Colorado’s Employment Verification Law Expands Worker Protections and Employer Obligations

Colorado passed a new law prohibiting employers from seizing their workers’ government-issued identification documents other than temporarily for employment eligibility verification and adds a notice and acknowledgment obligation to that verification process.  

On June 3, 2026, Colorado passed HB 26-1283, Protections Regarding Seizures of Identification Documents (the Law). Effective the same day, the Law’s purpose is to increase protection for employees and job applicants who might fear or be at risk of having their passports, green cards, or other sources of government-issued identification confiscated by their employers.

The Law broadly prohibits employers from confiscating workers’ IDs and adds a written notice and signed acknowledgment requirement to the employment eligibility verification process. Employers are still permitted to request and briefly hold employee/applicant IDs for verifying employment eligibility.

REQUIRED NOTICE

When an employer verifies an individual’s employment eligibility, the Law requires the employer to (1) provide employees and job applicants written notice informing them of the Law’s restrictions; namely, that an employer may not demand, confiscate, retain, or otherwise require an individual to surrender an ID; and (2) obtain an acknowledgment of the notice by the individual.

The written notice must be provided in English. If the employer knows that the individual’s primary language is not English, the notice must also be provided in the individual’s primary language. The individual must acknowledge receipt of the notice, and the employer must retain a record of both the notice and acknowledgment in its employment records.

The Law does not specify the form the acknowledgment must take, such as whether it may be provided electronically.

CHANGES TO EXISTING PRACTICES

Consistent with the notice requirements, an employer or employer’s agent may not demand, confiscate, retain, or otherwise require any employee, applicant, migrant worker, or seasonal employee to surrender their ID. For employment eligibility verification purposes, an employer may request and temporarily retain an original government-issued ID while completing Form I-9 (or its successor), but only for as long as necessary to verify employment eligibility and make a copy, and in no event for more than 10 hours.

Employers are still allowed to retain a copy of the ID in the employer’s employment records. Employers may also hold IDs when required or permitted by state or federal law or regulation, including for employment eligibility verification purposes, or when doing so is performed pursuant to a signed judicial warrant.

PENALTIES

An employer that knowingly violates the Law’s prohibition against demanding, confiscating, retaining, or otherwise requiring an individual to surrender a government-issued identification card commits criminal possession of an identification document, which is a Class 2 misdemeanor.

The Law also expands Colorado’s bias-motivated crime statute to cover certain conduct involving identification documents. Among other things, a person may commit a Class 1 misdemeanor bias-motivated crime if, with the requisite intent to intimidate or harass an individual because of an actual or perceived protected characteristic, the person unlawfully possesses the individual’s identification document or provides, or threatens to provide, the individual’s government-issued identification document to federal immigration authorities, except where otherwise required or permitted by law.

Apart from the criminal penalties, the Law also provides a civil remedy. An individual harmed by the unlawful possession of an identification document may seek a court order requiring the document’s immediate return and may bring a civil action to recover damages caused by the violation. The Law does not, however, appear to provide a separate penalty or private remedy for a violation of the notice and acknowledgment requirements.

GUIDANCE FOR EMPLOYERS

Employers should promptly develop the required notice and incorporate it into their employment eligibility verification processes. Employers should also establish a process for obtaining and retaining acknowledgments of the notice and for providing translated versions when the employer knows that an individual’s primary language is not English.

Employers should also review their existing document verification practices to ensure that original identification documents are retained only for as long as necessary to verify employment eligibility and make any permitted copies, and in no event for more than 10 hours. Any original identification documents that are currently being retained beyond what is permitted by the Law should be promptly returned.

Lastly, employers should ensure that employees and any third-party agents involved in employment eligibility verification understand the Law’s restrictions on retaining original identification documents and the new notice and acknowledgment requirements. Employers should also implement appropriate recordkeeping procedures to ensure that copies of the required notices and acknowledgments are maintained in their employment records.