Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEWA) made Colorado the first US state to require salary ranges in job postings when it took effect on January 1, 2021. Five years on, Colorado's law remains one of the two most demanding pay transparency statutes in the United States — alongside Washington's SB 5761 — and its enforcement record offers lessons for every employer navigating the increasingly complex pay transparency landscape.
What EPEWA requires
Colorado's law requires three distinct disclosures in every job posting, for every employer regardless of size. This is different from most other state laws, which have employee-count thresholds. In Colorado, even a two-person company must comply when posting a job.
1. Compensation disclosure. The hourly or salary rate or range for the position — a genuine minimum and maximum. "Competitive compensation" or "market rate" is explicitly non-compliant.
2. Benefits description. A general description of all benefits being offered, including health care, retirement, paid time off, and any other material compensation. This is significantly more demanding than other states. Colorado's CDLE updated its enforcement guidance in January 2026 to clarify that vague phrases like "competitive benefits package" are non-compliant. Employers must name specific benefit categories.
3. Bonus and other compensation. A description of any bonuses, commissions, profit-sharing, or other incentive compensation offered for the position. If a role is eligible for an annual performance bonus, the posting must say so and describe the bonus program.
Enforcement: five years of precedent
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) enforces EPEWA primarily through a complaints-based system, with increasingly active proactive audits of high-volume posting employers. Key enforcement statistics through early 2026:
- Over 600 formal investigations opened since January 2021
- Fines ranging from $500 to $10,000 per posting violation
- Largest single fine: $2.1 million against a large technology company for 210+ non-compliant postings over an extended period
- CDLE increasingly targeting remote role postings where employers attempt to exclude Colorado residents
The benefits disclosure requirement in practice
Colorado's benefits disclosure requirement is unique among US state laws and catches many employers off guard. Following the January 2026 enforcement guidance update, a compliant Colorado benefits disclosure must:
- Name specific benefit types (e.g., "medical, dental, and vision insurance" rather than "health benefits")
- Indicate any employer contribution to insurance premiums if material (e.g., "employer covers 80% of employee premium")
- Describe retirement benefits (e.g., "401(k) with 4% employer match" or "pension plan")
- Describe PTO policy (e.g., "unlimited PTO" or "15 days PTO annually, increasing with tenure")
- Note any other significant benefits (equity, professional development budget, etc.)
The CDLE has confirmed that this level of specificity is expected. Employers who include vague benefits language in Colorado postings are not in compliance even if they include a salary range.
How Colorado compares to other active state laws
Colorado and Washington are consistently the most demanding US states. Here's how Colorado compares to other major jurisdictions:
- vs. New York City: NYC requires only a salary range. Colorado requires salary range + benefits + bonus. NYC has a higher maximum fine ($500K aggregate vs. $10K per posting).
- vs. California: California requires salary range for employers with 15+ employees. Colorado applies to all employers.
- vs. Washington: Both require salary range + benefits + bonus. Washington has slightly more flexibility for wage-scale roles; both require similar levels of benefits specificity following their respective guidance updates.
- vs. Illinois, New Jersey (2025): Both require salary range only. Colorado's requirements are significantly more demanding.
Building a Colorado-compliant posting template
Because Colorado's requirements are the most demanding, the standard approach for national employers is to build a posting template that satisfies Colorado — and then use it everywhere. This "Colorado-first" approach automatically satisfies every other active US state law, since all other laws require only a subset of what Colorado requires.
See our salary range best practices guide for a complete posting template and guidance on writing compliant ranges. For multi-state employers managing Colorado alongside other jurisdictions, see our remote work compliance guide for how the requirements stack.
What's changed since 2021
Colorado's pay transparency landscape has evolved significantly since EPEWA took effect. The most important developments: (1) the benefits disclosure guidance update in January 2026 raising the specificity bar, (2) the CDLE's position on geographic exclusions hardening against employers attempting to exclude Colorado residents from remote postings, and (3) the increase in proactive audits targeting large employers with high-volume postings. Employers who were technically compliant under the original 2021 requirements may need to review their postings against the current, stricter standard.
