Colorado’s paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI) launched this year with employers (hopefully) withholding and remitting premiums. Now, employers need to prepare for the next phase of the program. FAMLI will start providing benefits to employees beginning January 1, 2024. FAMLI applies to most employers and employees in Colorado.
As a reminder, FAMLI is funded by payroll contributions and is administered by the FAMLI Division (part of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment). Employers do not pay the monetary benefits directly to employees. We are keeping you abreast of this information because these benefits come with job protection. This means that even if your organization is too small to be subject to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or the Colorado Family Care Act, you’ll still need to provide job-protected leave when an employee qualifies for FAMLI benefits. To be entitled to job protection, the employee must have worked for their employer for at least 180 days before taking leave. Employers must also maintain an employee’s health care benefits during FAMLI leave, regardless of tenure.
Employees may be eligible to take up to 16 weeks of FAMLI leave per year for family, medical, qualifying exigency, and safe leave. If the employee’s FAMLI leave also qualifies for the Colorado Family Care Act or the federal FMLA, then the leaves will run concurrently.
Employers are required to provide notice about FAMLI:
By posting the notice in a prominent location at each worksite,
To each employee upon hire, and
To an employee when they learn that the employee might need leave for a covered reason.