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As of November 11, 2022, Colorado’s latest public health emergency (PHE) declaration includes health needs related to not just COVID-19 but also the flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and similar respiratory illnesses. Under the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act (HFWA), Colorado employers must provide employees with 80 hours of PHE leave. Until the most recent declaration, PHE leave was reserved for COVID-19-related reasons. Now PHE leave includes:

• Needing to self-isolate due to either being diagnosed with or having symptoms of COVID-19, flu, RSV, or other similar respiratory illnesses covered under the public health emergency,

• Quarantining or isolating due to exposure to such an illness,

• Testing for COVID-19 or similar respiratory illnesses,

• Vaccination and its side effects,

• Inability to work due to a health condition that may increase susceptibility or risk of COVID-19, flu, RSV, or similar respiratory illnesses, and

• Needing to care for a child or other family member in one of the first three categories above or whose school, childcare provider, or other care provider is unavailable, closed, or providing remote instruction due to the emergency.

The expansion does not give employees an extra 80 hours for any of these conditions, but employees can now ask for leave for more reasons than before. Under the HFWA rules, employers cannot require documentation to show that leave is for PHE-related needs. If an employee had previously used all their PHE leave, they do not get additional hours.  

PHE leave continues until four weeks after both the federal and state PHE declarations end. As of now, PHE leave will continue until February 2023, or longer if state or federal declarations are renewed.

Currently, employers are not required to provide PHE-related leave for monkeypox.

Employers Council is here to help; contact us with any questions. Additionally, you can find more information in our whitepaper here,  and our checklist here.