In May 2022, Colorado passed a new law requiring employers to provide a notice to all separating employees alerting them that unemployment compensation benefits may be available. Specifically, Section 8-74-101(4) of the Colorado Revised Statutes provides that at the time of separation, employers must provide each employee, in electronic or hard copy format, information regarding the availability of unemployment compensation benefits. The notice must include the following information: (a) the employer’s name and address; (b) the employee’s name and address; (c) the employee’s identification number or the last four numbers of the employee’s Social Security number; (d) the employee’s start date, date of last day worked, year-to-date earnings and wages for the last week the employee worked; and (e) the reason the employee separated from the employer.

Since May, because the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (“CDLE”) had not issued a form, employers had to create their own notices to fulfill this obligation. However, last week, the CDLE released Employer Separation Form 22-234, which serves a model unemployment notice complying with the requirement of the new law. The form is available here.

Employers should add the form to their termination procedures, and to the extent there are concerns about listing the reasons an employee is being separated, consult with legal counsel to mitigate risk.