Colorado § 8-13.5-202 - Agricultural workers - right of access to key service providers - rules - definition.

§ 8-13.5-202. Agricultural workers - right of access to key service providers - rules - definition.

(1) (a) An employer shall not interfere with an agricultural worker's reasonable access to visitors at the agricultural worker's employer-provided housing during any time when the agricultural worker is present at such housing.

(b) (I) An employer shall not interfere with an agricultural worker's reasonable access to key service providers at any location other than the employer's property during any time in which the agricultural worker is not performing compensable work or during paid or unpaid rest and meal breaks. An employer shall not interfere with an agricultural worker's reasonable access to key service providers through remote channels, including telehealth appointments, on the employer's property.

(II) As used in this section, "employer's property" means property in which the employer holds an ownership or possessory interest or a right to exclude.

(c) (I) To ensure that agricultural workers have meaningful access to services, the director of the division may adopt rules regarding additional times during which an employer may not interfere with an agricultural worker's reasonable access to key service providers at any location other than the employer's property, including periods during which the agricultural worker is performing compensable work, especially during periods when the agricultural worker is required to work in excess of forty hours per week and may have difficulty accessing such services outside of work hours.

(II) The division shall not adopt rules that infringe upon an employer's private property rights by appropriating a right of access to the employer's private property, other than those locations on an employer's property for which access is expressly authorized in this section, to a third party without the employer's permission.

(III) The division shall not adopt rules that conflict with the common law right of an individual to access private property in a time of emergency.

(d) An employer may require visitors accessing a work site to follow protocols designed to manage biohazards and other risks of contamination, to promote food safety, and to reduce the risk of injuries to or from livestock on farms and ranches except on the open range, if the same protocols are generally applied to any other third parties who may have occasion to enter the work site.

(e) An agricultural employer that provides housing and transportation for agricultural workers shall, at least one day per week, provide transportation to the agricultural workers to a location where the workers can access basic necessities, conduct financial transactions, and meet with key service providers; except that transportation must be provided not less than one day every three weeks for range workers who are actively engaged in the production of livestock on the open range. This subsection (1)(e) does not limit or restrict an agricultural worker's ability to travel using the agricultural worker's own means of transportation. Nothing in this subsection (1)(e) requires an employer to violate a state or federal law or regulation.

(f) If an agricultural worker has access to the worker's own vehicle and is permitted to park the vehicle on the employer's property, the employer is not required to provide transportation as set forth in subsection (1)(e) of this section.

(2) No person other than the agricultural worker may prohibit, bar, or interfere with, or attempt to prohibit, bar, or interfere with, the access to or egress from the residence of any agricultural worker by any person, either by the erection or maintenance of any physical barrier, by physical force or violence or by the threat of physical force or violence, or by any order or notice given in any manner.

(3) An agricultural employer shall post notice of an agricultural worker's rights under this part 2:

(a) In a conspicuous location on the agricultural employer's premises, including in the agricultural worker's employer-provided housing; and

(b) In all places where notices to employees, including agricultural workers, are customarily posted; and

(c) Electronically, including by email and on an intranet or internet site, if the agricultural employer customarily communicates with agricultural workers by these means.

Source: L. 2021: Entire part added, (SB 21-087), ch. 337, p. 2178, § 5, effective June 25. L. 2025: (1)(b) and (1)(c) amended, (SB 25-128), ch. 280, p. 1453, § 2, effective May 29.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration in SB 25-128, see section 1 of chapter 280, Session Laws of Colorado 2025.