Colorado Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities Supplement

Colorado Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities Poster

Help satisfy Colorado agricultural workplace posting requirements with the Colorado Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities Poster. Colorado agricultural employers must provide workers with notice of important rights involving heat protection, water and shade, rest periods, hand-weeding and thinning, access to service providers, employer-provided housing, retaliation protections, and other agricultural labor requirements.

Poster Specifications

• Size: 11"W x 8.5"H
• Orientation: Landscape
• Language: Available in English or Spanish
• Format: Colorado Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities workplace notice
• Finish: Completely laminated with high-quality laminate
• Requirement: Colorado Agricultural Labor Rights and Responsibilities Act (ALRRA)

Who Must Post the Colorado Agricultural Labor Rights Poster?

Colorado agricultural employers must provide agricultural workers with notice of their rights and responsibilities under Colorado law.

Employers may satisfy the applicable posting requirement by displaying an up-to-date Colorado Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities Poster or another notice containing the substantive information required by Colorado law.

What Rights Are Covered by the Agricultural Labor Poster?

Colorado's agricultural labor requirements provide workers with important wage, break, health, safety, housing, access, and workplace protections.

Rights and responsibilities addressed by Colorado agricultural labor requirements include:

• Minimum wage and overtime protections
• Meal and rest periods
• Additional breaks during long workdays and workweeks
• Heat illness protections
• Drinking water and shade
• Additional protections during high-risk heat conditions
• Restrictions on short-handled hoes and certain other tools
• Additional protections for hand-weeding and hand-thinning work
• Gloves and knee pads for certain agricultural work
• Access to key service providers
• Rights involving employer-provided housing
• Transportation requirements for certain housed workers
• Protection against retaliation and interference
• Procedures for reporting violations and filing complaints

Colorado Agricultural Minimum Wage and Overtime

Colorado agricultural employees are generally covered by state minimum wage requirements, subject to applicable exceptions and special rules.

Agricultural employees are also entitled to overtime compensation under applicable Colorado requirements. Different overtime rules can apply to qualifying highly seasonal agricultural employers and certain agricultural occupations.

Because Colorado wage rates and certain compensation thresholds can change, employers should review the current Colorado COMPS and PAY CALC Orders when determining employee pay.

Rest Periods for Agricultural Workers

Colorado agricultural employees are entitled to applicable paid rest periods and meal periods.

Additional break requirements can apply to employees working particularly long workdays or workweeks and to employees performing certain agricultural activities.

Hand-Weeding and Hand-Thinning Protections

Colorado establishes additional protections for employees performing certain hand-weeding and hand-thinning work.

Depending on the work being performed, employer responsibilities can include:

• Providing additional paid rest time
• Providing gloves
• Providing knee pads
• Following restrictions concerning stooped, kneeling, or squatting work
• Complying with restrictions on short-handled hoes and other covered tools

Are Short-Handled Hoes Allowed?

Colorado prohibits the use of short-handled hoes for covered agricultural work.

Agricultural employers should review current Colorado requirements concerning short-handled tools and hand-weeding or hand-thinning activities before assigning employees to this type of work.

Colorado Agricultural Heat Protection

Colorado agricultural employers must protect employees from heat-related illness and injury.

When applicable temperature and workplace conditions are present, employers have responsibilities involving:

• Access to drinking water
• Access to shade or other appropriate heat protection
• Heat-related rest periods
• Heat illness prevention procedures
• Employee training
• Emergency response procedures
• Additional protections during increased-risk conditions

Water and Shade Requirements

Colorado agricultural heat protections include specific requirements concerning drinking water and shade when temperatures reach applicable thresholds.

When temperatures reach 80°F or higher, covered agricultural workers are entitled to applicable water and shade protections.

Employers should ensure that drinking water is readily available and that required shade or other appropriate heat protection is provided close enough to the work area for employees to use during applicable breaks.

Additional Protections During Increased-Risk Conditions

Additional heat protections apply during certain increased-risk working conditions.

