Colorado: employee or independent contractor?
The test depends on which law you're dealing with. A worker can be a contractor for one law and an employee for another.
| Law | Test | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment insurance | partial ABC (A and C) | C.R.S. § 8-70-115(1)(b) |
| Wage and hour / wage payment | Colorado Wage Act test (control and primary-work factors; excludes a person primarily free from control who is customarily engaged in an independent business) | C.R.S. § 8-4-101(5) |
| Federal income tax, FICA, FUTA | IRS common-law test | IRS |
| Federal minimum wage and overtime | Economic reality test (FLSA) | DOL |
How the statute words it
UI: free from control and direction in the performance of the service, both under his contract for the performance of service and in fact; and customarily engaged in an independent trade, occupation, profession, or business related to the service performed.
Details and exceptions
- effective_date is the DOL table baseline (in effect on or before 2023-01-01); the enactment date was not checked.
- Source is the 2024 C.R.S. Title 8 printout (uncertified); a 2025 file was not found at the same path.
- Workers' comp test not checked in this pass (Business insurance lane).
Running payroll in Colorado?
Recent changes
Last verified against the official source on October 9, 2026.
No changes recorded since we started tracking this page.
Sources
- Colorado General Assembly, Office of Legislative Legal Services (C.R.S. 2024 Title 8 printout) · data as of October 8, 2026 · last checked October 9, 2026
We copy figures from official sources and re-check them against the source before every update. See our methodology. This is general information, not legal advice.