Colorado HB25-1328: the complete guide to the Know Your Rights training documentation requirements
Last updated: October 4, 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. This guide summarizes the statute and CDLE's current published completion guidance, with sources linked below.
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. Per CDLE's current training guidance and its October 2 announcement, employers must ensure current workers complete the training by the end of March 2027 (six months after the October 1, 2026 publication). For workers hired after October 1, 2026, the training must be completed or the employer must receive proof of prior completion within six months of hire. October 1 is the publication/start date, not the completion deadline. Employers collect and keep proof of completion. HB25-1328, § 8-7.5-108(3)(a); CDLE guidance
These completion dates follow CDLE's published guidance. The enacted statute contains different timing language; consult the current state guidance or your own counsel for your agency's obligations.
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 |
| July 1, 2026 | Notice of Rights due to current workers; distribute it to future workers at hire, per CDLE |
| October 1, 2026 | Initial training publication/start date, not the completion deadline |
| End of March 2027 | Current workers complete training, per CDLE (six months after the October 1, 2026 publication) |
| Within six months of hire | For workers hired after October 1, 2026: complete training or employer receives proof of prior completion, per CDLE |
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.
- Distribute the state's notice of rights to current workers and to every new hire at hire. CDLE lists July 1, 2026 as the current-worker notice deadline.
- 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.