• Colorado labor laws establish certain standards for payment of employee salaries.100 image by kaleff from Fotolia.com
  
  The Colorado Department of Labor oversees working conditions of employees in the state. The department enforces laws relating to minimum wages that employers are required to pay. Colorado state also has some standards on some other matters relating to salary that Colorado employers should follow to be in compliance with the state law.
  
  

Minimum Wage

• As of 2010, the minimum wage in the state of Colorado was fixed at $7.24 per hour. The state's minimum wage is adjusted annually for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index. Employees working in fields that are known for tips, such as restaurant industry service, have to receive a minimum wage of $4.22 per hour in 2010. If an employee is covered by both the state minimum wage law as well as the federal minimum wage law, employers have to pay the employee salary based on whichever law sets a higher minimum wage requirement. The federal minimum wage was set at $7.25 an hour in 2009.
  
  

Overtime Pay

• Certain non-exempt employees qualify for overtime pay in Colorado in some circumstances. Employers must pay a wage of 1.5 times the employee's regular wage for the hours worked in excess of the regular 40 hours a week. This rule also applies to any hours the employee works that exceed 12 hours a day. Also, if the employee works more than 12 consecutive hours the rule applies, without taking into account the starting and ending time of the workday.
  
  

Deductions from Pay

• Colorado labor laws also define what sort of deductions employers can make from an employee's salary. An employer can deduct money as required by state, local or federal law. These include deductions for income tax and social security. Another deduction that the Colorado law allows is based on agreements between an employer and employee. For instance, a deduction an employer makes to cover a loan or a pay advance to an employee. If an employer has to make good a loss due to theft by an employee, that's another deduction the law permits. And if an employee doesn't pay any money or return property due to the employer, this is another situation in which the law permits a deduction to cover the loss.