Colorado Enacts New Protections for Employee Identification Documents

New notice, acknowledgment, and 10-hour retention rule for employment eligibility verification

The Colorado General Assembly recently passed HB-1283, concerning “Protections Regarding Seizures of Identification Documents,” which became effective on June 3, 2026. Codified at C.R.S. § 8-2-124.5, the law sets new requirements for Colorado employers regarding employment eligibility verification.

Specifically, the new law prohibits employers from demanding, confiscating, retaining, or otherwise requiring applicants or employees to surrender government-issued identification documents as part of their employment eligibility verification process and imposes notice, acknowledgment, and recordkeeping obligations on Colorado employers.

Nevertheless, Colorado employers may still request and temporarily retain an applicant or employee’s government-issued identification documents for the limited purpose of verifying or reverifying the individual’s eligibility for employment, provided they follow these new guidelines.

Colorado employers should review employee onboarding and employment verification procedures now.

What Changed?

• Colorado now prohibits employers and employer agents from demanding, confiscating, retaining, or otherwise requiring an employee, applicant, migrant worker, seasonal employee, or other person performing or seeking work to surrender a government-issued identification card, subject to limited exceptions.
• The law includes a narrow employment-verification exception. Employers may temporarily hold an ID to verify employment eligibility status and make a copy, but the temporary retention may not exceed 10 hours.
• When verifying employment eligibility, employers must notify the individual in writing of the law’s protections. The notice must be in English and, if the employer knows the individual’s primary language is not English, in that primary language as well.
• The individual must sign to acknowledge the notice of rights, and the employer must retain the notice and the employee’s signed acknowledgment in employment records.

Who is Covered?

• Employers and employer agents in Colorado
• Employees and applicants for employment
• Individuals performing work or seeking to perform work in any capacity, including migrant workers and seasonal employees

Employer Best Practices:

• Do not hold original IDs as a matter of routine. Only handle original identification documents as needed for permitted verification or copying.
• Observe the 10-hour rule. If an ID is temporarily retained for employment eligibility verification, return it as soon as the verification/copying step is complete and never more than 10 hours later.
• Give the required written notice. Provide the notice during employment eligibility verification explaining the law’s restrictions on retention or surrender of government-issued ID documents. While Colorado has not yet released a model notice, employers are advised to consult with legal counsel to prepare one.
• Use the right language. Provide the notice in English and, if known, in the individual’s primary language if that language is not English.
• Obtain acknowledgment. Have the individual acknowledge receipt of the notice by signing and dating it.
• Keep records. Retain the acknowledgment in the employee’s or applicant’s employment records.
• Train anyone who verifies documents. Make sure HR, onboarding teams, hiring managers, and any third-party agents understand the notice, acknowledgment, and 10-hour return requirements.

Penalties and Risk

• A person who knowingly violates the prohibition on demanding, confiscating, retaining, or requiring surrender of a government-issued ID could be liable for criminal possession of an identification document, which the law defines as a Class 2 Misdemeanor.
• A violation of the law may be treated as a bias-motivated crime, a Class 1 Misdemeanor, if the conduct is intended to intimidate or harass another individual because of protected characteristics, or if the person provides or threatens to provide the individual’s original identification document to federal immigration authorities except where required or permitted by law.
• An affected individual may seek return of the document and may pursue civil remedies for damages.

Practical Steps for Employers

• Review and update Colorado onboarding and reverification procedures to include the required notice and acknowledgment step.
• Revise document-handling policies to make clear that original IDs may not be held beyond the narrow document verification/copying exception.
• Track any temporary retention of original IDs to ensure return within 10 hours.
• Review third-party onboarding or I-9 vendor practices, because the law also applies to employer agents.
• Work with legal counsel to prepare the English language notice.
• If applicable, translate the notice into languages common within your workforce and implement a process to determine when the individual’s primary language is one other than English in order to provide them with the correct version of the notice.

 

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