Many Coloradans have expressed that they’re afraid to get their first and/or second dose due to the possibility of missing work to recover from vaccine side effects.
When Governor Polis signed the Healthy Families and Workplaces Act last year, all regular employees working full-time or part-time in the state became eligible to receive paid time off by January 1st of this year for health and safety-related needs.
That means the vast majority of workers have the right to take four hours of paid time off or sick leave for a vaccine appointment -- even when scheduled during work hours, and use PTO while recovering from COVID-19 vaccine side effects. And employers are required to honor that right.
We want everyone to be able to get the vaccine as soon as they can, and keep the vaccine free for all by breaking down barriers like the cost of taking time off from work. Many of us need the vaccine to stay safer at work and in Colorado, we’re including COVID-19 vaccination in the list of preventive medical care for which people can use PTO to cover any other mental health condition, physical illness, injury, or other health conditions.
If your employer’s answer to “Can I take time off?” is “No,” meaning they have not allowed you to use accumulated hours of leave time to receive the vaccine or recover from vaccine side effects -- or the pay rate does not match the hourly rate you would normally receive plus the same benefits, please call CDLE’s Division of Labor Standards and Statistics at (303) 318-8441 to ask questions or voice a complaint.
