Colorado PFML (FAMLI): Eligibility, Benefits, and Job Protection

Colorado’s paid family and medical leave program, known as FAMLI, gives most workers in the state up to 12 weeks of partially paid leave each year for a serious health condition, a new child, a family member’s illness, or other qualifying life events. Benefits have been available since January 1, 2024. The maximum weekly payment for the current benefit period is $1,381.45, and there is no waiting period before payments start.¹

Who Is Covered

If you work for a private-sector employer in Colorado, you are almost certainly already enrolled. Coverage applies to full-time, part-time, and seasonal employees, and state employees are covered too.² To draw benefits, you need to have earned at least $2,500 in wages subject to FAMLI premiums during roughly the year before your leave begins.³

Self-employed workers and independent contractors are not automatically covered but can opt in. Opting in comes with a three-year premium commitment.⁴

Local governments are the only employers allowed to vote to opt out of FAMLI. If your local government employer has done that, you can still participate as an individual by paying premiums directly to the state.⁵

Reasons You Can Take FAMLI Leave

Seven categories of leave qualify:⁶

Medical leave to recover from your own serious health condition.
Pregnancy leave for a pregnancy-related health condition.
Parental bonding leave after birth, adoption, or foster placement.
Caregiving leave for a family member with a serious health condition.
Safe leave to address the immediate safety needs of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault.
Military exigency leave when a family member is deployed or has deployment orders.
Neonatal care leave for an infant receiving intensive medical care in a facility.

Workers who experience pregnancy or childbirth complications can receive up to four additional weeks, for a total of 16 weeks per year.⁷

How Much FAMLI Pays

Benefits follow a sliding scale that replaces more income for lower earners. The first $735.67 of your average weekly wage is replaced at 90%. Anything above that is replaced at 50%, up to the weekly maximum of $1,381.45.⁸ The cap reflects 90% of Colorado’s average weekly wage of $1,534.94 for the 2025–2026 period and may be adjusted in mid-2026 when the state recalculates.¹

Some worked examples:

At $600 per week, the whole wage falls below the threshold, so the benefit is about $540 per week (90% of $600).
At $1,200 per week, the first $735.67 is replaced at 90% ($662.10) and the remaining $464.33 at 50% ($232.17), for about $894 per week.
At $2,500 per week, the formula would produce more than the cap, so the benefit is the maximum $1,381.45.

Benefits are payable from the first day of covered leave.

How Long You Can Take, Including Intermittent Leave

Most workers can take up to 12 weeks in a 12-month period, or 16 weeks with pregnancy or childbirth complications.⁷ The 12-month window is a rolling lookback: each time you claim leave, the state checks how much you’ve used in the prior 12 months. Weeks don’t reset with the calendar year, and the 12-week cap applies across all your jobs if you have more than one.

You can take leave in blocks instead of all at once. Your healthcare provider certifies how many leave hours you can take during each reporting period on the Serious Health Condition form, using either a 7-day or a rolling 30-day period.⁹

One quirk worth knowing: you can file a claim for fewer than eight hours, but wage replacement doesn’t pay out until you’ve accumulated at least eight hours of leave. Short intermittent absences may not generate a payment until a second claim pushes you over that threshold.⁹ Absences are reported weekly through the My FAMLI+ portal.

How to File a Claim

Claims go through the My FAMLI+ online portal, which walks you through personal details, employment information, leave details, payment preferences, and a final review.¹⁰ You’ll need your Social Security number or ITIN and a government-issued photo ID. In some cases the portal will ask you to match a selfie to your ID.

Documentation by Leave Type

For medical or pregnancy leave, a licensed U.S. healthcare provider must complete and sign the Serious Health Condition form. Providers registered in My FAMLI+ can certify the claim online. Otherwise, you download the form, take it to your provider, and upload the completed version.¹¹

For bonding leave, you need proof of birth or placement showing the date. A birth certificate, hospital birth documentation, or adoption or foster paperwork all qualify.¹²

For safe leave, no court determination is required. A good-faith legal attestation that you are a survivor of domestic violence, stalking, or sexual assault is enough.¹³

Notice and Processing

When your leave is foreseeable, give your employer at least 30 days’ notice when possible. When it isn’t, you have up to 30 days after leave begins to apply. Your employer is notified of the claim and its dates, but the state does not share your medical information. The Division of FAMLI aims to process complete claims within two weeks. Claims aren’t reviewed until every required document is uploaded, so submitting everything together is the fastest path to a decision.¹⁰ Payments arrive by direct deposit or prepaid debit card.

