Written by Colorado Family And Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI) on January 29th 2024
Family Paid Leave Is Here
Hello, Colorado FAMLI community. FAMLI benefits are finally here! We received a huge response from individuals and families across the state already, and we’re eagerly distributing benefits as Colorado voters intended back in 2020. To more effectively assist you every step of the way, our newsletter will look a little different next month. We’ll be sending separate updates to individuals and families, employers and third party administrators and health care providers across the state. Be sure to check your subscription preferences, so you receive updates on the topics that are most impactful to you in 2024.
Watch the January Statewide Town Hall
With benefits now available, many claimants, employers and business owners are reaching out to us with various questions regarding eligibility and leave types through our live town halls. In case you missed our January Virtual Town Hall, the recording and slide deck are available on our Events page. The recording is available in Spanish as well.
Most of our town halls reach the maximum capacity of 500 registrations on Zoom quickly. Subscribe to our official YouTube channel to watch the live stream, where we also answer questions left in the comment section. The response was overwhelming, and we got valuable feedback from our participants. Some of the most asked about topics included:
- Eligibility for the benefits
- Intermittent Leave
- Different Reasons for FAMLI Leave
- Parental (Bonding) Leave
- Combining other employer-provided benefits with FAMLI
- Safe leave and domestic violence survivors
- How to submit benefit applications in My FAMLI+
For additional support with the application process, we have a step-by-step user guide, several how-to videos, and an application checklist. If you still need help, give us a call at 1-866-CO-FAMLI (1-866-263-2654) Monday–Friday 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. MT.
We encourage you to share your experience with us, so we can continue improving the customer experience. Please fill out our My FAMLI+ feedback form after filing your claim.
Attend the next session
We’ll be hosting more Virtual Town Halls in English and Spanish very soon:
- February 1, 2024:
Don’t forget to tell us that your leave has started
If you’re filing a claim in advance, the final step before the FAMLI Division can approve your benefit payments is to inform us that your leave has officially begun. This will appear as a task in your Claims Dashboard in your My FAMLI+ account. Even if you successfully submitted all required documentation, you must log in to your account or call the contact center to let us know when your leave has officially begun.
Learn more about the different reasons that qualify for FAMLI leave and how you can use your leave on our Individuals and Families page.
What to expect from your first FAMLI Payment
If you selected direct deposit as your payment option, FAMLI’s payments to your banking institution should arrive in your account within 24 hours or up to 72 hours after you’ve missed one full week of work depending on your bank.
If you chose to have your benefits delivered on a prepaid debit card, you should have received that card in the mail soon after your FAMLI claim was approved.
If you’re taking intermittent or reduced leave, you will need to certify your leave hours every Sunday before you will receive a weekly payment. Get more tips and learn more about what day of the week you can expect your weekly payments here.
Filing an Appeal
Employees, employers, and private plan administrators can file an appeal if they do not agree with a decision made by the FAMLI Division. Employees can also appeal a decision made by an approved private plan administrator. Employees should file their appeal directly in their My FAMLI+ accounts, and employers should file an appeal using this online form. Visit our Appeals page for more information on when and how to file an appeal.
How to protect your FAMLI account from fraudsters
Fraud is a serious crime. Detecting and preventing FAMLI fraud is a priority for our agency. Claims are audited regularly to ensure benefits are paid according to state law. Follow these basic steps to protect yourself from FAMLI fraud:
- Always tell the truth. If you intentionally make false statements or hide information to gain or maintain FAMLI benefits, you are committing fraud.
- Do not use another person’s identity (e.g. name, Social Security number, address) to work or to file for FAMLI benefits.
- If you have filed a FAMLI claim, regularly check that your address, phone number, email, and payment method are correct and have not been altered.
- Protect your own identity and do not share your My FAMLI+ password or Personally Identifiable Information (PII) with anyone.
- Never click on a link in a suspicious text or email unless you were expecting it. If you are unsure about any link asking you to log into your account, simply disregard the link and instead access your My FAMLI+ account from the official FAMLI website at famli.colorado.gov.
- Tell us right away when you return to work.
Employer Deadline Approaching: Q4 Wage Reports and Premiums due January 31, 2024
Employers: don’t forget, the deadline for submitting Q4 FAMLI premiums and wage reports is January 31, 2024. If you need assistance in preparing your wage reports, we have a comprehensive collection of how-to-videos, user guides, file specifications, and sample templates to help you through the process. For those planning to submit wages through file upload, please review our Wage Report File Specification Guide.
Update Your Total Employee Headcount
Employers must update their total employee headcount for 2024 in My FAMLI+ Employer by January 31, 2024. This will ensure your business is paying accurate FAMLI premium rates. Employers with ten or more employees are required to send in the full 0.9% FAMLI premium for all 2024 quarters, and those with nine or fewer employees will be responsible for sending the 0.45% employee’s share of the premium for all four quarters in 2024. If your Annual Total Employee headcount is not updated by January 31, 2024, we will determine your total employee headcount based on wages reported for employees in 2023. Read this article for more details on how to count your employees and how to update your headcount in My FAMLI+ Employer.
Employers & Third Party Administrators: Update Your HR Point of Contact in My FAMLI+ Employer
Now that your employees can apply for FAMLI leave, don’t forget to add the contact information for your HR Benefits Manager in My FAMLI+ Employer. This new feature allows you to easily designate a dedicated point of contact for your HR Benefits Manager within your organization and any other organizations you represent.
This designated contact will be the go-to person who receives documentation when an employee applies for FAMLI leave. This documentation will now also be delivered via email (in addition to a mailed letter)! If a point of contact isn’t provided for the HR Benefits Manager in My FAMLI+ Employer, employee benefit documentation will be sent to the main email address and mailing address for the account holder on file.
While you’re at it, don’t forget to make sure all of your contact information (including your email address) is up to date in the system. For more information, please refer to Page 41 of the Employer User Guide on our My FAMLI+ Employer page.
Health Care Providers: Why it’s important to Verify Your License!
Your patients are already starting to apply for FAMLI leave benefits and your participation is important. When Coloradans use My FAMLI+ to apply for medical care leave, they will need to identify their doctor.
If you’re registered in My FAMLI+ and have verified your license with us, you’ll be notified whenever one of your patients applies for benefits. You, or a delegated staff member, can certify their Serious Health Condition Form all online, saving yourself and your patient from passing around paperwork. If you don’t register and verify your license in My FAMLI+, expect to start seeing patients bring in paper Serious Health Condition Forms that you’ll have to fill out, sign and return to the patient. Click here to get started. Refer to our step-by-step user guide for health care providers if you need help finishing the license verification process. We also have a how-to video for additional support.
People Are Asking
Q: How do I file a claim and log into the system?
A: Start by visiting our My FAMLI+ page on famli.colorado.gov:
- Select the Apply for FAMLI Benefits in MyFAMLI+ button.
- First time users can select the Create An Account button, returning users can select Login.
