State minimum wage rate
Colorado's minimum wage is $15.16 per hour as of January 1, 2026. The rate is adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan area, as required by Section 15 of Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution.
Exceptions to the standard minimum wage. Two categories of workers may be paid less than the $15.16 hourly rate under the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards (COMPS) Order and the PAY CALC Order:
- Unemancipated minors under 18. Under COMPS Order Rule 3.3, the minimum wage may be reduced by 15% for non-emancipated minors (those who have not been legally emancipated). For 2026, this results in a minimum wage of $12.89 per hour (85% of $15.16). The reduction applies only to unemancipated minors; emancipated minors must be paid the full minimum wage. Some local minimum wage ordinances (such as those in Denver, Boulder, and Edgewater) do not permit this reduction, so employers must check whether the locality allows the minor wage differential.
- Agricultural range workers. Under COMPS Order Rule 2.4.9, agricultural range workers who are principally engaged in the range production of livestock may be paid a minimum weekly salary of $620.52 (2026 amount) instead of the hourly minimum wage, provided the employer also furnishes, at no cost or deduction to the worker, housing, food, transportation, and equipment as required by federal H-2A visa regulations (20 C.F.R. §§ 655.210, 655.1304). This weekly salary is adjusted annually for inflation. The exception applies only to qualifying range workers as defined under federal and state regulations (see Division INFO #12D for the detailed definition), not to all agricultural employees.
All other covered employees—regardless of employer size or industry—must be paid at least $15.16 per hour for all hours worked. When multiple minimum wage rates apply (federal, state, or local), the employer must pay the highest applicable rate under COMPS Order Rule 3.2 and the dual-jurisdiction principle in COMPS Order Rule 8.1.
Source: 2026 PAY CALC Order, 7 CCR 1103-14
Overtime thresholds — weekly and daily
Colorado requires overtime pay at one and one-half times the employee's regular rate for work in excess of 40 hours per workweek, 12 hours per workday, or 12 consecutive hours (excluding compliant meal periods), whichever calculation results in greater pay. Employers may not average hours across workweeks to avoid overtime. This state rule applies in addition to the federal FLSA 40-hour weekly threshold, and Colorado's daily overtime requirement exceeds the federal floor.
Meal and rest period requirements
Colorado requires both meal periods and rest periods for covered employees, creating obligations that exceed the federal floor — the FLSA imposes no meal or rest break requirements whatsoever.
Meal periods. Under Rule 5.1 of the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards (COMPS) Order, employees are entitled to an uninterrupted and duty-free meal period of at least 30 minutes when the shift exceeds 5 consecutive hours. The meal period must, to the extent practical, be at least one hour after the start and one hour before the end of the shift. Employees must be completely relieved of all duties and permitted to pursue personal activities for the period to qualify as non-work, uncompensated time.
When the nature of the business activity or other circumstances make an uninterrupted meal period impractical, the employee must be permitted to consume an on-duty meal while performing duties. In that case, employees must be permitted to fully consume a meal of choice on the job and be fully compensated for the on-duty meal period without any loss of time or compensation. The "impractical" exception is narrow; the Division of Labor Standards has stated that convenience or being "always busy" does not make meal periods impractical, and only genuine operational impossibility (e.g., a sole overnight worker at a 24-hour facility where closing is not feasible and hiring a second person for 30 minutes is not required) qualifies.
Rest periods. Under Rule 5.2, every employer must authorize and permit a compensated 10-minute rest period for each 4 hours of work, or major fractions thereof, for all employees (subject to exemptions in Rule 2). Rest periods must, to the extent practical, be in the middle of each 4-hour work period. The employee need not leave the premises for a rest period. Required rest periods are time worked for purposes of calculating minimum wage and overtime obligations.
Employers and employees may agree, voluntarily and without coercion, in writing covering up to one year, to have the employee receive two 5-minute breaks instead of one 10-minute break, provided that 5 minutes is sufficient in the work setting to allow the employee to travel to and from a bathroom or other location where a bona fide break would be taken.
