Colorado has several exemptions to its minimum wage requirements.
Tipped employees are not exempt from the minimum wage. However, if their tips plus the “tipped minimum wage direct pay rate” ($11.79 per hour) do not equal at least the standard minimum wage ($14.81 per hour in 2020), the employer must make up the difference to ensure the tipped employee earns at least the full minimum wage.
Unemancipated minors and employees with disabilities (certified by the Director of the Division of Labor Standards and Statistics) may be paid an alternate minimum wage of 15 percent less than the minimum wage per hour.
Certain employees are completely exempt from the minimum wage statute, including those in specific professions earning more than the required minimum salary or through other industry-specific restrictions.
Exempt job categories include administrative, executive, and supervisory roles, professionals, outside sales, domestic employees, companions, casual babysitters, property managers, interstate drivers, driver helpers, loaders, mechanics, taxi drivers, elected officials, volunteers, interns, and prisoners.