The Colorado Division of Labor is conducting more than a thousand audits on employers each year to enforce Colorado’s Employment Verification Law. The Division has conducted approximately 200 complaint-based audits, 5,400 random audits, and 650 re-audits (more than 6,000 audits total) of employers with employees in Colorado since the Law went into effect on January 1, 2007. It has levied over $500,000 in fines and fined more than 160 individual employers.
The Law, Section 8-2-122, C.R.S., applies to public and private employers who transact business in Colorado and to employees hired on or after January 1, 2007. It is comprised of two main components:
- Each employer in Colorado must make an affirmation on the Colorado Affirmation of Legal Work Status Form (rev. 9/06/12) within 20 days after hiring a new employee. The Form instructs that employers must “keep a written or electronic copy of the affirmation … for the term of employment of each employee.”
- The employer must keep a written or electronic copy of the employee’s documents required by the federal I-9 law (8 U.S.C. Sec. 1324a), which include identity and employment authorization documents.
The Division has been conducting between 1,000 and 2,000 new audits every year. The majority of the targets are randomly selected. Once audited, companies are likely to be re-audited and the Division takes a harsh stance on violations occurring after the first audit.
If you would like information, assistance or advice regarding the Colorado Affirmation of Legal Work Status Form or other workplace requirements, please contact the Jackson Lewis attorney with whom you regularly work.