Penalty for denial. Rule 5.2.4 imposes a specific remedy when an employer does not authorize and permit a required 10-minute rest period: the employee's shift is effectively extended by 10 minutes without compensation, constituting a failure to pay 10 minutes of wages at the employee's agreed-upon or legally required rate (whichever is higher). This unpaid time counts as hours worked and may trigger overtime liability.
The COMPS Order exempts certain categories of employees from meal and rest period requirements, including drivers and driver's helpers subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Act, certain direct support and care workers on 24-hour shifts, and others enumerated in Rule 2.
Source: 7 CCR 1103-1 (COMPS Order), Rule 5
Source: INFO #4: Meal and Rest Periods, Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics
Exempt employee salary threshold — EAP exemptions
Colorado imposes a higher minimum weekly salary threshold than federal law for executive, administrative, and professional (EAP) employees to qualify for exemption from overtime and minimum wage requirements. As of January 1, 2026, the minimum salary is $1,111.23 per week (approximately $57,784 annually), adjusted annually based on the same Consumer Price Index used for the state minimum wage. This threshold significantly exceeds the current federal FLSA minimum of $684 per week ($35,568 annually).
The salary threshold is published annually in the PAY CALC Order (7 CCR 1103-14), which implements the inflation-adjustment mechanism specified in the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards (COMPS) Order. The weekly salary minimum began at $778.85 in 2021 ($40,500 annually) and has increased each year: $865.38 (2022), $961.54 (2023), $1,057.69 (2024), $1,089.20 (2025), and $1,111.23 (2026).
Dual salary requirements. Under COMPS Order Rule 2.5.1, Colorado requires that the exempt salary meet two distinct conditions to qualify for the EAP exemption:
- Threshold requirement: The salary must be at least the minimum weekly amount specified in the PAY CALC Order for the applicable year ($1,111.23 per week for 2026).
- Hours-worked requirement: The salary must be sufficient for the minimum wage for all hours worked in a workweek. This means that if an exempt employee works so many hours in a week that the salary, when divided by actual hours worked, falls below the applicable minimum wage, the salary fails Colorado's exemption test even if it meets the dollar threshold.
The hours-worked requirement creates a practical ceiling on how many hours an exempt employee can work before the employer must either raise the salary or reclassify the employee as non-exempt. For 2026, with a state minimum wage of $15.16 per hour, an employee paid exactly $1,111.23 per week can work approximately 73.3 hours before the salary becomes insufficient for minimum wage on all hours worked. Employers in Denver (minimum wage $19.29/hour) face a tighter constraint: a $1,111.23 weekly salary covers only approximately 57.6 hours. An employer must pay whichever applicable minimum wage is highest—federal, state, or local—for purposes of this calculation.
This dual-test structure differs from federal FLSA practice. The FLSA imposes only a threshold salary requirement ($684/week) with no hours-worked floor; an FLSA-exempt employee may work unlimited hours without violating the salary-basis test, provided deductions are not improperly taken. Colorado's hours-worked requirement thus narrows the exemption compared to federal law, consistent with COMPS Order Rule 8.1's directive that the law providing greater protection to the employee applies.
Salary-basis requirement. To qualify as salary for purposes of the exemption, compensation must be a pre-set sum for a week to a month that is not reduced based on variation in work quality, quantity, or hours worked. The COMPS Order incorporates by reference the federal salary-basis rules at 29 C.F.R. Part 541, Subpart G, meaning permissible deductions and salary-basis requirements mirror federal standards (except for the hours-worked floor, which Colorado adds).
Nondiscretionary bonus allowance. Up to 10% of the required EAP salary threshold may be satisfied through nondiscretionary bonuses, incentive payments, and commissions, provided these payments are made at least annually. For 2026, this means an employer may pay a guaranteed weekly salary of at least $1,000.11 and satisfy the remaining $111.12 (10% of $1,111.23) through qualifying variable compensation paid at least once per year.
Duties tests. Meeting the salary threshold and hours-worked requirement alone does not establish exempt status. Employees must also satisfy the applicable duties test for executive, administrative, or professional employees under COMPS Order Rules 2.2.1, 2.2.2, or 2.2.3. These duties tests are detailed in the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics' INFO #1A publication. The duties requirements generally track federal standards but are interpreted and enforced under Colorado law, and Colorado applies a narrow-construction standard to exemptions (COMPS Order Rule 8.7(A)), formally rejecting the U.S. Supreme Court's "fair reading" approach in Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro, 138 S. Ct. 1134 (2018).
