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Employers are required to offer FAMLI on top of their own provided leave time. So if you have 6 weeks of paid leave from your employer you get an additional 12 weeks from Colorado. There are very few instances where the employer is exempt from having to offer FAMLI. FAMLI is also in addition to FMLA.
Do you have “Colorado paid family” taken from your paycheck?
I got 8 weeks FMLA and 8 weeks of paid leave. Also on top of that I got paid short term disability for 6 weeks. I know personally when I went through it, I could get up to 12 weeks if my provider would fill out the form for me stating I need extension for health reasons and etc. but I didn’t do it since FMLA is wasn’t paid leave
No, My employer said they opted out and went with a private insurance. But…said insurance only covers 6 weeks at 50% of wage tax free. So worse conditions than FAMLI from what I understood..
When were you made aware of this?
@Madison well my HR told me was 12 weeks at 50%, but I called the insurance to verify and they said it is only 6 weeks because they don’t cover bonding. 🤷🏻♀️
Your employer pays first, FAMLI picks up the balance in most cases.
@Amanda but FAMLI can be used any time in the first year of the baby’s life, so if someone took their employer provided leave they could still use the 12 weeks in addition to the leave already used. I suppose if someone had unpaid leave from work they could use FAMLI instead, but how could an employer require someone to use FAMLI in addition? I read through the entire bill and I think I may have missed that bit
Thanks Amanda. I’m pretty sure our HR messed up the private insurance and figured out just now that they cover only 6 weeks against the 12 of FAMLI. They therefore do not offer equal or better conditions than FAMLI so I can’t see how they were able to opt out or how they would defend this position. Agree?
Yeah they are definitely supposed to only be able to opt out of FAMLI if they have something equal or better. Maybe call FAMLI and ask if you qualify or complain/ask more questions about your employer. Also - just FYI, if you have a complication, you get 16 weeks of paid time off. This includes postpartum complications like anxiety, depression, etc.
Also, check your paycheck. If "CO EE FAMLI Fee" is coming out of your paycheck then you are eligible for benefits.
@Amanda my company was required to offer FAMLI in addition to their own company policy. I got in contact with my VP of HR to initiate FAMLI and they were clueless, I had to send screenshots from the bill to argue about my eligibility and they ended up getting our corporate lawyers involved. I was finally provided my leave time to be taken as I wish; intermittently, consecutive, or reduced hours, and in addition to the paid leave that had already been provided per company policy. Employers are not used to FAMLI and I think the best bet is to learn as much as possible so you can lead the conversation to receive your benefits.
If you live in Colorado make sure to apply for both so your job is protected! They have to give you 12 weeks, but you also don’t have to take it all at once. It’s been a blessing for me.