Employers

The FAMLI Division recently adopted a change to the definition of “wages'' that will go into effect on January 1, 2024. The current (and soon to be old) definition aligns FAMLI’s definition of “wages” with the Unemployment Insurance Division’s definition of “wages.” 

After receiving a lot of feedback that the definition was too complicated, the Division amended the definition to make it simpler. 

Under the new definition, FAMLI “wages” will mean “gross wages” and will include typical employer compensation. Premiums and benefits will be calculated using this new definition starting January 1, 2024.

Gross wages will include the following pre-tax amounts:

• Salary
• Hourly wage
• Overtime
• Tips
• Bonuses
• Commissions
• Piece rate
• Employer-provided paid leave (PTO, sick, vacation, etc.)
• Disability benefits paid by the employer and not by a third-party
• Parental leave paid by the employer and not by a third party
• The value of lodging or meals used as a credit toward the minimum wage

Gross wages will NOT include:

• Severance payments 
• Employer contributions to, or payouts from, a deferred compensation plan
• Profit-sharing
• Pensions or retirement plan payments
• Expense reimbursements (mileage, travel, moving, per diems, etc)
• Non-monetary payments (except lodging or meals to the extent they’re used as a credit toward the minimum wage)

As noted above, this is pre-tax gross wages.  For example, if an employee is paid a $1,000 weekly salary and chooses to have their $100 health insurance contribution deducted on a pre-tax basis, their pre-tax gross wage is $1,000.  

When it comes to counting how many employees your business has, your headcount will be calculated by counting the number of employees you have on your payroll for a total of 20 or more calendar workweeks in the preceding calendar year. Employers will report their headcount during the initial registration process and once a year thereafter during the first quarter of each year.

Businesses that report having ten or more employees who worked during 20 or more weeks in all of 2022 will be responsible for sending in the full 0.9% premium for all four quarters in 2023.

The graphic below visualizes this 20-calendar-week concept in four examples.

The first two employees are seasonal workers who both work during 20 or more weeks throughout the calendar year. Note that they both work intermittent schedules throughout the year and may only work one or two days during some work weeks, but they are still included in your headcount.

The third full time worker worked for more than 20 weeks, so would also be counted, even though you can see this worker left the company in August.

The final full time worker in the red box, let’s say this worker was hired to replace the previous one, would not count toward your total headcount because he only worked during 19 weeks of the year.

It’s important to note that employers are responsible for deducting and remitting premiums for every employee as soon as they are hired. This 20-week concept should only be used to determine whether or not your business is categorized as having 10 or more employees and thus responsible for sending in the full 0.9% premium once a quarter.

When it comes to counting remote employees, if the employer has more than ten TOTAL employees–even if they work outside of Colorado–the employer will still be responsible for sending in the full 0.9% premium once a quarter.

In the example below, the employer would be responsible for both the 0.45% employee share and the 0.45% employer share for the three employees who work in Colorado because it has 12 total employees.

National employers who have employees based all over the country will need to use their total employee headcount to determine its premium responsibility for its Colorado-based employees.

As you can see on the map below, the employer has 15 total employees, so it will be required to send in the full 0.9% premium for the eight employees who are based in Colorado.

We've created the following decision tree to help employers determine Colorado localization when it comes to employees being subject to FAMLI:

Starting in 2023, premium payments and wage reports will be due on the same schedule as is typical with Unemployment Insurance. Payments are due on the last day of the month following the end of each quarter. The 2023 schedule is:

• Q1: April 30, 2023 - A 30-day grace period will be offered before the first premium payments and wage reports are considered late. This grace period is currently reflected on your dashboard in My FAMLI+ Employer, which shows May 31, 2023 as the first deadline. 
• Q2: July 31, 2023
• Q3: October 31, 2023
• Q4: January 31, 2024

Employers will have several payment type options to submit their quarterly premium payments to the FAMLI Division:

1. Online Payments through the My FAMLI+ Employer Portal:
   • Employers and third party administrators can make payments online directly in the My FAMLI+ Employer portal. You will need to provide your bank account’s routing number and account number. Payment instructions can be found in the My FAMLI+ Employer User Guides for both Employers and TPAs.  
      
2. Online Bill Pay 
   • Employers can make electronic payments from a checking account using Online Bill Pay. If your bank offers this functionality, you will log into your bank’s website to add FAMLI as a payee using the following information:
     • Payee Name: Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance
       • If this is too long, you may also enter “Colorado FAMLI”
     • Address: PO BOX 5070, Denver, CO 80217-5070
     • Phone Number: 866-263-2654
     • Account Number: enter your 10-digit FAMLI Employer Account Number 
   • Once FAMLI is setup as a payee, you can initiate a one-time payment from your bank’s website.
     
