(1) An employer shall not discriminate between employees on the basis of sex, or on the basis of sex in combination with another protected status as described in section 24-34-402 (1)(a), by paying an employee of one sex a wage rate less than the rate paid to an employee of a different sex for substantially similar work, regardless of job title, based on a composite of skill; effort, which may include consideration of shift work; and responsibility, except where the employer demonstrates each of the following: (a) That the wage rate differential is based on: (I) A seniority system; (II) A merit system; (III) A system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; (IV) The geographic location where the work is performed; (V) Education, training, or experience to the extent that they are reasonably related to the work in question; or (VI) Travel, if the travel is a regular and necessary condition of the work performed; (b) That each factor relied on in subsection (1)(a) of this section is applied reasonably; (c) That each factor relied on in subsection (1)(a) of this section accounts for the entire wage rate differential; and (d) That prior wage rate history was not relied on to justify a disparity in current wage rates. (2) An employer shall not: (a) Seek the wage rate history of a prospective employee or rely on the wage rate history of a prospective employee to determine a wage rate; (b) Discriminate or retaliate against a prospective employee for failing to disclose the prospective employee’s wage rate history; (c) Discharge, or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against, an employee for invoking this section on behalf of anyone or assisting in the enforcement of this subsection (2); (d) Discharge, discipline, discriminate against, coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with an employee or other person because the employee or person inquired about, disclosed, compared, or otherwise discussed the employee’s wage rate; (e) Prohibit, as a condition of employment, an employee from disclosing the employee’s wage rate; or (f) Require an employee to sign a waiver or other document that: (I) Prohibits the employee from disclosing wage rate information; or (II) Purports to deny the employee the right to disclose the employee’s wage rate information.
C.R.S. § 8-5-102
Wage discrimination prohibited
Applied in 1 court decision — leading case Mundell v. Acadia Hospital Corp. (2024)
Most recently applied in Mundell v. Acadia Hospital Corp. (February 2024)
Digitized from: Public.Law — Colorado Revised Statutes. Reproduced from public-domain Colorado statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.