There are several components to Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act. Some of the provisions are:

1. Prohibits wage discrimination by requiring that an employer shall not discriminate between employees on the basis of sex, or on the basis of sex in combination with another protected status, by paying an employee of one sex a wage rate less than the rate paid to an employee of different sex for substantially similar work (based on a composite of skill; effort, which may include consideration of shift work; and responsibility), regardless of job title. A wage rate differential is permissible if at least one of the following factors accounts for the entire wage rate differential:

• • A seniority system;
  • A merit system;
  • A system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production;
  • The geographic location where the work is performed;
  • Education, training, or experience to the extent that they are reasonably related to the work in question; or
  • Travel, if the travel is a regular and necessary condition of the work performed.

2. The Act requires the employer to keep records of job descriptions and rate or pay history for each employee for the duration of employment plus two years after the end of employment.
3. The Act requires the employer to post all job openings and promotional opportunities (limited exceptions are noted in subsequent FAQ’s). The posting must include an hourly or salary rate or range, and a job description with minimum qualifications for education and professional experience, and also includes a general description of all of the benefits and other compensation offered.
4. Prohibits using pay history for prospective employees by requiring that an employer shall not seek the pay rate history, or rely on the pay history, of a prospective employee to determine a rate of pay.  Discrimination or retaliation against a prospective employee for failing to disclose pay history is prohibited.
5. Regular Equity Analysis to determine disparities in pay and make good faith efforts to close the pay gap.

Mines’ Human Resources, General Counsel, and campus Executive Leadership are leading the review, analysis, and implementation of this project.

• All jobs, promotions, and temporary jobs must be posted for a minimum of 5 calendar days for all interested applicants.
• All job postings must include a pay rate or range along with a description of all benefits and compensation.
• When extending job offers, an applicant’s pay history cannot be requested nor relied upon to establish salary or pay rate.
• All benchmark pay ranges for positions will be posted in the requisition and job posting until Mines’ HR has finalized the market-based compensation structure/pay bands that will be used after the Equal Pay project is completed.

The following language will be used to meet the requirements of the legislation:

• All Mines job postings will include the following sentence with the Pay Range:

“Mines takes into consideration a combination of candidate’s education, training and experience as well as the position’s scope and complexity, the discretion and latitude required in the role, work location, and external market and internal value when determining a salary level for potential new employees.”

• HR will provide a recommended salary before any verbal offer is provided to the prospective employee to ensure internal equity amongst all departments and positions within Mines.
• HR must be involved when determining salary changes for existing employees to ensure equity amongst all departments and positions within Mines.

Temporary, acting, or interim hires are excluded from the Equal Pay Act.  We are not required to post or announce a position that is temporary (defined as a duration of six months or less) where the hiring is not expected to be permanent, e.g., an acting or interim position. If the hire or role may become permanent, we would be required to post and announce that permanent opportunity in time for employees to apply.  It’s important to note that while we are not obligated to post a requisition for these temporary positions, we still must pay equitably for temporary positions.  Therefore, offers still need to be processed in partnership with Human Resources.

Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants and Student Residential Assistants are not required to be posted.  Additionally, any and all undergraduate and graduate student hourly workers who are hired on a contract that is less than 6 months (i.e. on a semester basis) do not have to be posted.  Regardless of title, work and whether or not the position carries a job posting requirement, know that the same pay equity principle and obligation would still apply for all student opportunities.

Should you have student opportunities that are outside these parameters and/or you want to advertise the opening, the Mines Career Center is here to support your recruitment of student workers.  Consider posting on their easy-to-use tool, DiggerNet, to equitably recruit candidates for your student employment positions and reach a wider audience. Contact Wendy Winter-Searcy, wwintersearcy@mines.edu, for more information and to post.

Based on the increasing need and frequency for adjunct and research faculty positions at Mines, HR can launch “evergreen requisitions,” or campaigns as they are called in PageUp (where applicable).  These campaigns will essentially announce a general opportunity and always remain open.  This will allow Mines to collect applications and evaluate talent on an on-going basis.  When a specific opening is approved (specific level, department, the scope of work), qualified candidates from the campaign can be matched over to the approved requisition.

Contract extensions and renewals can proceed as usual so long as the job duties and role are not changing.

• Temporary contract extensions may continue up to a maximum duration of 9 months for state classified aide positions.
• Temporary contract extensions may continue up to a maximum duration of 12 months for administrative faculty positions.
• Any employment beyond these durations would be considered permanent and would require a formal job posting.

Job descriptions and pay history records need to be kept by the employer for the lifecycle of the employee plus 2 years after. Mines HR will be creating a centralized job catalog and repository as part of the Equal Pay Project, so departments don’t need to maintain those. Job postings (which also serve as a job description) are also archived by HR within PageUp. Pay history records will be maintained through Banner and payroll records.

Yes, that is correct. Beginning 1/1/2021, all job postings must specify the pay rate or range. Using the general statement that pay is commensurate with experience will not comply with Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work law.

To do that, Mines HR needs to have a consistent campus practice documenting the factors we use to set pay in the range, and experience will likely be one of those. HR and the hiring manager will partner together to ensure that there are consistency and equity in our offers and pay practices.

The HR department will use the job description that we have on file for existing positions to evaluate each job using one or more market salary survey products that we have access to. Any new positions that are being recruited for the first time will require a job description to be developed. The Talent Acquisition Partner assigned to your area will assist with the creation of new job descriptions.