Exceptions to salary requirement. Doctors, lawyers, and teachers may be classified as exempt based solely on duties, without meeting the minimum salary threshold, consistent with federal law under 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1) and 29 C.F.R. Part 541.
Highly compensated employee alternative. Colorado also provides a simplified duties test for highly compensated employees (HCE) who earn at least 2.25 times the EAP weekly salary threshold annually and receive at least the full EAP weekly salary on a salary basis. For 2026, the HCE annual threshold is $130,014, and the employee must receive at least $1,111.23 per week in guaranteed salary (the 10% nondiscretionary-bonus rule does not apply to the weekly component for HCEs, though it may apply to the remaining annual compensation). This exemption is set forth in COMPS Order Rule 2.2.11. The hours-worked requirement applies to HCE salaries in the same manner as to standard EAP salaries.
Multi-jurisdictional employers. When Colorado employees work for employers with operations in multiple states, Colorado's higher salary threshold and hours-worked requirement apply to work performed in Colorado. Employers cannot average a lower federal or other-state threshold to avoid Colorado's requirement. Federal law, by contrast, establishes only a floor; under the dual-jurisdiction principle in COMPS Order Rule 8.1, the law providing greater protection to the employee applies.
Source: 2026 PAY CALC Order, 7 CCR 1103-14
Tipped minimum wage and tip credit
Colorado permits employers to pay tipped employees a reduced cash wage, provided that the employee's tips combined with the cash wage equal at least the full state minimum wage. For 2026, the minimum cash wage for tipped employees is $12.14 per hour, and employers may claim a tip credit of up to $3.02 per hour against the $15.16 statewide minimum wage. The $3.02 tip credit amount is fixed in Section 15 of Article XVIII of the Colorado Constitution and does not increase with annual minimum wage adjustments; as the minimum wage rises each year, the required cash wage for tipped employees increases proportionally while the tip credit remains constant at $3.02.
Definition of tipped employee. Under Rule 1.10 of the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards (COMPS) Order, a "tipped employee" is any employee who regularly receives more than $1.64 per hour in tips, averaged over any pay period permitted by C.R.S. § 8-4-103. Tips include amounts designated as a tip by credit card customers on their charge slips.
Conditions for claiming the tip credit. Rule 6.2.3 of the COMPS Order establishes that an employer may claim a tip credit no greater than $3.02 per hour to offset cash wages for employers of tipped employees. The employer must pay a cash wage of at least the amount specified for the applicable year in the PAY CALC Order (for 2026, $12.14 per hour) if it claims a tip credit against its minimum hourly wage obligation. If an employee's tips combined with the cash wage do not equal the minimum hourly wage ($15.16 for 2026), the employer must make up the difference in cash wages. This "make-whole" requirement ensures that no tipped employee ever receives less than the full minimum wage when tips and cash wages are combined.
Tip pooling. Colorado allows employers to require tip pooling or "tipping out," in which tipped employees contribute a portion of their tips to be divided among a group of employees, according to federal Department of Labor guidance incorporated into Colorado practice. An employee cannot be required to pay more into the pool than is customary and reasonable, and the employee must be able to keep at least the full minimum wage. When an employer takes a tip credit, the employer may count only the tips the employee actually takes home (after any valid tip pooling) against its minimum wage obligation.
Overtime pay for tipped employees. When a tipped employee earns overtime, the regular rate for calculating overtime includes all compensation paid to the employee, including set hourly rates, shift differentials, and minimum wage tip credits, per Rule 1.8.1 of the COMPS Order. The employer may not take a higher tip credit for overtime hours than for non-overtime hours; the $3.02-per-hour tip credit ceiling applies uniformly.
