Unemployment benefits in Colorado

Can I get benefits?

You must have been paid at least $2,500 in base-period wages, and at least 40 times your weekly benefit amount if that is more.

Law: C.R.S. 8-73-107(1)(e); C.R.S. 8-73-102(1)(b)

If you quit

If you quit, CDLE decides whether your reason is one the law accepts.

If you were fired

You may not get benefits if you were fired for misconduct, such as deliberate disobedience of a reasonable instruction or breaking a company rule that could seriously harm the employer's interests or endanger others.

Law: C.R.S. 8-73-108(4), (5)

Quit, fired, refused work and the federal rules →

The wage test, the amount and your estimate →

How much and how long?

Weekly benefit

$25–$884

Weeks

Up to 26 weeks

Waiting week

No waiting week

How it is figured and the full rules →

How to file in Colorado

File online in MyUI+ (fastest). You can also call the Customer Service Center at 303-318-9000 or 1-800-388-5515.

File right after your last day of work.

What to have ready

• Your income information, such as pay stubs
• For every job in the last 18 months: the legal name and address of the business, the dates you worked and your rate of pay
• Federal workers: the Claimant's Affidavit of Federal Civilian Service and UCFE forms, plus your SF-8 and SF-50

Certify (claim your weeks)

Weekly. Request payment every week in MyUI+ or by phone at 1-888-550-2800, starting the Sunday after the first week of your claim, even while your claim or appeal is pending.

Everything about filing →

Appeal a denial

• Appeal to a hearing officer — 20 calendar days from the date the Notice of Determination was mailed (or sent electronically)
• Appeal of a hearing officer's decision — 20 calendar days from the date the hearing officer's decision was mailed
• Notice of appeal to the Colorado Court of Appeals — 21 calendar days

Deadline calculator, appeal letter and hearing checklist: Appeal details →

The hearing

Format

Hearings are held by telephone; the hearing officer calls you at the number you give when you check in.

Notice before the hearing

10 days

Overpayments and waivers

An overpayment means you got benefits you were not entitled to, for example because of misreported income, corrected wages, working while collecting, or an appeal decision.

Appeal within

20 days from the date the Notice of Overpayment was mailed (appeal the Notice of Overpayment to dispute the amount; appeal the determination to dispute the reason)

Fraud penalty

65% added when the overpayment is fraud

Waiver

The state can waive some overpayments.

Law: C.R.S. 8-81-101

Waiver details and the hearing checklist →

Someone filed a claim in your name

If you got unemployment mail, a ReliaCard debit card or a 1099-G for a claim you did not file, submit CDLE's online Report Unemployment Fraud form. Call U.S. Bank at 1-855-282-6161 to deactivate a card you did not request. To report a claim filed in your name by phone, speak to an agent at 303-318-9000 or 1-800-388-5515.

• Report it online
• Phone: 1-800-388-5515

National steps

1. Report it to the state where the claim was filed and follow its instructions. Some states ask for a police report or a sworn statement.
2. If you got a 1099-G for benefits you did not receive, the state will send a corrected 1099-G. When you file taxes, report only the income you actually received; do not wait for the corrected form.
3. Check your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228. Report other identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov.
4. You can also report unemployment identity fraud that happened after March 2020 to the U.S. Department of Justice National Center for Disaster Fraud. You must still report it to the state.

U.S. Department of Labor: report unemployment identity fraud

Good to know in Colorado

• Colorado pays the higher of two formulas: 60% of average weekly wages in the two best consecutive quarters (up to $804) or 50% of average weekly base-period wages (up to $884), for new claims from July 1, 2026 (CDLE estimator).
• Colorado no longer has an unpaid waiting week for new claims effective July 6, 2025 or later.

  Source: Division of Unemployment Insurance notice to the Revisor of Statutes, July 7, 2025

• A fraud overpayment carries a 65% penalty in Colorado.

  Law: C.R.S. 8-81-101(4)

Changes in 2024–2026

July 2025: the unpaid waiting week ended for new claims with an effective date of July 6, 2025 or later, because the unemployment fund reached $1 billion. July 1, 2026: maximum weekly benefit $804 (two-quarter formula) or $884 (base-period formula) for new claims. 2022 law lets CDLE waive non-fraud overpayments when repayment is inequitable.

Law: C.R.S. 8-73-107(1)(d), repealed by notice to the Revisor of Statutes dated July 7, 2025; C.R.S. 8-81-101(4)

Questions about unemployment in Colorado