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FAMLI Newsletter - December 22, 2022

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s FAMLI Newsletter

Welcome to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE)'s newsletter for Colorado’s new paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. You’re receiving this newsletter because it includes important legal updates that will impact your business in some way. It’s been a busy year for the FAMLI Division, and we are heading into 2023 full steam ahead! Payroll deductions begin next month, and we’re here to support you in the home stretch! Read on for tools and tips to help with the registration process, reminders and frequently asked questions. If you would like to get these updates sent directly to your mobile phone, you can add your mobile number to your subscription preferences, just select SMS/text message, and you’ll be all set!

My FAMLI+ Employer is Live! Registration is now open!

My FAMLI+ Employer is the online employer services portal that Colorado businesses, third-party administrators (TPA’s) and local government employers will use to manage their FAMLI accounts. My FAMLI+ Employer will allow employers to report wage data, remit premium payments, apply for exemption with a private plan and upload letters of declination votes. Most Colorado businesses will need to register in My FAMLI+ Employer before the first premium payments are due April 30, 2023.

The portal is now open to all Colorado employers. We invite you to create your account TODAY! 

Watch our how-to videos and save our step-by-step user guides to help you with My FAMLI+ Employer

We have a variety of videos, user guides and quick reference cheat sheets to help you get comfortable with My FAMLI+ Employer. Are there additional tools you’d like to see? Share your feedback on the registration process by filling out this form.

What’s Up Next? 

We are currently developing a handbook specifically for employers interested in using a private plan to meet their FAMLI obligations. Our Private Plan Handbook will summarize the requirements for all private plans, including specific rules for self-insured private plans, and help familiarize Colorado businesses with the process of getting their private plan approved by the Division. The private plan application process will launch once the private plan marketplace opens up in the coming weeks. We have been working closely with the Department of Insurance (DOI) to ensure private plan insurance carriers can offer a product that meets the FAMLI requirements for private plans. 

Quick note: Employers planning to offer a private plan (including self insurance models) are not exempt from paying FAMLI premiums until the FAMLI Division has reviewed and approved the private plan or self insurance documentation in accordance with the Division’s private plan regulations. All employers must register with the FAMLI program, and will be required to pay premiums until they receive approval from the Division. Employers can request a refund for premiums paid in 2023 if they get a private plan approved by the Division by October 31, 2023 and the plan has an effective date on or before January 1, 2024.

We anticipate opening up the application for private plan approval in the first quarter of 2023. Read the adopted private plan rules here. 

You Must Post The Required Program Notice by
January 1, 2023

The FAMLI statute requires that employers post a notice to inform workers about the FAMLI Program by January 1, 2023. The Required 2023 FAMLI Program Notice poster is available to download from the FAMLI website. Once you download the file, print and hang the poster in a prominent, visible workplace location accessed by all employees. Download your copy of the poster today!

The Required Program Notice is now available in Amharic, Arabic, Dari, French, Kinyarwanda, Korean, Nepali, Rohingya, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Swahili, Traditional Chinese and Vietnamese. Visit the FAMLI Toolkit and scroll to the bottom of the page to view the Program Notice in different languages.

Our 2023 FAMLI Employee Handbook is now available in Spanish along with several of our toolkit materials. The Employee Handbook, Required Program Notice, payroll stuffer, sample pay stub, and HR fact sheet have all been translated. Spanish materials can be downloaded from our website here.

December Webinars

We’ve had a busy December! We hosted three webinars this month focused on registering your business. Did you miss the conversation? Don’t worry, all three are now published to our webinar page. While we highlighted the registration process during each webinar, each one includes different questions and answers. 

Upcoming Webinars: January 2023:

• January, 4th 2023: 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. TPAs and the Employers The Serve

Register for this webinar here. The webinar will also be streamed on our YouTube Channel, and a recording of the webinar will be published to our website following the session. If you have questions you would like to have answered during the webinar, please use this form to submit them. 

Reminder for the Local Government Employers

Time is running out to conduct your vote to opt out of Colorado’s new Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI). Local government employers in Colorado who vote to opt out, must notify the FAMLI Division by January 1, 2023 in order to avoid being responsible for premium payments for the first quarter of 2023. No vote is required if your organization plans to participate in the program. Watch our how-to video on opting out within My FAMLI+ Employer if you need support.

Does your organization qualify as a “Local Government”? 

