Fair Chance/Colorado
Colorado Fair Chance Hiring 2026
When criminal history can enter the hiring process, what must happen before a conviction-based no, and who enforces it. Every figure below is checked against the statute and agency guidance.
Ban the Box, Every Employer
The Chance to Compete Act keeps criminal history out of job ads and initial applications. It has covered all employers since September 1, 2021, and it does not delay background checks to the offer stage.
| The law | Chance to Compete Act (C.R.S. 8-2-130, enacted by HB 19-1025) |
|---|---|
| Who is covered | All employers since September 1, 2021; employers with 11 or more employees were covered first, on September 1, 2019. The state, local governments, and quasi-governmental entities are excluded from the employer definition. |
| When criminal history can enter | Application-stage only. An employer may not state in a job ad, or on any application form, that a person with a criminal history may not apply, and may not inquire into or require disclosure of criminal history on an initial written or electronic application (C.R.S. 8-2-130(3)(a)). The law sets no conditional-offer gate, and under C.R.S. 8-2-130(3)(b) an employer may obtain an applicant's publicly available criminal background report at any time. |
| Assessment before a no | None required by this law. The Chance to Compete Act's rules stop at the application stage; it adds no individualized-assessment or notice-and-response procedure. |
| Enforcement and penalties | Solely through the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, via a complaint filed within 12 months of the violation; there is no private right of action, and the statute's penalties are the sole remedy (C.R.S. 8-2-130(5)). Penalties run from a warning with a 30-day compliance order to civil penalties of up to $1,000 and then up to $2,500, but no second or subsequent penalty attaches unless the employer failed a 30-day compliance order or violated again more than 30 days after one issued (C.R.S. 8-2-130(5)(c) and (d)). |
| Key exemptions | Three, in C.R.S. 8-2-130(4): positions where the law prohibits hiring a person with a specific criminal history; positions designated for a government program encouraging the employment of people with criminal histories; and positions for which the law requires a criminal history record check. |
Next to it: the Job Application Fairness Act
Colorado's Job Application Fairness Act (C.R.S. 8-2-131), effective July 1, 2024, bars requesting age, date of birth, or school attendance or graduation dates on initial employment applications. An employer may still request third-party materials like transcripts at the application stage if it notifies the individual that they may redact those identifying dates.
Its penalty ladder uses the same dollar figures as the Chance to Compete Act, a warning, then up to $1,000, then up to $2,500, but the two sections are not the same structure: the Job Application Fairness Act uses fifteen-business-day compliance windows where 8-2-130 uses thirty days, and its employer definition includes state and local government, which 8-2-130 excludes. Each distinct job posting counts as a separate violation; individual responses to a posting do not.
The Colorado record
September 1, 2019
Chance to Compete Act covers employers with 11 or more employees.
September 1, 2021
All employers covered.
July 1, 2024
Job Application Fairness Act: age, date of birth, and school-date questions barred from initial applications (C.R.S. 8-2-131).
The federal floor: FCRA paperwork in every state
Whenever an employer in any state obtains a background check through a consumer reporting agency, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act sets the baseline procedure. State fair-chance laws layer on top of it, never instead of it.
Before the check. A standalone written disclosure that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes, and the applicant's written authorization (15 U.S.C. 1681b(b)).
Before any adverse action based on the report. A copy of the report plus the summary of rights, "A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act." The current edition is the CFPB's September 2018 version, published on the CFPB model forms and disclosures page; superseded FTC-branded copies still circulate.
With the adverse-action notice. The consumer reporting agency's name, address, and toll-free phone number; a statement that the agency did not make the decision and cannot explain it; and disclosure of the rights to a free report within 60 days and to dispute the report's accuracy (15 U.S.C. 1681m(a)).
Questions employers ask
Is Colorado a ban-the-box state?
Yes. The Chance to Compete Act (C.R.S. 8-2-130) bars stating in job ads or on any application form that people with criminal history may not apply, and bars criminal-history inquiries on initial applications. It phased in for employers with 11 or more employees on September 1, 2019 and for all employers on September 1, 2021, with state and local government excluded from the employer definition.
Can a Colorado employer run a background check before a job offer?
This law does not stop that. The Chance to Compete Act regulates job ads and initial applications only, and C.R.S. 8-2-130(3)(b) expressly allows an employer to obtain an applicant's publicly available criminal background report at any time. The federal FCRA's disclosure and authorization requirements still apply to checks run through a consumer reporting agency.
What are the penalties under Colorado's Chance to Compete Act?
A warning with a 30-day compliance order first, then civil penalties of up to $1,000 and then up to $2,500. No second or subsequent penalty attaches unless the employer failed a 30-day compliance order or violated the law again more than 30 days after one issued. Enforcement belongs solely to CDLE through a complaint filed within 12 months; there is no private right of action.
Does Colorado's fair-chance law cover government employers?
No. The Chance to Compete Act's employer definition excludes the state, local governments, and quasi-governmental entities. The neighboring Job Application Fairness Act (C.R.S. 8-2-131) is different: its employer definition includes state and local government.
What is the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act?
C.R.S. 8-2-131, effective July 1, 2024. It bars requesting age, date of birth, or school attendance or graduation dates on initial employment applications. It carries the same warning, up-to-$1,000, up-to-$2,500 penalty ladder as the Chance to Compete Act but with fifteen-business-day compliance windows instead of 30 days.
Sources and caveats
Caveat: The General Assembly publishes both texts as PDFs: the signed act on the HB 19-1025 bill page and the codified C.R.S. 8-2-130 and 8-2-131 in the official Title 8 statute PDF on the Colorado Revised Statutes page; download them there to verify. Figures were verified against both documents on September 7, 2026.
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