
3 minute read
DISCRIMINATION
“Both the state and federal government rely on individuals filing charges to alert them,” Plaskov said. “That’s the system we have set up.”
Colorado needs more workers
One of the highlights of Colorado’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is that people have returned to work or the job hunt at higher rates than other states. Colorado has ranked among the top states nationwide for highest rates of labor force participation. In other words, 69% of Coloradans over 16 work or are looking for work, as of December. Other states have larger adult populations that are retired or on disability and aren’t looking for a job.
But Colorado’s population is getting older. And if people in their 50s, 60s, 70s and older give up on finding work and retire, that will eat into the state’s productivity and cause a cascading economic effect, said Elizabeth Garner, the Colorado state demographer.
“We’ve just been such a young state. We’ve never had a lot of people over the age of 65. And (that age population) is just growing really fast,” Garner said. “The decade we’re in right now, the fastest growth is in the 75 to 84 year olds. And that has an even lower labor force participation rate than the 65 to 74 year olds.”

Many people also plan to work longer anyway, partly because the toll of labor hasn’t been as harsh on their bodies as it was centuries ago. Some plan to work longer because they haven’t saved enough for retirement. The important point here is that Colorado needs all the workers it can get, she said.
“When a 50-something worker leaves the labor force, it’s much harder to get back in again. So trying to keep the 50-somethings in and then trying to keep the 60-somethings in is really important across the spectrum,” Garner said. “The more workers, the better.”
Danielson has worked to pass several laws promoting equity for women, people of color and a more diverse workforce. She was a prime sponsor for the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, to narrow the gender wage gap. It went into effect in 2021 and required job postings open to Coloradans to list actual wages. Colorado’s law inspired similar pay-transparency laws in other states. Removing any request for age, birth date or high school graduation date in a job application is just another step forward.
“People are reluctant to hire older workers even though they’re some of the most valuable members of the workforce, as they have the most experience,” Danielson added.

The Democrat hasn’t heard any pushback for her Job Application Fairness bill, which has no Republican sponsors. Tony Gagliardi, state director of smallbusiness advocacy group NFIB Colorado, is still researching the bill but questioned whether it was necessary. “My members still are desperately looking for employees and they’re going to do everything they can to hire a worker,” he said.
While it’s legal to ask job applicants their age, Heather TinsleyFix, AARP’s senior advisor for employer engagement, called it risky “because it opens the employer up to the possibility of appearing to make decisions on the basis of age and to be vulnerable to age discrimination lawsuits.”


AARP Colorado supports the bill.

A similar bill in Connecticut had bipartisan support and passed unanimously in 2021 to block employers from asking prospective employees about birth dates and graduation dates. Four other states — California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — also have laws that ban age questions during the hiring process, according to AARP.

The proposed Colorado law would just close a loophole, said Andrea Kuwik, senior policy analyst with Bell Policy Center, an organization that advocates to improve the economic conditions for Coloradans. Bell Policy worked with Danielson on the bill.
The other lead sponsors of the legislation are Sen. Sonya Jaquez Lewis, a Boulder County Democrat, and Democratic Reps. Jenny Willford of Northglenn and Mary Young of Greeley.
“This is not about creating a new protected category,” Kuwik said. “We’re just trying to close a loophole and I think that’s one of the things that helped make it bipartisan.”
This story is from The Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support The Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. The Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.
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