The job description is used to match our internal job with a market-relevant salary data point. Items such as job summary, tasks and responsibilities, education, and experience requirements are the key elements that will determine a market match. Once a match is identified, salary information is carefully selected to align with geographic location, recruitment market, and organization size. These market data scope elements are primary examples, but additional scopes may be used depending upon the circumstances of each position.

We are required by this Act to post a pay range for all positions.  For most advertisements, we are posting a market pay range from 25% to 50%, with consideration up to 75%, if necessary.  Once a finalist is identified, a full compensation analysis will be done based on that candidate’s particular attributes as they relate to the position.  We recognize that while we are posting new positions based on market data, we have not yet completed the benchmarking for our current employees.  We are working as swiftly as possible to complete the benchmarking for all employees.  We anticipate that by the end of May 2021, we will be developing short and long-term plans to adjust pay for impacted employees based on the findings of the market competitiveness and equity analysis. 

Yes. The EPEW Act does not require that jobs are posted externally; only that job postings are made available to all current Mines employees at the same time through an accessible and visible channel.  Mines will communicate all openings through the following platforms:

• All non-classified openings will be announced and communicated on Mines’ Job Page.
• All classified openings will be announced and communicated on the State of Colorado Jobs Page (also known as NeoGov or governmentjobs.com).

1) determining the level of the position, AND
2) creating the job summary and responsibilities.

• Determining Position Level – Hiring Managers will be provided with a career level matrix that consists of behavior statements about the way work is completed, and the corresponding minimum qualifications required for that level.  Hiring Managers and Talent Acquisition Partners will use the career level matrix to assess the position’s fit in the level hierarchy. Once a level is determined, the minimum qualifications from the career level matrix will be carried over to the job description. If the position has any variations from the career level matrix in terms of minimum qualifications (additional education, certifications, etc.), then Hiring Managers can work with the Talent Acquisition Partner to capture this information in the job description.
• Creating Job Summary and Responsibilities – This portion will largely be at the discretion of the Hiring Manager and serves to describe the work that will be required of the position. HR may provide guidance on terminology to ensure the language used is aligned with the career level and resonates with the prospective talent audience.

Should the desired position be new and/or may require review from a job classification and exemption perspective, hiring managers should be prepared to supply an updated organizational chart (with this vacancy depicted) in addition to the aforementioned details.  Exemption and job classification reviews are completed by HR (Compensation and HR Business Partner) prior to starting activities in PageUp.

If it all possible, jobs should be included in the budget request process in the quarter prior to the desired search launch. Budget approval, job description development and market salary analysis are the most time-intensive elements of the process.  If recruiting for a new position at Mines, please plan for one to two weeks’ time to obtain budget approval, create and finalize the job description and conduct a salary analysis.  If recruiting for a position that already exists at Mines, Hiring Managers will have the benefit of a pre-existing job description and market salary evaluation.  If all of these elements already exist, requisitions can typically be opened, approved and posted in a few business days.

Hiring Managers can reach out to the Talent Acquisition team at large by contacting recruitment@mines.edu (this will likely yield a quicker response).  Alternatively, please note the Talent Acquisition Partner coverage areas.
Academic Affairs & RTT:  Kathleen Feighny
All-State of Colorado Classified Positions:  Kathy White
President’s Office:  Kathy White
Student Life; Finance, Administration & Operations:  Nichoal Knutson

As an employer in the state of Colorado, Mines still needs to announce the opening, which includes budget and requisition approval, a 5-calendar day posting period at a minimum, and an interview/evaluation process.  Once the job is posted, Mines employees may encourage this known candidate to apply.   All qualified candidates will proceed through the normal recruitment process and compete against other candidates. To maintain compliance with the CO Equal Pay Act, be mindful of the following:

• Do not notify a candidate of the opening in advance of announcing the job to all Mines employees. The law requires that we notify everyone in a fair and equal manner.
• Carry out a fair and full search process. Evaluate all candidates equally and in accordance with the qualifications noted in the job description.  Mines can not make preconceived hiring decisions as outlined in the law.

(The only exception to these hiring steps and activities would be for positions with a total duration of less than 6 months, which are not required to be announced or posted).

No. In this instance, there is no vacancy being created, and we are simply adjusting the terms of an existing contract.

Teaching Assistants, Research Assistants and Student Residential Assistants are not required to be posted.  Additionally, any and all undergraduate and graduate student hourly workers who are hired on a contract that is less than 6 months (i.e. on a semester basis) do not have to be posted.  Regardless of title, work and whether or not the position carries a job posting requirement, know that the same pay equity principle and obligation would still apply for all student opportunities.

Should you have student opportunities that are outside these parameters and/or you want to advertise the opening, the Mines Career Center is here to support your recruitment of student workers.  Consider posting on their easy-to-use tool, DiggerNet, to equitably recruit candidates for your student employment positions and reach a wider audience. Contact Wendy Winter-Searcy, wwintersearcy@mines.edu, for more information and to post.

Legally, all applicants to any posted job have to be evaluated against the minimum qualifications outlined on the job description.  Each candidate either meets the minimum requirements or does not.  The Talent Acquisition Partner (TAP) assisting your search will make these status updates in the relevant recruiting system.  Hiring teams must interview a minimum of 2 qualified candidates.  Should more than 2 qualified candidates exist, additional interviews may obviously occur.  While candidate interviews should be consistent, they do not need to be long, complex, in-person or time consuming.

It depends.  The work being performed, the duration of the assignment and the number of others involved on the work would need to be assessed to determine whether the role could be considered a promotional opportunity by others.  Please contact HR and Legal prior to assuming the answer or embarking on search activities.