Colorado 2026 Employment Law Briefing: HR Compliance Essentials

Session Description

Stay ahead of the curve in 2026 with this essential update for HR professionals and business leaders. This session offers practical insights into key legal changes and compliance strategies affecting today’s workplace, with a focus on Colorado-specific developments within an ever-changing national landscape.

What you'll learn in this session:

• Key considerations in hiring, onboarding, and offboarding
• Pay transparency and Equal Pay Act compliance
• Accommodations and leave best practices, including expanded Colorado FAMLI benefits starting in 2026
• Noncompete agreements in the wake of the FTC ban and Colorado’s healthcare-specific restrictions
• The use (and potential misuse) of AI by employers, including Colorado’s landmark 2026 AI accountability law
• Upcoming wage and hour enforcement changes and expanded retaliation protections
• Local minimum wage and tip credit flexibility
• Evolving gender identity protections under the Kelly Loving Act 

Speaker

Sarah Andrzejczak

Sarah Andrzejczak is a Partner in the Firm’s Denver office and a member of Buchalter’s Litigation and Labor & Employment Practice Groups. Ms. Andrzejczak is a commercial litigator and trusted adviser to companies facing employment and other business-related issues in Colorado.

Ms. Andrzejczak takes a comprehensive approach to her employment advisement practice, which includes drafting employee handbooks, providing guidance on best practices for onboarding and offboarding, and analyzing unique contract issues such as non-disclosure and non-competition agreements. She has counseled businesses across a number of industries, including hospitality, technology, marketing, accounting, design, and construction. Ms. Andrzejczak has significant experience defending employers in the administrative agency complaint process and federal and state litigation concerning discrimination and retaliation, wage and hour, and employee mobility disputes.

Ms. Andrzejczak excels in her employment advisement practice largely due to her background as a litigator for both small and large companies. She frequently litigates business-to-business disputes in the areas of real estate, manufacturing, product contamination, and technology. She also litigates intra-business matters involving company mismanagement and business separations. Ms. Andrzejczak has obtained favorable trial verdicts as first- and second-chair counsel in state and federal jury and bench trials in Colorado. As a previous judicial clerk to the Honorable John Daniel Dailey of the Colorado Court of Appeals, Ms. Andrzejczak has demonstrated competence in appellate advocacy and handled cases before the Colorado Court of Appeals and Colorado Supreme Court.

PENDING APPROVAL FOR 1 SHRM AND HRCI GENERAL CREDIT
FREE for Members; $25 for Non-Members