Colorado law concerning leave for adoptive parents is in the Colorado Revised Statutes. Leave for state employees is in the Colorado Revised Statutes and the Code of Colorado Regulations which is not covered here.

Adoptive parents

19-5-211 - Legal effects of final decree.

(1) After the entry of a final decree of adoption, the person adopted shall be, to all intents and purposes, the child of the petitioner. He shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges and be subject to all the obligations of a child born in lawful wedlock to the petitioner.

(1.5) An employer who permits paternity or maternity time off for biological parents following the birth of a child shall, upon request, make such time off available for individuals adopting a child. If the employer has established a policy providing time off for biological parents, that period of time shall be the minimum period of leave available for adoptive parents. Requests for additional leave due to the adoption of an ill child or a child with a disability shall be considered on the same basis as comparable cases of such complications accompanying the birth of such a child to an employee or employee's spouse. Any other benefits provided by the employer, such as job guarantee or pay, shall be available to both adoptive and biological parents on an equal basis. An employer shall not penalize an employee for exercising the rights provided by this subsection (1.5). The provisions of this subsection (1.5) shall not apply to an adoption by the spouse of a custodial parent.

(2) The parents shall be divested of all legal rights and obligations with respect to the child, and the adopted child shall be free from all legal obligations of obedience and maintenance with respect to the parents.

(2.5) The child shall be eligible for enrollment and coverage by any medical or dental insurance held by the prospective adoptive parents if, and on such a basis as, such coverage would be available to a child naturally born to the prospective adoptive parents.

State Employees

24-50-104 - Bone marrow and organ donation leave

(7) Leaves.

(a) No employee shall earn more than ten days of sick leave per fiscal year. No employee may retain accumulated sick leave in excess of forty-five days at the end of any fiscal year; except that any employee who had accumulated sick leave prior to July 1, 1988, shall retain such leave and may accumulate a maximum of forty-five additional days. Any excess accumulation may be converted to annual leave at the rate of five days of sick leave to one day of annual leave up to a total of two days per fiscal year. A medical certificate form from a health care provider shall be required for absences of more than three full consecutive working days, or the use of sick leave shall be denied.

(b) The procedures of the state personnel director shall provide that no more than two days of paid leave per fiscal year shall be granted for organ, tissue, or bone marrow donation for transplants. Such leave may not be accumulated.

(c) The state personnel director may establish procedures to allow the transfer of annual leave between employees when one employee, or an immediate family member of such employee, experiences a catastrophic, life threatening health condition. The recipient of any annual leave shall have a minimum of one year of state service and exhausted all accrued annual and sick leave.

(d) An employee certified as a disaster service volunteer of the American red cross may be granted paid leave for specialized disaster relief services. Such leave shall not exceed five days for a local disaster or fifteen days for a national disaster in a twelve-month period. Such leave may not be accumulated. During this period of leave, an employee shall not be deemed to be an employee for purposes of the "Workers' Compensation Act of Colorado", as provided in articles 40 to 47 of title 8, C.R.S