Overtime Laws in Colorado

The federal baseline (FLSA)

Under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees in Colorado must be paid at least one and a half times their regular rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. A workweek is any fixed, repeating block of seven consecutive days — your business picks the start day, but once chosen it has to stay consistent.

Overtime is calculated per workweek, not per pay period. So even on a bi-weekly payroll, you still total each of the two workweeks separately when figuring out who crossed 40 hours.

Daily overtime in Colorado

Colorado adds daily overtime after 12 hours in a workday (and a separate rule after 12 consecutive hours) for covered industries such as retail, food and beverage, and health and medical.

Because Colorado layers daily rules on top of the federal weekly rule, your time clock needs to evaluate each day and each week and pay whichever produces the higher amount.

Who is exempt from overtime?

Overtime protections cover non-exempt employees. Workers correctly classified as exempt — typically salaried executive, administrative, and professional roles that meet both a salary threshold and a duties test — generally are not owed overtime. Misclassifying an employee as exempt is one of the most common and expensive wage-and-hour mistakes, so review the duties test, not just the job title.

Independent contractors are not employees and are not covered by overtime rules — but the test for contractor status is strict, and getting it wrong creates back-pay liability.

Official sources

• U.S. DOL — Minimum wage by state
• U.S. DOL — State overtime
• U.S. DOL — State labor offices

More Colorado guides

Overtime laws in other states

Colorado overtime laws: frequently asked questions