Recordkeeping and notice requirements. Employers claiming a tip credit must maintain true and accurate records for each employee. Under Rule 7.1 of the COMPS Order, employers must keep records including name, address, occupation, date of hire, hours worked each day and workweek, wage rate, gross wages earned, withholdings, and net pay. Rule 7.2 requires employers to provide an itemized earnings statement each pay period showing the information in Rule 7.1(D)-(E) and the total hours worked in the pay period. Records must be retained for three years.
Local minimum wages and tip credits. Several Colorado localities have enacted minimum wages higher than the statewide rate. Denver's 2026 minimum wage is $19.29 per hour; Denver permits the same $3.02 tip credit, resulting in a tipped minimum wage of $16.27 per hour for food and beverage workers. House Bill 25-1208, enacted in 2025, allows local governments that adopt a minimum wage higher than the state minimum to authorize a higher tip credit above the constitutional $3.02 floor. Edgewater is the first locality to use this authority; Edgewater's 2026 minimum wage is $18.17 per hour, and its tip credit is $4.67 per hour, resulting in a tipped minimum wage of $13.50 per hour. Employers must comply with the highest applicable minimum wage—federal, state, or local—for the jurisdiction where work is performed.
Source: 2026 PAY CALC Order, 7 CCR 1103-14
Source: COMPS Order, 7 CCR 1103-1
Local minimum wage ordinances — Denver, Boulder, Edgewater, and Boulder County
Four Colorado localities have enacted minimum wage ordinances that set rates higher than the state minimum wage: the City and County of Denver, the City of Boulder, the City of Edgewater, and unincorporated Boulder County. Colorado law authorizes local governments to establish minimum wages exceeding the state floor under House Bill 19-1210, enacted in 2019. State law requires that local minimum wage adjustments take effect on January 1 of each year and limits annual increases to the greater of 15% or $1.75 (with 15% being the higher limit in practice).
Denver. Denver's minimum wage is $19.29 per hour as of January 1, 2026, with a tipped minimum wage of $16.27 per hour (reflecting the standard $3.02 tip credit for food and beverage workers). The Denver ordinance, enacted in November 2019 and effective January 1, 2020, adjusts annually based on the Consumer Price Index for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metropolitan area. Denver's minimum wage applies to all work performed within the City and County of Denver, regardless of where the employer is headquartered. The ordinance covers employees who perform at least four hours of work within Denver's boundaries in a given week.
Boulder (City). The City of Boulder's minimum wage is $16.82 per hour as of January 1, 2026, with a tipped minimum wage of $13.80 per hour (reflecting the standard $3.02 tip credit for food and beverage workers). Boulder City Council adopted Ordinance 8664 in November 2024, establishing a local minimum wage effective January 1, 2025. The ordinance prescribes an 8% annual increase for 2025, 2026, and 2027 ($15.57 in 2025, $16.82 in 2026, and a projected $18.17 in 2027). Beginning January 1, 2028, and on January 1 of each subsequent calendar year, Boulder's minimum wage will increase by an amount corresponding to the prior year increase in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area. The ordinance covers employees who perform four or more hours of work within Boulder city limits in any given week. Employers must post notice of the currently effective Boulder minimum wage in letters no less than one inch high in a prominent place easily accessible to all employees, in both English and Spanish.
Edgewater. Edgewater's minimum wage is $18.17 per hour as of January 1, 2026. Edgewater City Council passed Ordinance 2023-07 in 2023, establishing a local minimum wage effective January 1, 2024, with a phased schedule through 2028. The ordinance prescribes annual increases of 10% through 2028, after which the rate will increase annually by inflation or—if greater—to match Denver's minimum wage. Edgewater is the first Colorado locality to increase its tip credit above the constitutional $3.02 floor, pursuant to authority granted by House Bill 25-1208 (enacted 2025). In December 2025, the Edgewater City Council passed Ordinance 2025-23 to increase the city's tip credit from $3.02 to $4.67 per hour for 2026, resulting in a tipped minimum wage of $13.50 per hour for food and beverage workers. The City Council plans to study the tip credit throughout 2026 for potential adjustment in 2027. Edgewater's minimum wage applies to employees who perform four or more hours of work within Edgewater's boundaries in any given week. Like other local ordinances, Edgewater's minimum wage is based on where work is physically performed, not where the employer is headquartered.
