Page 162 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

COLORADO

Agriculture. The State created the Non-immigrant Agricultural Seasonal Worker Pilot
Program in the State Department of Labor and Employment in order to expedite the Federal
H-2A visa certification process so that eligible workers might legally come to Colorado to
meet the needs of State farmers and ranchers. The directors of three State agencies (the com-
missioner of the State Department of Agriculture, the director of the State Department of
Labor and Employment, and the director of the State Governor’s Office of Economic
Development and International Trade) are required to seek agreements between the State
and foreign countries to assist in the recruitment and selection of eligible H-2A workers. The
State Department of Labor and Employment is authorized to establish offices in foreign
countries and retain local agents to aid in prospective employees’ application processes,
medical screening, and travel, as well as in the documentation of employee returns to their
countries of origin. The program is limited to 1,000 employees the first year, with increases
of 1,000 employees annually for five years. Employers and employees each have multiple
requirements concerning pay, transportation, housing, working conditions, meals, minimum
hours of work, background checks, identity cards, withholding of wages, and employees’
return to their country of origin that must be met in order to participate in the program.
Citizenship and Immigration Services, to establish a timely, efficient, and effective process
for incorporating workers into the State Non-immigrant Agricultural Seasonal Worker Pilot
Program and guiding them through H-2A visa certification.
Employee leasing. The State statutes governing employee-leasing companies that have
ongoing relationships with employers at the sites at which the leased employees work were
amended. Such companies are now required to become annually certified with the State
Department of Labor and Employment for a fee not to exceed $500 per year. Each leasing
company shall pay wages and collect, report, and pay all payroll-related taxes from its own
accounts for all covered employees. The executive director of the department is authorized
to take disciplinary action against leasing companies that violate the State statutes regard-
ing required actions of such companies. The disciplinary action taken may include penalties
such as probation, financial penalties, and revocation of certification.
Disabled employees. Legislation was enacted that established an income tax credit for
taxpayers who hire individuals with a developmental disability. The credit is to be awarded
for qualified employees first hired on or after January 1, 2009, and is applicable for income
years 2009 through 2011 only. A qualified employee must be (1) a person with a develop-
mental disability, (2) employed at a workplace located in one of seven designated State
counties, and (3) compensated in accordance with applicable minimum-wage laws.
The income tax credit shall equal 50 percent of gross wages paid to the employee in the
first three months of employment and 30 percent of gross wages paid in the subsequent nine
months.
Immigrant protections. The State statute concerning requirements relating to public
contracts for services was amended. Prior to executing a contract for services with a State
agency or a political subdivision thereof, prospective contractors shall certify that, (1) at the
time of certification, they are not knowingly employing or contracting with an illegal alien
who will perform work under the contract for services and (2) they will participate in the

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