Employer guideRead at source September 28, 2026

Colorado New Hire Reporting: Deadline, Service Providers and How to File (2026)

Colorado employers must report each new or rehired employee to the Colorado State Directory of New Hires within 20 calendar days of hire, or at the first regularly scheduled payroll after that if it falls later, online at newhire.state.co.us or by fax or mail, and the report must include date of birth. Colorado also requires reports on independent contractors ("service providers") paid at least the $600 federal 1099 threshold, plus rideshare and delivery drivers. The statute, C.R.S. 26-13-125, sets no specific penalty amount.

Colorado new hire reporting at a glance

Colorado starts from the federal rules on our national new hire reporting guide and then adds several rules of its own: an alternative payroll-based deadline, a short-assignment exemption, a mandatory date of birth, and since 2025 a detailed contractor regime that reaches gig platforms.

What goes on a Colorado report

C.R.S. 26-13-125(3) lists the contents for each new hire: name, date of birth, address, Social Security number, whether the person is an employee or a service provider, and the date services for pay were first performed. For the employer: name, address and FEIN. The Directory adds practical guidance:

• use the payroll address, meaning where income withholding orders should go;
• use the same FEIN you report quarterly wages under;
• in upload and SFTP files, mark service providers with Y in the independent contractor field and employees with N.

The statute lets you file a copy of the W-4, the W-9, or an equivalent form, sent by first-class mail or electronically.

Filing with the Colorado State Directory of New Hires

• Enter online at newhire.state.co.us.
• Upload a file using the Directory's tab-delimited, fixed-width, Excel or comma-delimited layouts.
• SFTP for registered employers and service bureaus; call 800-696-1468, option 6.
• Fax: (303) 297-2595.
• Mail: Colorado State Directory of New Hires, PO Box 18, Ridgeland, MS 39158, the address on the current (Rev. 2026) state form.

The mailing address changed on July 1, 2023, and the Directory warns that forwarding from the old address has ended. If your team uses a saved copy of the PDF form, replace it with the current version. Questions can also go to CDHS_FSREmployerServices@state.co.us.

Colorado's two ways to meet the deadline

C.R.S. 26-13-125(6) gives employers a choice. Report within 20 calendar days after the hire, or, at your election, at the time of the first regularly scheduled payroll after the hire date if that payroll falls after the 20-day period. Electronic filers send two monthly transmissions when needed, 12 to 16 days apart, under the same rule. The date of hire is the date services for pay were first performed.

For a monthly-payroll employer this can buy a few days; for most frontline employers on weekly or biweekly payroll the 20-day limit arrives first. Either way, anchor the report to the first worked shift rather than the offer or a scheduled start that might move.

Service providers: Colorado's contractor rule

House Bill 21-1220 added contractor reporting in July 2021, and House Bill 25-1159, effective May 31, 2025, rewrote it around two defined terms. A service provider is an individual, a sole shareholder of a corporation, a sole member of an LLC, a sole proprietor or other independent contractor who either:

• provides services to a service recipient doing business in Colorado for compensation at or above the amount in 26 U.S.C. 6041 in the calendar year, which the state form states as $600 or more; or
• is a transportation network company driver using a personal vehicle to deliver food, goods or services in Colorado through the company's digital network.

A service recipient is the business that contracts with or receives those services, or that runs the digital network. Under subsection (9), the recipient reports within 20 days after it pays the service provider at the threshold amount or contracts for services, whichever is earlier. The report carries the provider's name, date of birth, address, Social Security number and service provider flag, and the recipient's details. Recipients may also report providers paid less or whose value is unknown.

The Directory adds one exception in its FAQ: a service provider who gave you a federal tax ID (FEIN) rather than a Social Security number does not need to be reported. For home care, trucking and construction employers that pay individual 1099 workers, this is a part of Colorado's rule that is easy to leave out of onboarding.

Is there a penalty in Colorado?

Section 26-13-125 does not state a penalty amount for employers. Subsection (9)(d) says a service recipient that fails to report "is subject to the same enforcement action available for failure of an employer to report a newly hired employee," without naming an amount, and the Directory's pages we read do not publish one either. The statute does protect reporters: employers are not liable for furnishing the information, and service recipients that report are immune from civil liability.

Rehires and seasonal staff

Colorado counts an employee as newly hired again after being separated from you for at least 60 consecutive days (C.R.S. 26-13-125(1)); the state form describes it as separated without pay for at least 60 consecutive days. Temporary and seasonal employees who receive a W-2 are reportable. Ski resorts, landscapers and farms with the same crews each season should plan on reporting most returners again. See our rehire policy guide.

Multistate employers

Employers with staff in two or more states that transmit electronically may designate one state and notify the federal Secretary of Health and Human Services in writing (subsection (5)). The Directory recommends Colorado. The new hire reporting requirements page covers registration.

Hiring in Colorado

See also Colorado labor laws, the Colorado minimum wage, Form I-9 requirements and the new hire forms checklist. Boostpoint runs social job ads on Facebook and Instagram for frontline employers; our 2026 Social Job Advertising Benchmark (891 Boostpoint-managed campaigns on Meta) found a report-wide median of $13.88 in advertising cost per applicant, with no breakdown by state.

Colorado new hire forms: the full set

The State Directory report is the employer's filing. Around it, a Colorado hire involves the two federal forms, a state withholding certificate that the employee may skip, and a FAMLI notice the employer must hand over. Each item below was checked at the issuing agency on 29 September 2026.

The DR 0004 is optional, and what happens without it

Colorado's state withholding certificate is not required. The Department of Revenue's employer guidance says: "An employee is not required to complete form DR 0004." If an employee does not complete one, the employer calculates Colorado withholding using the amounts in the DR 1098 worksheet, based on the employee's federal W-4. The obligation that remains on you is to hand the form over: if an employee asks about adjusting their Colorado withholding, you are required to provide the DR 0004. Putting a blank copy in the hire packet with a note that it is optional covers that.

The FAMLI notice

Colorado's Family and Medical Leave Insurance program has its own notice duties. The FAMLI Division's employer guidance tells employers to share the Required Program Notice with every new employee, to use the official notice (it says an internal summary or handbook excerpt is not enough), and to post it in a visible location. Employers without a physical workplace can share it by email or on an intranet or app-based platform. It says employers who do not meet the notification requirements may face penalties of up to $500 per violation. For the rest of the packet (direct deposit, emergency contacts, handbook acknowledgment) see our new hire forms checklist; the I-9 document rules are on Form I-9 requirements, and paid sick leave and wage rules on Colorado labor laws.

Frequently asked questions