Colorado 2016 Minimum Wage Increase

Colorado raised its minimum wage rate to $8.31 per hour for 2016.

Colorado’s Minimum Wage Order 32 increased the 2016 minimum wage rate to $8.31 per hour effective January 1, 2016. The increase gives minimum wage workers a one percent pay bump over the 2015 rate of $8.23 based on an annual adjustment for inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

Colorado Minimum Wage Posting Requirements

Colorado’s Minimum Wage Order 32 applies to four business categories:

• Retail and Service
• Commercial Support Service
• Food and Beverage
• Health and Medical

Private-sector employers in the four industries noted above must display the Colorado Minimum Wage Order poster in an area frequented by employees where it may be easily read during the workday. The Order does not apply to public sector employers, independent contractors, or a variety of other industries such as construction, manufacturing, wholesale.

Colorado Tipped Employee 2016 Minimum Wage Rate

Employees who customarily receive more than $30 per month in tips must receive a wage of at least $5.29 per hour. If tips combined with wages do not equal minimum wage, the employer must make up the difference in cash wages.

The federal tipped minimum wage rate of $2.13 per hour is lower than the 2016 Colorado tipped minimum wage of $5.29 per hour, which means that covered Colorado employers need to pay tipped workers the higher rate of $5.29 per hour beginning January 1, 2016.