If you’re unsure whether your organization is considered a Local Government Employer, you can refer to our amended Local Government Rules 7 CCR 1107-2 for a complete breakdown. Under the FAMLI Act, a Local Government is any county, city and county, city, or town, whether home rule or statutory, or any school district, special district, authority, or other political subdivision of the State of Colorado. Charter Schools are considered Local Governments under the FAMLI Act. Any government entity with at least one employee in the State Personnel System is NOT considered a Local Government under the FAMLI Act. Any government entity for which the state prepaid premiums under 2022 law (HB22-1133) is NOT a local government. References: §29-1-304.5(3)(b) C.R.S., C.R.S. 8-13.3-518(4)(b)

Does Your Business Work with a Third Party Administrator (TPA) or a Payroll Software Service?

Don’t forget to connect with your TPA or the payroll software service you use  to determine how they will be supporting your business with FAMLI. We’ve created a dedicated page for TPAs with several new resources, including file format specifications for wage reporting and bulk registration, sample files, and payment schedules. If you are a TPA, or want to make sure your TPA is up to speed, we encourage you to share this page with your administrator. Here are some additional tips:

1. Ask your TPA if they will be registering on behalf of your business. If they are planning to register for you, you don’t need to register your business again. 
2. If you already registered your business on your own, let your TPA know you completed the process. Your TPA will be able to create the proper TPA-Employer relationship in My FAMLI+ Employer by uploading a bulk file referencing your business. Refer them to page 19 of our TPA User Guide for instructions on how to bulk register. 
3. This TPA-Employer relationship needs to be established, so your TPA can submit wage data and premium payments on behalf of your business.

Share Your Story With Us!

We want to hear your personal stories. Please tell us how FAMLI could have or will help you. We’ll be sharing stories from both individuals and employers in our newsletter and across social media. This month we’re featuring a story from Nathalie:

My spouse and I had been wanting children for many years, but we experienced infertility. We decided to adopt a child, and I informed my employer of my plans. In February 2021, we learned that we had been chosen to adopt a child born that same week! She had some medical issues at birth and stayed in the NICU for the first month of her life, followed by weekly medical specialist visits for about 6 months. I asked my employer if I was eligible for their limited company-provided family leave plan, and they told me I was not. I asked if my job would be waiting for me if I took unpaid leave, and they said they could not hold my job for me. So, in order to take care of the new baby in my family, I quit my job. If I had access to a Family Leave Program, I would have been able to keep my job while also having the flexibility to care for my child.

People Are Asking

Q: Do self-employed individuals need to do something to opt out, or does that happen automatically when selecting "Self-Employed" as your business type while registering in My FAMLI+ Employer?

A: Self-employed individuals do not need to register to opt-out. No action is required. If you are self-employed, you will only need to register if you voluntarily choose to participate by paying premiums for three years. You don’t need to do this until you can self-elect coverage when benefits become available in 2024. If you are self-employed and mistakenly registered in My FAMLI+ Employer and do NOT wish to participate, please call us at 1-866-CO-FAMLI. Our representatives can help you deactivate your account. 

Q: I’m a TPA and  bulk registered my client employers. How do I give my clients access to their accounts should they request it?

A: The best way to do this, is to manually add this particular client in My FAMLI+ Employer rather than using a bulk upload. However, you can still grant access to this client after the bulk upload by adding them as a user to their account. We have instructions on how to do this in our Quick Reference Guide for TPAs available on our My FAMLI+ Employer page. 

Q: I'm a partial owner in an S-Corp, and we have no other employees. Our S-corp business structure means that I pay no corporate taxes but instead pay my shareholders, who are responsible for the taxes due. Do I need to participate?

A: The structure of a business isn’t what matters for FAMLI compliance. What matters is whether the business has qualifying employees. Check out our resources here to help you determine whether your business has any qualifying employees. If you’re still not sure if you need to register and pay premiums, let us help with your unique situation by calling 1-866-CO-FAMLI. 

Q: Are employers required to take 0.45% out of employee checks, or can employers cover the entire 0.9% premium as a benefit?

A: Employers can decide to cover the employees’ share of the premium on behalf of their staff and choose not to make any payroll deductions. 

Q: How do the payroll deductions work? What do employers need to have ready by January 1, 2023?

A: If you are planning to deduct up to 0.45% of employee wages to cover your premium obligations, you must have your payroll systems setup to make those deductions from employee paychecks starting in January 2023.