Senate Bill 23-172: Protecting Opportunities and Workers' Rights (POWR) Act

• Adds marital status as a protected class in Colorado employment discrimination law and expands the definition of harassment to include any unwelcome conduct that is subjectively offensive to the individual and objectively offensive to a reasonable person in the same protected class, eliminating the "severe or pervasive" standard.

• Prohibits nondisclosure agreements that restrict employees from disclosing alleged discrimination or harassment unless the agreements apply equally to all parties, expressly permit disclosure to family, advisors, government agencies, and legal proceedings, and include specific safeguards against punitive liquidated damages.

• Requires employers to maintain a designated repository of all discrimination complaints for at least five years and implement harassment prevention programs to qualify for an affirmative defense against supervisor harassment claims.

• Creates a $5,000 per violation penalty plus actual damages for employers who include non-compliant nondisclosure provisions in agreements, enforceable by the civil rights division and employees through private action.

• Appropriates $1.17 million to multiple state departments for 2023-24 fiscal year to implement the act, including staffing and legal services.