Job Protection and Retaliation

If you’ve worked for your employer for at least 180 days before taking leave, you have the right to return to your old job or an equivalent position with equivalent pay and benefits. Your health insurance continues while you’re on leave.¹⁴

Retaliation is illegal. Your employer cannot fire you, cut your hours, or discipline you for applying for FAMLI, taking leave, discussing the program with coworkers, filing a complaint, or participating in an investigation. If you believe an employer has interfered with your leave or retaliated, you can file a complaint with the FAMLI Division’s Job Protection and Retaliation Investigations Unit, which reviews complaints within 90 days. If the Division finds a violation, the employer may owe monetary damages and may be required to reinstate you.¹⁴ Keep records of your leave request, your employer’s responses, and any changes to your role after you return.

How FAMLI Works With FMLA

If your leave qualifies under both FAMLI and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, the two run concurrently. They count against each other rather than stacking. Your employer must deliver the FAMLI program notice within five days of learning about your qualifying event, and cannot require you to use up FAMLI leave as a condition of taking FMLA.¹⁵

FMLA offers unpaid, job-protected leave for up to 12 weeks but applies only to employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. FAMLI reaches nearly all Colorado workers regardless of employer size and adds wage replacement. If your employer is too small for FMLA, FAMLI still provides job protection once you’ve been employed 180 days.¹⁴

Private Employer Plans

Some employers run their own paid leave plan instead of participating in the state program. Private plans must be approved by the FAMLI Division and must be at least as generous as the state plan, cost you no more in premiums, and offer the same protections.¹⁶ Plans can be fully insured or self-funded. If your employer uses one, the benefit is similar, but your claim may run through the employer’s insurance carrier rather than the My FAMLI+ portal.

Premiums You Pay

FAMLI is funded through a payroll premium. For 2026 the total rate is 0.88% of wages, split evenly between employer and employee at 0.44% each.⁸ Employers with nine or fewer employees don’t have to pay the employer share, but you still pay your 0.44% and the employer submits it.¹⁷ Premiums apply only to wages up to the Social Security wage cap, which is $184,500 for 2026.¹⁸ For a worker earning $60,000 a year, the employee share is about $264 annually, roughly $5 a week.

Taxes on FAMLI Benefits

FAMLI benefits are not subject to Colorado state income tax. Federal treatment is less settled; the IRS has issued guidance indicating taxability may depend on individual circumstances. The FAMLI Division issues a 1099-G to anyone who received at least $10 in benefits during the tax year, with the amount reported in Box 1 alongside unemployment compensation.¹⁹

You can elect to have 10% of each payment withheld for federal income taxes. Without withholding, you may owe when you file. A tax advisor can help you plan before leave starts.¹⁹

If Your Claim Is Denied

Denials can be appealed through the My FAMLI+ portal.²⁰ Your determination letter explains the reason and your appeal rights. Read it carefully first. If the denial was based on missing or incomplete documentation, supplying the records is often faster than a formal appeal. When you do appeal, gather everything about the original decision so the review can move quickly.

1
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Rules and Guidance
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Division of Human Resources. Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program – For Employees
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Individuals and Families
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Opting in to FAMLI – What Self-Employed Individuals and Employees of Colorados Local Governments Need to Know
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Local Governments
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). My FAMLI Plus User Guide – Reasons for Leave
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Welcome to the Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Premium and Benefits Calculator
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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). My FAMLI Plus User Guide – Filing a Claim
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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). Parental (Bonding) Leave
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Safe Leave (Domestic Violence)
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Job Protection and Retaliation
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). FAMLI and Other Types of Leave
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Private Plan Guidance
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Employers
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Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Individuals and Families FAQs
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Appeals