Payroll Vault - Fort Collins

Colorado Law Alert! Colorado Restricts Employer Retention of Employee IDs

Colorado recently enacted a law that prohibits employers of all sizes from taking, keeping, or otherwise requiring applicants or employees to surrender their government-issued ID. The law was signed by the governor on June 3, 2026, and became effective immediately.

Employers can hold an employee’s ID during the Form I-9 process, but only for as long as it takes to verify their employment eligibility and make a copy of the ID, and for no longer than 10 hours.

Notice Requirement: When verifying employment eligibility, employers need to give employees written notice about how their ID can be held and used. The notice needs to be provided in English and in the individual’s primary language (if the employer knows it isn’t English). Employers need to get an acknowledgment from the employee confirming that they received the notice and keep a record of both the notice and the acknowledgment.

The law doesn’t say whether a template notice will be provided or how long employers need to retain notice and acknowledgment records. We recommend keeping them for at least as long as you retain other employment records.

Action Items: 1. Begin providing written notice and collecting acknowledgments as required. 2. Ensure that those verifying employment eligibility are aware that they need to be returning documents promptly.