BILL TO ENHANCE COLORADO'S AGRICULTURAL WORKFORCE WINS COMMITTEE APPROVAL

DENVER, CO – The House Agriculture, Livestock & Water Committee today passed legislation to better inform agricultural workers and employers of their rights to improved working conditions and other educational resources. HB22-1308 would create a multilingual online portal for workers to access critical labor resources and provide grants to employers for workplace improvements. “We’re taking the necessary steps to build a safer, healthier Colorado through improving agricultural workplaces and resources for employees,” said Rep. Karen McCormick (D-Longmont). “This bill is designed to build a stronger workplace relationship between employers and employees by centralizing critical workplace information, including mental health resources and updated labor regulations. Agriculture is a critical industry for Colorado and our goal is to streamline the outreach process so employers and employees can work together to build safer workplaces for everyone.” HB22-1308 passed committee unanimously and would create an online resource portal for agricultural employees to access workplace resources, technical assistance and education. Examples of workplace resources include mental health resources, injury prevention, unemployment assistance and training. Employees would also be able to report workplace misconduct and abuse including discrimination, harassment and labor law violations. The second portion of this bill would create a grant program for workplace improvements, changes or modifications to infrastructure or programming. Employers could use grants for in-person training, workforce housing improvements and building structures for sun protection, among other improvements.