Colorado has a leave law called the Family Care Act (FCA), which provides unpaid, job-protected leave when an employee is required to care for their domestic or civil partner with a serious health condition.

Additionally, Colorado has a paid and job-protected leave law, The Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act (CO FAMLI). Employers are required to remit (employee/employer) contributions to the program quarterly.

Where an employee is eligible for each law, CO FAMLI will run concurrently with federal FMLA. Note: CO FAMLI may run concurrently with CO FCA when caring for a domestic or civil partner. The CO FCA on the other hand, does not run concurrently with federal FMLA, as the CO FCA covers family members that are not included under the federal FMLA (domestic and civil partners). We recommend seeing the above “Leave Highlights”, if you wish to learn more about these laws and their changes. Additionally, we also have some resources below.

If you would like a reminder on the services that Larkin provides in general, please see here.

This resource section provides information on how the benefits are made available to employees, for example, are the state pay benefits provided directly by the state or are employers required to provide the benefit via an insurance carrier, and/or may employers self-insure the benefit. Additionally, how are benefits funded, via contributions made by the employee or employer, or both, as well as providing information on state wage reporting requirements if applicable. Many states paid family leave programs require that employers submit employee wage reports for employees within the state. These reports are primarily used to assess an employee’s eligibility when they file for benefits. 

The resource below also provides a summary of employer actions, including how to register with the state to remit contributions and submit wage reports if applicable, and by when contributions/wage reporting is due.

Some leave laws require that you notify your employees about their rights under the law, such as, by providing a prescribed notice to new hires, displaying a poster in the workplace, and/or including information about that leave law in your company handbook. Below you will find a summary of the requirements for each law.

Where the law requires that a leave poster/notice must be provided to the employee when they request leave, The Larkin Company will provide the applicable document within our introductory leave packets (see “Larkin Enclosures” within the resource).

Employers may be required to complete employer forms for certain state income replacement programs, so they must be prepared to look up employee information and respond within the given timelines. While the questions vary state by state, they are typically focused around four areas: leave dates, employment status, last day worked, and questions around pay. To answer these questions, employers typically look in multiple systems to complete the forms:

• Leave dates – clients can use our employer portal or email notifications to confirm dates;
• Demographics/employment status – this information is typically housed in our client’s HRIS;
• Last day worked – this information is typically housed in our client’s time & attendance system;
• Gross wages/last day paid – this information is typically housed in our client’s payroll system.

State Forms– Process

Since this process is complex, we thought it might be helpful for employers to know 1) when to expect the forms based on employees’ work state and 2) when proactive employee collaboration is required. The below information is for Colorado.

Also included, is information regarding: if you are required to register with the state’s website for the Employer Statements Process, how to register (if applicable), and how employers can check and employee’s claims status (if allowed by the state).

Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act – CO FAMLI (Leave and Pay Law)
CO Family Care Act, CO FCA (Leave Law) – no particular website available

State Law and Regulation(s)

CO FAMLI Law
CO FCA Law

Contribution Registration (Paid Leave)

CO FAMLI Registration (My FAMLI+)
My FAMLI+ Employer Guide

For general information regarding contributions for this state, please see here.

Employer Statement (Claim Process) Registration

NA – there is no employer registration/portal process confirmed yet for the CO claims process(we are monitoring this topic). For general information regarding the paid leave employer statement process for this state, please see here.