      
3. Payment via API
   • If you are a software developer looking to allow your users to make electronic payments to FAMLI from your software, please email cdle_famli_info@state.co.us with your request. Please enter “API Access Request” as the subject and details on what you are trying to accomplish.
   • In the future, you will be able to search for the API from the website https://developer.colorado.gov/ where you will be able to download API specifications and request credentials to use the API. We expect this to be available between Q1 and Q2 2023.
      
4. ACH Credit
   • Employers and third party administrators (TPAs) can also make payments by issuing an Automated Clearing House (ACH) Credit through their bank. This payment option is available to employers and TPAs who meet all of the following prerequisites:
     • Have already established ACH credit payment processes through their bank.
     • Are already familiar with National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) file formats and can support the ACH Cash Concentration and Disbursement Plus One Addenda Record (CCD+) format.
     • Can include the required ACH addenda detail formatted in the FAMLI-defined format to ensure your payment credits your FAMLI account. Please refer to the FAMLI ACH Credit Specifications.
        
   • Direct your bank to issue an ACH Credit payment to FAMLI:
     • Routing Number: 021052053 (Receiving DFI Identification)
     • Account Number: 72878553 (DFI Account Number)

   • TPAs can make ACH Credit payment on behalf of multiple employers. TPAs must follow FAMLI’s ACH Credit Specifications to ensure each employer’s account is credited correctly.

5. Payment by Check
   • Employers can mail in their payments by issuing a check paid to the order Of “Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance”.
   • To ensure the payment credits their FAMLI Employer Account, employers must either:
     • Write in their 10-digit FAMLI employer account number in the Memo of the check,
     • Or, download and print out the Remittance Note from the My FAMLI+ Employer portal, and include it with your check. Instructions to download the Remittance Note can be found in the My FAMLI+ Employer User Guides for both Employers (page 21) and TPAs (page 29).  
       • Mail the check and any supporting documentation to the following secure PO Box address:
         Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance
         PO BOX 5070
         Denver, CO 80217-5070
     • While payments that are postmarked on the due date will be considered timely, we recommend that you mail check payments at least 10 business days before the payment due date.
     • If you are a third party administrator paying on behalf of more than one employer with a single check, please include with the check a document with the following information:
       • Each employer’s business name
       • Each employer’s 10-digit FAMLI Account Number
       • Amount allocated to each employer from the total check payment amount
       • Employer’s FEIN or other identification number (ITIN or SSN)
       • The following image is an example of what that document could like like: 

If you need to add the Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance as a vendor in order to send payments to the Division, our W-9 is available here.

Employers are required to submit wage data to the Division once a quarter. This will determine the employer’s total premium payment for the quarter. All of this will be done using our online employer services portal, My FAMLI+ Employer. 

Within My FAMLI+ Employer, employers will have options to submit wage data to the Division:

• Manually input wage data for each employee individually.
• Bulk upload wage data for all employees by uploading a file within My FAMLI+ Employer. Please refer to our Wage Reporting File Specifications and use one of the following single filer wage report sample templates to build your wage report files:
  • .CSV Sample Single Filer Wage Report
  • .XML Sample Single Filer Wage Report
• Submit wage reports using API technology. Please refer to our Wage Reporting API Specifications for instructions. 

Private businesses have the option of using an approved private plan that offers the same or greater benefits and protections as the FAMLI program. Employers considering 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 beginning January 1, 2023. Employers can request a refund for premiums paid in 2023 if they get a private plan approved by the Division with an effective date on or before January 1, 2024.

The FAMLI Division anticipates opening up the application for private plan approval in the first quarter of 2023. Instructions on that application process are forthcoming. Read the adopted private plan rules here. 

Most Colorado workers will be eligible for FAMLI benefits, including self-employed individuals and independent contractors. Participation for self-employed workers is optional. If you do decide to opt into FAMLI as a self-employed worker, you must agree to participate by paying premiums and reporting your income for a minimum of three years in order to avoid only opting in only when the need for leave is foreseeable. There is no enrollment period for self-employed workers. You can opt in any time and apply for leave any time once benefits become available in 2024. No action is required until then.

Self-employed individuals who do not wish to participate in FAMLI do not need to take any action to opt out of the program. You do not need to register in order to opt out. You will only need to register in order to voluntarily opt in and commit to paying premiums for three years once you can self-elect coverage in 2024.

We have more details on how self-employed workers count their earnings on our Individuals & Families page.