Boulder County (unincorporated areas). Unincorporated Boulder County's minimum wage is $16.82 per hour as of January 1, 2026, with a tipped minimum wage of $13.80 per hour (reflecting the standard $3.02 tip credit for food and beverage workers). Unincorporated Boulder County adopted a local minimum wage ordinance in 2023, effective January 1, 2024. In November 2025, the Boulder County Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2025-001, revising the minimum wage schedule to align with the City of Boulder for 2026 after concerns from the farming and business community. The original schedule in Ordinance 2023-4 would have set the 2026 rate at $17.99 per hour with annual increases through 2030 reaching $25 per hour; the revised schedule sets the 2026 rate at $16.82 per hour and indexes future increases to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area beginning January 1, 2027. The ordinance applies only to work performed in unincorporated areas of Boulder County—those without their own municipal government. Incorporated municipalities such as Boulder, Longmont, Lafayette, Louisville, and Erie are excluded unless Boulder County reaches an intergovernmental agreement with them. Unincorporated communities subject to the Boulder County minimum wage include Niwot, Eldorado Springs, Eldora, Allenspark, Gold Hill, Hygiene, Coal Creek Canyon, and portions of Gunbarrel outside the City of Boulder. Employers can use the Boulder County property search tool available on the county's website to determine whether a business address is in an unincorporated area. The ordinance covers employees who perform, or are expected to perform, four or more hours of work in unincorporated Boulder County in any given week.
Coverage rule: location of work controls. The applicable minimum wage is determined by where the employee physically performs work, not where the employer's headquarters or main office is located. An employee working in Denver must be paid Denver's minimum wage even if the employer is based outside Denver. Remote employees working from home are covered by the local minimum wage of the jurisdiction where they physically work. When an employee works in multiple jurisdictions during a workweek, the employee must be paid at least the applicable local minimum wage for hours worked in each locality.
Enforcement. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment has authority to investigate and enforce local minimum wage violations under state wage-payment law (the Colorado Wage Act, C.R.S. Title 8, Article 4), because state law covers failure to pay any amount required by statute, regulation, agreement, or local ordinance. Employees may file wage complaints with the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics or pursue a private right of action in court. Some localities also maintain their own enforcement mechanisms; the City of Boulder's Office of Human Rights investigates wage complaints under the city's Failure to Pay Wages Ordinance.
2026 rates summary. For quick reference, the 2026 local minimum wage rates in Colorado are:
- Denver: $19.29/hour (tipped: $16.27/hour)
- Edgewater: $18.17/hour (tipped: $13.50/hour)
- Boulder (City): $16.82/hour (tipped: $13.80/hour)
- Boulder County (unincorporated): $16.82/hour (tipped: $13.80/hour)
- Colorado statewide: $15.16/hour (tipped: $12.14/hour)
Current rates and schedules. Employers can find current and historical local minimum wage rates, scheduled increases, and tip credit amounts in the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's INFO #19 publication, "Local Minimum Wages," which the Division updates at least annually. The publication includes a table showing state and local minimum wage rates by year, tip credit amounts, coverage thresholds, and links to each local ordinance. The Colorado Department of Labor also maintains a Local Minimum Wage Report page on its website with updated rate information.
Source: Local Minimum Wage, City of Boulder
Source: Employee Compensation Information, City of Boulder
Source: Minimum Wage, City of Edgewater
Source: Local Minimum Wage, Boulder County
Source: INFO #19: Local Minimum Wages, Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics (November 2024)
Source: Labor Standards and Statistics, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
Regular rate calculation for non-hourly employees
Colorado requires overtime pay at 1.5 times the employee's regular rate of pay under the Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards (COMPS) Order. For employees paid on a non-hourly basis — salaried, commissioned, or piece-rate workers — the regular rate must be calculated from their total compensation, because these employees do not have a fixed hourly wage.
