Denver Airport Minimum Wage Initiative
Ballot Title:
Shall the voters of the City and County of Denver adopt a measure that secures a higher
minimum wage for employees who work at the Denver International Airport by requiring
employers (except for small businesses) at the Airport to pay at least $13 per hour, increasing in
annual increments to $15 per hour by July 1, 2021 and thereafter increasing according to the
Consumer Price Index, and by providing the right to enforce that wage, and by prohibiting
retaliation against employees for trying to enforce the wage?

 Denver Airport Minimum Wage Initiative – Full Text of Measure
Be it enacted by the City and County of Denver:
Section 1: Subject to the approval of the voters, Chapter 5 of the Denver Revised Municipal
Code shall be amended by the addition of a new Article V to read as follows:
ARTICLE V. – PAYMENT OF MINIMUM WAGE AT DENVER INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT
Sec. 5-38. – Payment of minimum wage for work performed at Denver International Airport.
(a) Purpose. Numerous hub airports in the United States have adopted airport minimum
wages to enhance employment stability, quality of service, safety and security at their
airport facilities. Denver International Airport is the primary economic engine for the
state of Colorado, generating billions of dollars in economic activity every year. The
Airport succeeds through the hard work and excellence of those who work there. To
maintain the Airport’s leadership position by retaining a skilled and committed
workforce, this Chapter establishes a minimum wage for employees at the Airport.
(b) Airport employer defined. The term “airport employer” as used in this Article shall mean
any entity conducting commercial activity at the Denver International Airport pursuant to
a permit or written contract required by Section 5-13 of this Chapter, and their
subcontractors performing work at the Airport. The term “airport employer” shall not
include ground transportation providers, construction contractors, solar-energy providers,
agricultural businesses, businesses that perform only irregular or occasional work at the
Denver International Airport, the United States Federal Aviation Administration, the
United States Transportation Security Administration, or any other federal, state or local
public agency.
(c) Requirement to pay airport wage for airport work. It shall be unlawful for any airport
employer to pay its employees a regular rate of pay that is less than the airport wage
specified in subsection (e) of this Section for any and all work performed by those
employees within Denver International Airport. The employer may take any wage credits
allowed by law.
(d) Small business exception. Notwithstanding subsection (c) above, no bona fide small
business employer shall be subject to the wage requirements of this Article. A bona fide
small business employer is defined for the purposes of this Article as an employer that
has 30 or fewer total employees, including in all of its divisions, subsidiaries, joint
ventures, parent companies, and subsidiaries of parent companies.
(e) Airport wage rate. The minimum airport wage for airport work shall be as follows:
i.
Beginning July 1, 2019: $13 (thirteen dollars) per hour.
ii.
Beginning July 1, 2020: $14 (fourteen dollars) per hour.
iii.
Beginning July 1, 2021: $15 (fifteen dollars) per hour.

 iv.

Beginning July 1, 2022, and each July 1 thereafter, the airport wage for the
next twelve-month period shall be the previous airport wage increased by
the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers (CPI-U), All Items, for the Denver-Boulder-Greeley combined
metropolitan statistical area, published by the Federal Bureau of Labor
Statistics for the most recent twelve-month period for which such data has
been published by June 1 of that year. The airport manager shall publish a
bulletin announcing the adjusted rate no later than June 5 of each year.
Should the federal government cease to publish the CPI-U, the airport
manager shall determine the most reliable public index of consumer prices
that is most similar to CPI-U and shall rely upon that index for wage
adjustments.

(f) Limited scope. Nothing in this Article shall be interpreted to impose a particular wage
rate for any work performed outside of Denver International Airport.
Sec. 5-39. – Enforcement.
(a) A violation of Section 5-38 shall not be a criminal offense, but upon an admission or
finding of guilt or liability an employer shall be subject to a “statutory penalty” of $100
per employee for each day such employee was paid less than the airport wage, in addition
to any damages, costs, and fees as set forth in the remainder of this subsection.
(a)(b)
Any aggrieved employee may initiate a civil action against an employer for
violation of Section 5-38.
(b)(c)
An employee who prevails in an action to enforce Section 5-38 shall be awarded
treble damages, any statutory penalties equal to $100 for each calendar day on which the
employer committed a violationas defined by Section 5-39(a), costs of suit, and
reasonable attorneys’ fees.
(c)(d)
The Denver City Auditor may investigate violations of Section 5-38 and may take
appropriate action to enforce Section 5-38, including initiating civil actions.
(d)(e)
If the Denver City Auditor prevails in an action to enforce Section 5-38, the
Auditor shall recover treble damages to be distributed to the employees affected by the
violations, any statutory penalties as defined by Section 5-39(a)equal to $100 for each
calendar day on which the employer committed a violation to be paid into the General
Fund, and costs of suit to be paid into the General Fund.
(e)(f)
In an enforcement action by both the Denver City Auditor and one or more
aggrieved employees, where the Auditor and employee(s) prevail, the court shall
determine the distribution of any statutory penalties as defined by Section 5-39(a) as
between the General Fund and the employee(s) in the interest of justice, and shall order
reasonable attorneys’ fees to the prevailing employee(s) in the interest of justice.

 (f)(g)
It shall be unlawful for any person to discharge or in any other manner
discriminate against any employee because such employee has filed any complaint or
instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this Division, or
has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding, or has made a demand or
complaint to his or her employer related to this Division.
(g)(h)
An aggrieved employee may initiate a civil action against any person who violates
Section 5-39(f), and a prevailing plaintiff may be awarded restitutionary remedies,
punitive damages, costs of suit, and reasonable attorneys’ fees.