic location, have more education or training, or travel more. Implementation was moved back from 2020 to 2021 by a Senate amendment.

The Colorado Chamber of Commerce, as well as chambers in Denver and Colorado Springs, switched their position from opposed to neutral after the amendments were added. So, too, did the Colorado Bankers Association and Colorado Restaurant Association, among others.

Read more at DenverPost.com.