Colorado Requires Contributions for Paid Family and Medical Leave on January 1

Colorado’s paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI) will launch next year. FAMLI benefits include partial wage replacement, job protection, and continuation of group health care coverage. 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.

Employers must start withholdings on January 1, 2023. Employees can take FAMLI leave starting on January 1, 2024. The FAMLI Division has a web page with FAQs, toolkits, videos, and other resources for employers.

Coverage

FAMLI applies to most employers and employees in Colorado. Those who are self-employed are not required to participate but can opt in.

Contributions

Employers are responsible for sending contributions to FAMLI. For 2023 and 2024, the contribution rate is 0.9% of each employee’s wages, up to the Social Security wage base (currently estimated to be $155,100 in 2023, which would be a max contribution of $1,395.90). If you have nine or fewer employees, then your employees pay half the contribution amount, and you pay nothing. If you have 10 or more employees, then you pay 50% and your employees pay 50% of the contribution.

Employee Eligibility

The state will determine an employee’s eligibility when they apply. To be eligible for FAMLI, an employee must have earned $2,500 in Colorado during their base period. To be entitled to job protection and continuation of health care coverage, the employee must have worked for the employer for at least 180 days before taking leave.

Amount and Reasons for Leave

Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks of FAMLI leave per year for family, medical, qualifying exigency, or safe leave. Employees can take an additional four weeks for pregnancy-related complications.

Family leave is to care for a family member with a serious health condition or to bond with a new child. Medical leave is for the employee’s own serious health condition. Qualifying exigency leave is for making arrangements for a family member’s military deployment. Safe leave is for domestic violence or sexual assault.

If the employee’s FAMLI leave also qualifies for the Colorado Family Care Act or the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), then the leaves will run concurrently.

Notice Requirements

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.

The 2023 notice is available here.

Action Items

• Ensure that your payroll is set up to handle contributions by January 1, 2023.  Resourcing Edge has set up payroll to handle these contributions through tax deductions.
• Register with the FAMLI Division before April 30, 2023.
• Add the notice to your new hire packet.  Resourcing Edge has added a notice to the new hire onboarding process.
• Display the poster in a prominent location at each worksite.

Colorado:  Notice at Termination of Wage Deductions

Beginning in 2023, regardless of the terms of any agreements, employers will need to provide an employee with a specific notice before taking a deduction from their wages for failing to return the money or property. The notice must be provided no later than 10 days after termination and include all of the following:

• A statement that the employer is deducting from their wages the amount of money or value of property that the employee failed to return
• A written statement identifying the amount of money or the property the employee didn’t return
• The replacement value of non-money property
• When the money or property was provided to the employee, if known
• When the employer thinks the employee should have returned the money or property