Colorado FAMLI Leave: Eligibility, Pay, and Job Protection

Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program, known as FAMLI, gives most workers in the state up to 12 weeks of partially paid leave each year to bond with a new child, recover from a serious health condition, care for a loved one, deal with domestic violence, or handle needs tied to a family member’s military service. Benefits top out at $1,381.45 a week in 2026, and you apply through the state’s My FAMLI+ online portal. FAMLI leave in Colorado is available to nearly every private-sector employee once they’ve earned $2,500 in qualifying wages.

Who Qualifies

You’re eligible for FAMLI benefits once you’ve earned at least $2,500 in wages subject to FAMLI premiums during the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters. Full-time, part-time, and seasonal workers all count.¹ Employer size doesn’t matter either: any Colorado business with even one employee participates.²

The program is funded by a 0.88% payroll premium split evenly between you and your employer, capped at the Social Security wage base of $184,500 in 2026. Premiums come out post-tax and appear on your W-2 in Box 14 as “FAMLI.”³⁴

Two groups fall outside the automatic coverage. Self-employed workers and independent contractors can opt in through the state portal, but they commit to at least three years of premiums once they do.⁵ Local government employers, including counties and school districts, can vote to opt out entirely; if yours has, you can still participate on your own by paying your share through the portal.⁶

Some employers meet their FAMLI obligation through an approved private plan rather than the state fund. A private plan must offer the same leave duration, at least the same wage replacement, and the same rights as the state program, and it can’t deduct more from your paycheck than the state plan would. If your employer uses a private plan, your claim goes through that plan’s administrator, though you can still appeal a denial through My FAMLI+.⁷

Reasons You Can Take Leave

FAMLI covers five categories:

Bonding with a new child after birth, adoption, or foster placement.
Your own serious health condition, including surgery recovery, chronic illness, and pregnancy.
Caring for a family member with a serious health condition.
Safe leave for you or a family member to address domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or abuse, including medical care, legal help, or relocation.⁸
Military exigency, such as arranging childcare, handling legal or financial matters, attending counseling or military events, or time with a service member on rest and recuperation leave.⁹

“Family member” is defined broadly: children, parents, spouses, domestic partners, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings all count, and so does anyone you share a significant personal bond with that resembles a family relationship. Biological or legal connection isn’t required.

You don’t have to take the whole 12 weeks in one stretch. Intermittent leave lets you use FAMLI time in separate blocks across a six-month window, which suits chronic conditions and ongoing treatment. Your provider certifies the number of hours you’re allowed in a 7-day or 30-day reporting period.¹⁰

How Much You’ll Be Paid

FAMLI pays up to 12 weeks of benefits in a 12-month period that starts on the first day of your approved leave. Pregnancy or childbirth complications can add up to four more weeks, for a maximum of 16.¹

The weekly amount uses a sliding scale tied to your average weekly wage over the previous five calendar quarters and the state average weekly wage (SAWW), which is $1,534.94 for the 2025–2026 benefit year:

90% replacement on the first $767.47 of your average weekly wage (50% of SAWW).
50% replacement on anything above $767.47.
Maximum benefit of $1,381.45 per week.³

Lower earners get a higher share of their income replaced under this formula. Someone earning $700 a week would receive about $630. The figures may be updated by mid-2026 when Colorado recalculates the state average weekly wage.

There’s no waiting period. Benefits start on day one of approved leave.

How to File a Claim

Claims go through the My FAMLI+ portal. Set up an account with an email address and personal details that match state records, including your Social Security Number or ITIN. Give your employer at least 30 days’ notice when the need for leave is foreseeable, such as a scheduled surgery or an expected due date; for anything unexpected, notify them as soon as you reasonably can.¹¹

Documentation depends on why you’re taking leave:

For your own medical leave, a U.S.-licensed healthcare provider completes a Serious Health Condition Form, either directly in My FAMLI+ if the provider is registered or on paper for you to upload.¹²
For bonding leave, a birth certificate, adoption paperwork, or foster placement records.
For caregiving leave, the same Serious Health Condition Form completed by your family member’s provider.
For safe leave, supporting documentation such as police reports or court orders.

Watch the timing. A claim with a start date more than 90 days in the past will be denied automatically. File promptly even if you’re still gathering paperwork, and upload supporting documents afterward. Incomplete forms are the top cause of processing delays.

Getting Paid and Appealing a Denial

You can receive approved payments by direct deposit or on a state-issued prepaid debit card. Payments run weekly rather than every two weeks. Continuous-leave payments go out automatically on the same day each week; for intermittent leave, you submit a weekly certification in the portal and payment usually arrives about 48 hours later.¹³¹⁴

If your claim is denied, you have 49 days from the initial determination to request a reconsideration through the “request a reconsideration” button on your Claim Details page in My FAMLI+. If reconsideration doesn’t resolve it, the button becomes “Appeal” and you file formally through the same page.¹⁵ For private plan denials, you create an appeals account in My FAMLI+ and select “File and Manage an Appeal.”¹⁶

Your Job While You’re Out

If you’ve worked for your employer at least 180 days before your leave begins, you’re entitled to return to your old job or an equivalent one at the same pay and benefits. Your employer must continue your health insurance while you’re on leave.¹⁷

Retaliation is illegal. That covers termination, cut hours, discipline, or interference with your ability to apply. Complaints go to the FAMLI Division’s Job Protection and Retaliation Investigations Unit, which reviews them within 90 days. If the unit finds the employer acted unlawfully, the employer may owe monetary damages and may be required to reinstate you.¹⁷

Taxes on FAMLI Benefits

Colorado doesn’t tax FAMLI benefits. The federal picture changed in 2026: the IRS now treats medical leave benefits (leave for your own health condition, including pregnancy) as third-party sick pay when your employer has 10 or more employees, making those payments subject to the employer’s share of Social Security, Medicare, and federal unemployment taxes.¹⁸

This treatment applies only to your own medical leave at employers with 10 or more employees. Bonding, caregiving, safe leave, and military exigency benefits are unaffected, as are benefits for workers at smaller employers, self-employed opt-ins, and employees of opted-out local governments. You can elect federal income tax withholding on your payments, and FAMLI issues a Form 1099-G at year end.¹⁸

How FAMLI Fits With Federal FMLA

When your leave qualifies under both FAMLI and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, the two run at the same time. You don’t get 12 weeks of FMLA plus 12 weeks of FAMLI. What FAMLI adds is wage replacement (FMLA is unpaid), coverage regardless of employer size (FMLA applies only to employers with 50 or more employees), and eligibility after 180 days of employment rather than the 12 months FMLA requires.²

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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Individuals and Families
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). FAMLI and FMLA
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Premium and Benefits Calculator
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Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Opting in to FAMLI
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Local Governments
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Private Plans
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Safe Leave (Domestic Violence)
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Colorado FAMLI. Military Family Members (Exigency) Leave
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). How FAMLI Leave Can Be Used
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Parental (Bonding) Leave
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Medical Leave to Care for Yourself
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). What to Expect from Your First FAMLI Payment
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Individuals and Families FAQs
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). My FAMLI+ User Guide: Next Steps
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Appeals
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Job Protection and Retaliation
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). IRS Tax Guidance