These conditions can include:

• Temperatures of 95°F or higher
• Unhealthy air quality
• An employee's first days working in applicable conditions
• Work requiring heavy clothing or protective equipment
• Workdays exceeding applicable hour thresholds

Employers should review current Colorado agricultural labor requirements to determine the additional rest, monitoring, training, and safety procedures required under these conditions.

Access to Key Service Providers

Colorado agricultural workers have rights involving access to certain key service providers, which can include organizations and individuals providing health, legal, educational, and other important services.

Colorado law establishes requirements concerning when agricultural workers may communicate with or access these providers and prohibits unlawful interference with protected access.

Employer-Provided Housing

Agricultural workers living in employer-provided housing have additional protections under Colorado law.

These protections can include rights involving:

• Reasonable access to visitors
• Access to key service providers
• Transportation to obtain basic necessities and services when applicable
• Freedom to enter and leave employee residences
• Heat-related protections for employer-provided housing
• Other housing protections established by Colorado law

Protection Against Retaliation

Colorado agricultural employers may not unlawfully retaliate against or interfere with workers for exercising protected agricultural labor rights.

Protected activity can include asking about workplace rights, reporting suspected violations, filing complaints, assisting another worker, communicating with service providers, or otherwise exercising rights protected under Colorado law.

Where Must the Colorado Agricultural Labor Poster Be Displayed?

The Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities notice must be displayed in a conspicuous workplace location frequented by employees where it can be easily read during the workday.

Appropriate locations can include:

• Employee break areas
• Employee bulletin boards
• Farm offices
• Employee check-in areas
• Time-clock areas
• Facility entrances
• Other locations where employee rights and safety notices are normally displayed

Employer-Provided Housing Posting Requirement

Colorado agricultural employers must also display the Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities notice or an equivalent notice at employer-provided housing.

Employers with multiple agricultural worksites or employee housing locations should review the applicable posting requirements for each location.

Electronic Notice Requirements

When an agricultural employer customarily communicates with employees electronically, Colorado also requires the agricultural labor rights notice to be provided electronically, including through applicable email, intranet, or internet communications.

Electronic notice does not automatically eliminate applicable physical workplace and employer-provided housing posting requirements.

What Language Must the Notice Be Provided In?

Colorado agricultural labor notice requirements can require the notice to be provided in languages used by the employer's workforce.

The notice must be available in any language that is the first language spoken by at least 5% of the employer's workforce. Employers needing an additional translation should review current Colorado requirements and available state resources.

This product is available in English and Spanish. Employers with employees whose primary language is another language should determine whether an additional translated notice is required.

Is the Colorado Agricultural Labor Rights Poster Required?

Yes, for covered Colorado agricultural employers. Colorado requires agricultural employers to provide notice of agricultural employees' rights under the Agricultural Labor Rights and Responsibilities Act.

An employer may use the current Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities Poster published by the Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics or another notice containing all substantive information required by Colorado law.

Does This Poster Replace the Colorado COMPS Poster?

No. The Colorado Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities Poster is an additional industry-specific notice.

Agricultural employers may also be subject to the Colorado COMPS Order poster, Workplace Public Health Rights notice, FAMLI notice, workers' compensation requirements, federal workplace postings, and other notices based on the employer and workforce.

Keep the Colorado Agricultural Labor Poster Current

Colorado agricultural labor requirements can change as the state updates wage, overtime, break, heat protection, notice, and other employment rules.

Employers should display the current version of the Agricultural Labor Rights & Responsibilities notice and replace outdated versions when Colorado issues a mandatory update.

Colorado Agricultural Workplace Compliance Resources

Labor Law Compliance Center provides Colorado agricultural employers with state and federal labor law posters, agricultural labor notices, specialty workplace postings, and compliance resources. Visit our Colorado Labor Law Posters page or browse our Colorado State Specialty Posters for additional Colorado workplace compliance products.