New Employer Checklist

When you are ready to hire your first employee, use this checklist to make sure you are complying with laws and regulations the department administers.

Employers are required to pay premiums through a quarterly premium-report and wage-report process. You may be required to pay unemployment insurance premiums if you meet specific requirements. To receive an unemployment account number, you may register your business online through MyBizColorado.

Register Online if:

You are paying wages to at least one employee in Colorado. Your first payroll date is in the prior calendar year or the current calendar year. You have not previously registered for an unemployment identification number.

• You are not involved in a change of ownership.
• Your business is not classified as one of the following:
• Agricultural
• Household or domestic
• Nonprofit organization as described in the federal IRC 501 (c)(3)
• Other nonprofit organization
• Reimbursable or government

Unemployment Insurance Resources

Manage your unemployment insurance premium account information using MyUI Employer. Employers who pay unemployment insurance premiums and their designees, for example employees, accounting, or legal staff can utilize this tool to manage their accounts.

When an employee is separated from employment and files a claim to collect unemployment benefits, any employer listed on the claim are notified via letter and are required to submit job-separation documentation. This documentation allows us to make decisions about allowing or denying unemployment benefits to be paid to the previous employee. Our new email notification and response tool allows employers to respond quickly, which gives us information sooner and helps us make more accurate decisions.

This reporting must take place within 20 calendar days after the date of hire or by the first regularly scheduled payroll following the date of hire if such payroll is after the expiration of the 20-day period.

Verify Workers' Compensation Coverage

Employers are required to obtain and maintain workers' compensation insurance for one or more employees (with few exceptions). Verify if you or another employer has insurance coverage in Colorado.

Employment Verification

Upon request of the director, an employer shall submit documentation to the director that demonstrates that the employer is in compliance with the employment verification requirements specified in 8 U.S.C. sec. 1324a(b).

Verify Wage & Hour Law Compliance

Verify your compliance with minimum wage, overtime, and pay laws and regulations.

Ensure Proper Worker Classification

Ensure you are classifying your workers correctly.Employee/worker misclassification occurs when an employer mistakenly classifies a worker as an independent contractor rather than an employee.

Posters

Most government agencies provide their own posters online without cost. Use the "Colorado Employer Poster Advisor" for a general list of both state and federal posters.