Good practice

Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (2021) — Mandatory Salary Transparency and Pay Equity

United States of America · Denver · See the United States of America profile

Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (SB19-085), in force since 1 January 2021, requires all employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings and prohibits sex-based pay discrimination. By October 2024 the state enforcement body had received 1,747 complaints and collected $

1,747

Pay-discrimination complaints filed (to Oct 2024)

Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (2021) — Mandatory Salary Transparency and Pay Equity

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: Colorado Department of Labor and Employment
Period: 2021–present
Keywords: government, employment law, pay equity, salary transparency

Context

Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (SB19-085), in force since 1 January 2021, requires employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings and prohibits sex-based pay discrimination.

Results

By October 2024 the state enforcement body had received 1,747 complaints and recovered back pay; it is among the first US mandatory pay-transparency laws.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-23
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment — accessed 2026-06-23
Colorado General Assembly – SB19-085 (full text) — accessed 2026-06-23
CDLE – Equal Pay for Equal Work Act guidance — accessed 2026-06-23
ILG Denver – Status of EPEWA enforcement (Oct 2024) — accessed 2026-06-23

Attachments

Source image

Quality score: 100/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 1% in this catalogue (719 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Transferability / replicability3/3

Adopted verbatim by 15+ US states and cited as a model for the EU Pay Transparency Directive (2023/970/EU), making Colorado's salary-disclosure framework the most-replicated state-level pay-equity mechanism in the world.

Impact on gender equality1/1

Independent research documents a 3.6% increase in advertised wages for Colorado workers post-enactment and a measurable narrowing of the state's gender pay gap, with gains accruing to women without reducing men's pay.

Effectiveness1/1

The DLSS enforcement mechanism recorded 1,747 complaints and 20 citations resulting in $238,000 in fines by October 2024, demonstrating continuous compliance pressure and active deterrence.

Efficiency1/1

Enforcement is largely self-funded via statutory fines ($500–$10,000 per posting violation), keeping public expenditure low while generating broad market-wide incentives for voluntary compliance.

Evaluated outcomes1/1

CDLE publishes enforcement statistics; independent research by Trusaic (2023) used posted-salary data across states to quantify the 3.6% wage premium attributable to Colorado's law.

Sustainability1/1

EPEWA is a permanent state statute with bipartisan support; it was strengthened by 2024 amendments, confirming sustained legislative commitment to salary transparency.

Achievement / evidence1/1

Within three years of enactment, wage disclosure in job postings became universal practice among Colorado employers, a structural market shift documented by employers and recruitment platforms.

Gender-mainstreaming embedding1/1

The law applies to all employers (public and private) across every sector and occupation, embedding pay equity as a standard employment-law obligation rather than a voluntary corporate pledge.

Curator validation1/1

Legislation, CDLE enforcement data and independent wage-effect research are all publicly accessible from authoritative sources on distinct domains.

Cite this

Evidoria. Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (2021) — Mandatory Salary Transparency and Pay Equity. Persistent ID: 8c0a157f-e682-4231-9077-9cd8d94a861d.

Export as decision brief (PDF)

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