Colorado HB25-1328: the complete guide to the Know Your Rights training documentation requirements
Last updated: August 2026Colorado HB25-1328 — "Implement Recommendations Direct Care Worker Stabilization Board" — was signed by Governor Polis on May 28, 2025. It implements the recommendations of the state's Direct Care Workforce Stabilization Board and creates Colorado's first training-documentation duty for direct care employers. The short version: the state gives the course away free and issues the certificate — and the employer has to keep the proof. Here's what the law actually says, in plain English, with citations to the statute.
Who must comply?
Every direct care employer in Colorado, for every direct care worker they employ. The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) describes this workforce broadly: nursing aides, home health aides, personal care aides, companions, and similar roles — including home and community-based services (HCBS), facility work such as day programs and assisted living, job coaching, job development, mentorship, and pre-vocational services.
For edge cases — whether a specific worker class or Medicaid waiver type is covered — follow the state's current guidance or your own counsel.
What is the Know Your Rights training?
HB25-1328 requires CDLE, in collaboration with the Direct Care Workforce Stabilization Board, to establish a comprehensive "Know Your Rights" training for direct care workers. The training covers the rights workers hold under Colorado labor law — wages, overtime, travel time, and how to file a complaint.
- Free: the department must make the training available at no charge, and worker organizations may participate free of charge.
- Paid time: workers take the training during regular paid working hours, at no cost to the worker.
- State-issued certificate: the state issues the completion certificate, and the department reports training completion information to the board.
The documentation duty
This is the part that lands on the employer. Every direct care employer must require each direct care worker to provide documentation of the completed Know Your Rights training, and keep that proof on file, by October 1, 2026 — or within 90 days after the state's direct care worker website and communication platform are established, whichever is earlier. § 8-7.5-108(3)(a)
The notice duty
The act also requires the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF), in collaboration with the board, to build a direct care worker website and communication platform and to develop a direct care worker-specific notice of rights. Employers must:
- Distribute the state's notice of rights to every current worker, and to each new hire at the time of hire.
- Tell workers about the state's direct care worker website and communication platform.
Enforcement and penalties
The director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics (DLSS) is required to provide compliance assistance to direct care employers, investigate possible violations, and enforce the act's requirements.
- $100 per worker per violation: the fine is $100 for each direct care worker affected by each violation. § 8-7.5-109(2)
- Double for repeats: the fine doubles after a prior violation of the same or similar type within five years. § 8-7.5-109(2)
- Good-faith exception: an employer that demonstrates a good-faith effort to comply is not fined for a first violation. § 8-7.5-109(2)
For scale: an agency with 60 workers and no proof on file is looking at $6,000 for a first violation — before the doubling rule.
Key dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| May 28, 2025 | HB25-1328 signed into law |
| TBD | HCPF's direct care worker website and communication platform go live (starts the 90-day clock if earlier than October 1) |
| October 1, 2026 | Documentation deadline: proof of Know Your Rights training completion on file for every covered worker |
What should agencies do now?
- Count your covered workers and confirm who needs the training.
- Point every worker to the state's free Know Your Rights training — during paid working hours.
- Collect each state-issued completion certificate and keep it tied to the worker and the date.
- Watch for the state's notice of rights, and plan to distribute it to current workers and every new hire.
- Set up records you can actually produce if the Division asks — a folder of PDFs is not a roster.
This guide summarizes HB25-1328 for general information. It isn't legal advice — consult the statute text or an attorney for your agency's specific situation.