?Colorado enacted a slew of employment-related legislation in the 2022 legislative session. One important new piece of legislation, Senate Bill 22-234, updates the notice requirements regarding unemployment insurance that employers must provide to employees upon termination.
Under preexisting Colorado law, employers are required to provide a notice to employees at separation of employment that includes:
- A statement that unemployment insurance benefits are available to unemployed workers who meet the eligibility requirements under Colorado law.
- Contact information to file a claim.
- Information the worker will need to file a claim.
- Contact information to inquire about the status of their claim after it is filed.
Senate Bill 22-234 expands the information employers are required to provide at termination to include the following information:
- Employer’s name.
- Employer’s address.
- Employee’s name.
- Employee’s address.
- Employee’s ID number or the last four digits of the employee’s Social Security number.
- Employee’s first and last dates worked.
- Employee’s year-to-date earnings.
- Employee’s wages for the last week worked.
- The reason the employee separated from the employer.
The notice containing this information can be in electronic or hard copy format, and it must be provided to all employees at termination, regardless of the reason for the employment separation.
The requirement to provide the above notice went into effect as soon as the bill was signed into law, which occurred on May 25. While the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment is expected to issue a model form notice in the coming months, Colorado employers should take steps now to ensure that they are providing employees with each piece of information required under current Colorado law, and will thus need to create their own notice to employees upon termination.
David C. Gartenberg and Jennifer S. Harpole are attorneys with Littler in Denver. © 2022 Littler. All rights reserved. Reposted with permission.