Components of the regular rate — Rule 1.8.1. Under Rule 1.8.1 of the COMPS Order, the regular rate includes all compensation paid to an employee: set hourly rates, shift differentials, minimum wage tip credits, non-discretionary bonuses, production bonuses, and commissions. Items excluded from the regular rate include business expenses, bona fide gifts, discretionary bonuses, tips, employer investment contributions, vacation pay, holiday pay, sick leave, jury duty, and other pay for non-work hours. This definition mirrors the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regular-rate framework but is applied under Colorado's stricter overtime thresholds (40 hours per week, 12 hours per day, or 12 consecutive hours).
Regular rate for salaried non-exempt employees — Rule 1.8.2. Rule 1.8.2 of the COMPS Order establishes the calculation method for employees paid a weekly salary or on another non-hourly basis. Colorado law recognizes two permissible approaches:
(A) Fluctuating workweek method. An employer may use the fluctuating workweek method — where the weekly salary covers the employee's regular rate for whatever hours the employee actually works in a given week, and the employer pays only an additional half-time (0.5×) premium for overtime hours — if all four of the following conditions are met:
- The employer and employee have a clear mutual understanding that the salary compensates the employee at the regular rate for all hours worked each workweek, not just a set number of hours;
- The salary provides the employee's straight-time pay for whatever hours the employee works;
- The salary is supplemented by extra pay for all overtime hours (in addition to the salary that covers the regular rate) equal to an extra one-half (0.5×) of the regular rate; and
- The salary is paid for whatever hours the employee works in a workweek.
When these four conditions are satisfied, the employer calculates the regular rate by dividing the weekly salary by the actual number of hours the employee worked that week, then pays an additional 0.5× that regular rate for each overtime hour. (The salary already covers 1.0× the regular rate for all hours, so the additional 0.5× brings total overtime compensation to 1.5×.)
(B) Default method — divide by 40. Where the requirements of subsection (A) are not met — meaning there is not the required "clear mutual understanding" that the salary provides the regular rate for all hours with extra pay added for overtime hours — the hourly regular rate is calculated by dividing the applicable weekly pay by 40, the number of hours presumed to be in a workweek for an employee paid no overtime premium. The employer then owes the employee 1.5× that rate for all overtime hours in addition to the weekly salary.
Example. An employee receives a weekly salary of $800 and works 50 hours in a given week, triggering 10 hours of overtime under the 40-hour weekly threshold.
- Under the fluctuating workweek method (if all four conditions are met): the regular rate is $800 ÷ 50 = $16.00 per hour. The employer owes an additional half-time premium of $16.00 × 0.5 × 10 = $80.00, for total weekly pay of $880.00.
- Under the default method (if the clear mutual understanding does not exist): the regular rate is $800 ÷ 40 = $20.00 per hour. The employer owes the $800 salary plus time-and-a-half for 10 overtime hours: $20.00 × 1.5 × 10 = $300.00, for total weekly pay of $1,100.00.
The default method provides significantly higher compensation to the employee when overtime hours are worked, which is why employers may not use the fluctuating workweek method unless the clear mutual understanding exists at the outset.
Commissioned and piece-rate employees. For employees paid on commission or piece rate, the regular rate is calculated by adding together the total earnings for the workweek from all sources (commissions, piece-rate pay, bonuses, pay for waiting time, etc.) and dividing that sum by the total number of hours worked in that week. The overtime premium of 1.5× this regular rate is then applied to any overtime hours. The COMPS Order requires that commissioned and piece-rate employees receive at least the minimum wage for all hours worked, and overtime pay calculated on the regular rate must bring total weekly compensation above the minimum-wage floor for all hours.
Coordination with Colorado's three overtime thresholds. Colorado's overtime obligation is triggered when an employee works more than 40 hours in a workweek, more than 12 hours in a workday, or more than 12 consecutive hours, whichever calculation results in the greater amount of overtime pay owed to the employee. The regular rate calculated under Rule 1.8 applies uniformly across all three thresholds; the method of calculating the rate does not change depending on whether overtime is triggered by the weekly, daily, or consecutive-hours rule. Employers must track hours daily and cumulatively to determine which threshold generates the highest overtime obligation for the pay period.
Source: 7 CCR 1103-1 (COMPS Order), Rule 1.8
Source: Overtime Calculations, Colorado Division of Labor Standards and Statistics