Get the Facts: CO's New Family & Medical Leave Insurance Program

The United States is one of just six countries without any form of federally mandated paid family leave to help people who need to step away from the job to care for a loved one or a new child.

But Colorado voters decided in 2020 that it’s time for paid family leave here – and the state is now just a few months away from opening the program to workers who face a life event but don’t want to permanently leave the workforce.

Colorado workers have been paying premiums since January to fund the new Family and Medical Leave Insurance* (FAMLI) program.

In the last quarter of 2023, Colorado’s FAMLI Division will start accepting applications for up to 12 weeks of partial pay replacement during life circumstances that pull them away from their jobs — like welcoming a new child, taking care of a loved one with a serious health condition, or preparing for a loved one’s military deployment.

 Here are some key takeaways about how FAMLI leave will work:
● Most Colorado employees become eligible to take paid leave after they have earned at least $2,500 in wages within Colorado, over a period of a year. During their leave, the FAMLI Division will pay employees up to 90% of their wages based on a sliding scale and proportional to Colorado's average weekly wage. Check out the benefits calculator to estimate weekly FAMLI payments.
● Participation for self-employed workers and independent contractors is optional.

FAMLI differs from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in several ways. The three main differences are:
● FAMLI is paid leave. FMLA is unpaid, job-protected leave.
● Employees working for a business of any size are eligible for FAMLI.
● Self-employed workers are also eligible to opt into the FAMLI program. FMLA is available to employees of covered employers only.

Find out more about how FAMLI will work and share your story about how you or your caregiver could use paid time away from work at famli.colorado.gov.

*This is not an AARP event.  Any information you provide the host organization will be governed by its privacy policy.