Colorado Enacts New Protections Against Employer Retention of Identification Documents 

• Colorado enacted a new law restricting employers from confiscating or retaining workers’ government-issued identification documents, while preserving limited exceptions for employment eligibility verification.   

Colorado Adopts New Worker Identification Document Protections  

Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed House Bill 26-1283 into law, establishing new restrictions on employers’ handling of workers’ government-issued identification documents.   

The legislation is intended to prevent the unlawful confiscation or retention of identification documents and to protect workers from coercive, retaliatory or discriminatory conduct involving those documents.   

What Does the Law Do?  

Under the new law, employers generally may not demand, confiscate, retain or otherwise require an employee, applicant or individual performing work to surrender a government-issued identification card. 

The law permits a limited exception when employers verify work authorization through the Form I-9 process. In those circumstances, employers may temporarily retain a government-issued identification document to verify employment eligibility and make a copy of the document.   

However, employers may not retain the original document for more than 10 hours.   

New Notice Requirement  

When conducting employment eligibility verification, employers must provide workers with written notice that prohibits the confiscation or retention of identification documents. The notice must be:  

• Provided in English;  
• Provided in the worker’s primary language if known and not English; and  
• Acknowledged by the individual.   

Employers must retain records of both the notice and the acknowledgment.   

Penalties for Violations  

The law also expands Colorado’s criminal possession of an identification document statute. An employer that knowingly violates the prohibition on retaining identification documents may be subject to criminal penalties.   

Additionally, individuals harmed by unlawful possession or confiscation of an identification document may seek the document’s return through a court order and pursue a civil action to recover damages. 

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