As we have previously published, May 11, 2023, was the end of the federal COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). Certain policies are at an end regarding federal employee and contractor vaccination requirements, COBRA extensions, and other changes that occurred due to the emergency. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently published a fact sheet that explains in greater detail what is affected and what is not affected by the end of the PHE.
In Colorado, the paid sick leave statute, the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA), requires an 80-hour leave supplement for purposes related to the PHE while any local, state, or federal PHE is in effect. Governor Polis allowed his Executive Order D2023 009 extending the PHE to expire on May 5, 2023, without issuing another order. The federal public health emergency was the last remaining PHE in Colorado. Under HFWA, the supplemental leave for PHE extends for four weeks after all public health emergencies expire, and this leave requirement in Colorado ends on June 8, 2023.