Plus a restroom rule for one industry, with weekly per-worker fines

Colorado just barred employers from charging workers for their own protective safety gear.

A new state law, signed by Governor Jared S. Polis on June 3, 2026, changes three things about Colorado workplaces at once. For HR teams, the big one is straightforward: companies can no longer pull the cost of personal protective equipment out of a worker's paycheck.

The measure, Senate Bill 26-160, gets there by adding PPE to the short list of things an employer cannot deduct from wages, even when the worker signs off on it. The state's payroll rules still let employers deduct for items that mainly benefit the employee, provided there is a written agreement. PPE no longer fits that box. If gear protects against recognized health and safety hazards, the cost lands on the employer.

The law is careful about what PPE actually means, and that precision is where compliance lives. It covers equipment, clothing, respiratory devices, protective shields, and protective barriers an employer provides to guard against recognized hazards. Then it draws the lines. Everyday clothing is out: long-sleeved shirts, long pants, street shoes, normal work boots. Weather gear is out too, including winter coats, gloves, rubber boots, raincoats, hats, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Non-specialty safety-toe shoes and non-specialty prescription safety eyewear are excluded when employees are allowed to wear them off the job site. Logging boots and...

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