The federal government’s and state of Colorado’s public health emergency declarations for COVID-19 expire on May 11. These changes represent the last public health declarations applicable for the use of Emergency Sick Leave under Colorado law.

The implementation of Colorado’s Healthy Families and Workplaces Act in 2021 created a provision for emergency sick leave covering all employees in Colorado. The details for the usage and restrictions on this leave type can be found in the HCM Community website.

Under the law, employees are still eligible to use emergency leave for up to four weeks after the order has ended. That means CU employees can continue to claim this leave type for qualifying absences through June 8.

Payroll liaisons and supervisors should remain aware of these deadlines for the purposes of approving and processing emergency leave requests and claims. For payroll staff, three earnings codes can be used based on employee type:

• PEH – Paid Emergency Sick Hourly
• PES – Paid Emergency Sick Salaried
• PEC – Paid Emergency Sick Contract

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Supervisors should notify their employees that the emergency leave window is ending, and that after June 8, employees who take leave for COVID-related absences will need to use personal sick or vacation leave or take unpaid leave.

These earnings codes will remain active for a period of time after June 8 to allow for retroactive processing. Time approvers, HR staff and CU Time uploaders should be aware that the codes should only be used for applicable leave taken within the allowable period. The inactivation date for the codes will be announced at a later date. 

Employees who enter their time should not record emergency leave time for any date following June 8. If your campus offers supplemental leave policies and paid leave options for employees taking COVID-related time off, employees should contact their department or campus HR office to arrange for such leave.