On November 10, 2020, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Labor Standards and Statistics (Division) published the final Colorado Overtime and Minimum Pay Standards Order Number 37 (COMPS Order 37), which takes effect on January 1, 2021. COMPS Order 37 significantly expands the state Motor Carrier Exemption (MCE) in Colorado, although it remains more limited than under federal law.
Specifically, new Rule 2.4.6 provides that drivers and drivers’ helpers who are subject to the Federal Motor Carrier Act (MCA) are exempt from COMPS Order 37’s overtime and meal and rest period requirements when they are:
- Working on MCA-covered non-passenger vehicles, or on MCA-covered passenger vehicles qualifying as “commercial motor vehicles” requiring a commercial driver’s license (CDL); and
- Paid compensation equivalent to at least 50 hours at the Colorado minimum wage with overtime, i.e., $677.60 per week in 2021, regardless of whether the pay is hourly, salaried, piece rate, or on another basis.
Colorado’s minimum wage adjusts annually for inflation, so this minimum can be expected to increase in subsequent calendar years.
In addition to setting this heightened minimum wage requirement, COMPS Order 37 differs from the federal MCE in that it excludes from exemption:
- Loaders and mechanics of motor carriers; and
- Drivers and driver’s helpers on “passenger vehicles” that do not qualify as “commercial motor vehicles” requiring a CDL (e.g., vehicles that transport workers to and from manual work jobs).
COMPS Order 37 is a significant departure from the Division’s interpretation earlier this year of “interstate transportation...
