Concerning adding the exclusion of certain printed news deliverers from the definition of "employee" in the "Colorado Employment Security Act" to other state labor laws.
Summary
SB26-091 expands a labor-law exclusion for certain individuals who deliver or distribute printed newspapers or shopping news. Under current Colorado law, those workers are excluded from the definition of “employee” for purposes of the Colorado Employment Security Act; this bill extends that same treatment into other areas of state labor law, including workers’ compensation, paid family and medical leave insurance, and wage-related provisions. The bill also adds a new statutory section clarifying how employee status is determined for newspaper and shopping-news deliverers, emphasizing that operational requirements inherent to the work—such as pickup locations, routes, deadlines, quality or safety standards, and confidentiality requirements—do not by themselves establish employer control.
The bill further states that certain common features of independent work, such as lacking a separate business address, business registration, advertising, capital investment, or a formal business entity, do not alone prevent a finding that the worker is engaged in an independent trade or business. It preserves the general independent contractor test in existing law, while directing that newspaper and shopping-news deliverers be evaluated under the clarified rules in the bill and related statutes. The measure applies prospectively to services performed on or after its effective date.
Impact
If enacted, SB26-091 would amend multiple sections of the Colorado Revised Statutes to align the treatment of newspaper and shopping-news deliverers across unemployment insurance, wage law, workers’ compensation, and paid family and medical leave. It would narrow the circumstances under which these workers are treated as employees, making it easier for publishers and distributors to classify them as independent contractors for the covered statutes. The bill would affect workers, publishers, distributors, and potentially state agencies responsible for enforcing labor, wage, and benefit laws.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been framed as a technical and clarifying labor classification measure rather than a broad policy overhaul, but the available legislative history shows it did not advance in the House Business Affairs & Labor Committee and was postponed indefinitely. That outcome suggests limited support or unresolved concerns in committee, even though the bill’s text reflects a targeted effort to standardize treatment of a specific category of delivery workers across several statutes.
Contention
The main point of contention is likely worker classification: whether printed news deliverers should be treated as employees or independent contractors under multiple labor protections. Supporters would likely emphasize consistency with existing unemployment-law exclusions and the practical realities of newspaper delivery work, while opponents may argue that extending the exclusion to workers’ compensation, paid leave, and wage laws reduces protections and benefits for a vulnerable workforce. The bill’s specific language about operational requirements and independent-business indicators suggests debate over how much control a publisher may exercise before a worker should be considered an employee.