FAMLI Newsletter
May 30, 2023
Welcome to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment's (CDLE) monthly newsletter for Colorado’s new Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. Each FAMLI newsletter aims to assist employers and third party administrators in meeting their FAMLI requirements and educate health care providers and individuals & families about the launch of FAMLI benefits in 2024. You have the option to customize your notification settings by subscribing to specific FAMILI-related topics. If you wish to receive these updates directly to your cell phone, simply include your mobile number in your subscription preferences and select SMS/text message as your preferred format.
Grace Period for Q1 Premiums Ends Tomorrow - May 31st
Don't forget, the grace period for submitting Q1 FAMLI premiums and wage reports is ending tomorrow, May 31, 2023. Get it done today and avoid penalties. 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. It contains detailed information on file format requirements, sample templates, and instructions for resolving any encountered errors with your file. You can find the sample templates on our Third-Party Administrators page and on our Employers page under the section "Submitting Your Wage Reports.”
POLICY CORNER
New Rules Adopted!
The FAMLI Division finalized changes and officially adopted the following rules on
May 25, 2023. These rules will become effective on July 15, 2023:
- Regulations Concerning Program Integrity (7 CCR 1107-6)
- Coordination of Benefits and Reimbursement of Advanced Payments
(7 CCR 1107-4)- Investigations, Determinations, and Appeals (7 CCR 1107-8)
- Job Protection, Anti-retaliation, and Anti-interference (7 CCR 1107-7)
Read the entirety of the new rules here.
State Average Weekly Wage Increase
Colorado’s average weekly wage will be increasing starting July 1, 2023. That means that when FAMLI benefit payments become available in January 2024, those payments will be based on the new State average. The State’s new average weekly wage is going up to $1,421.16 in July. That’s an increase of more than $70 from the current average.
Here’s why the higher average wage matters. FAMLI benefits are indexed (on a sliding scale) relative to the statewide average weekly wage. While payments will be based on a higher average in 2024 – premiums won’t. Premiums will remain at 0.9% of wages, and employers will still only be allowed to deduct up to 0.45% of that from workers.
Stay tuned for an updated benefit calculator as we head into the fall, when Colorado workers can start applying for FAMLI benefits.
Watch the May FAMLI Webinar
We held another informative FAMLI Live Webinar last week offering one last session before the end of the grace period. During this webinar, our experts covered a variety of topics including our current timeline, how FMLA & short-term and long-term disability benefits will interact with FAMLI and private plans.
If you were unable to join the conversation, just click the button above to watch the recording. The slide deck is also available on our Webinars page.
The next webinar will be held Thursday, June 27 at 11 a.m. MDT. The webinar will be live and registration is required. While the session will be limited to 500 people, you will still be able to tune in on YouTube where it will be live streamed. Register today!
Join us Live on Facebook!
If you didn’t get your questions answered during our live webinar, you can engage with the FAMLI experts in a much smaller, more intimate setting on Facebook Live. During these live sessions, we cover the hot topics of the week and take questions from our live audience, giving you the opportunity to talk instantly with our team. Follow us on Facebook to get invited to upcoming live sessions and watch our past recordings. Our last session covered various trending topics, including:
- Changing your Private Plan,
- Reporting wages and deducting premiums,
- Penalty for not reporting wages and paying premiums on time
Paid Leave for Foster Parents and Kinship Caregivers
May is National Foster Care Month, and we want families to know that new foster parents and kinship caregivers will be able to use FAMLI leave to bond with new placements when benefits become available in 2024. FAMLI allows eligible caregivers to take up to 12 weeks of leave within the first year of a placement, ensuring children and youth feel secure in their new environments. Learn more about what FAMLI leave means for foster families on our blog here. Join us in celebrating National Foster Care Month and explore possibilities of becoming a foster parent at CO4Kids.org
FAMLI & Seasonal Workers: Preparing for the Summer Season
As the summer season approaches, it's essential to understand your employer obligations in regards to seasonal employees. Many employers are wondering about the summer interns they plan on hiring in 2023. Will those interns be eligible for FAMLI benefits? Will employers be required to report wages and pay premiums for those temporary employees?
We answer those questions and more in this blog post. Read on to find valuable insights and expert advice to help you navigate the intricacies of ensuring your obligations are met and your seasonal employees are covered.
The FAMLI Health Care Provider Portal is Coming Soon!
Attention health care providers: you will play a crucial role in helping your patients get approved for FAMLI benefits once payments become available in 2024. Later this summer, we’ll be inviting health care providers to register in the FAMLI benefits portal called My FAMLI+. Registering directly in the system will allow health care providers to provide an elevated patient experience by supporting patients – and their families – when a serious health condition prevents them from working by getting rid of excess paperwork.
Here are some key ways health care providers can engage with the FAMLI program:
- Familiarize Yourself with the Program: Our Health Care Providers page has more details on how the FAMLI program will impact licensed health care providers across the state. We also encourage you to sign up for updates about the launch of the health care provider portal.
- Participate in User Testing: We're offering a preview of the portal to learn more about how health care providers (and their staff) intend to use the system before we launch. If you’re a licensed health care provider interested in testing the system, please fill out this form.
- Register in My FAMLI+ later this year: When health care providers register in the system, your credentials will be protected, limiting the opportunity for fraud, and will ensure that licensed healthcare providers are making treatment decisions impacting a patient's ability to work.
- Verify a Patient’s Condition: Once benefits become available for individuals and families in 2024, you’ll be able verify a patient’s condition and treatment plan directly in the system. My FAMLI+ will notify you when one of your patients files a claim. This digital verification process will speed up claim processing and reduce the amount of patient paperwork.
Visit our Health Care Providers page for more details and don’t forget to sign up for health care provider updates.
Share Your Story With Us!
We want to hear your personal stories. Please tell us how FAMLI could have or will help you. This month we’re featuring a story shared with us 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." —Nathalie
Share Your Story Here!
People Are Asking:
Q: What if the employer did not start deducting the employees’ share of the premium on January 1, 2023, can everything be deducted now?
A: No. Premiums cannot be deducted retroactively. If an employer does not deduct premiums from wages during the current pay period, then the employer must cover the employees’ share of those premiums on their behalf.
Q: Can an employer participate in FAMLI now and apply for Private Plan Approval later?
A: Yes, an employer may apply for private plan approval at any time after previously participating in FAMLI. If an employer plans to apply for Private Plan approval, they must continue to fulfill their FAMLI obligations until their private plan is formally approved by the Division. Employers will be able to request a refund for premiums paid in 2023, if their private plan has an effective date on or before January 1, 2024, and they submit an application for private plan approval on or before October 31, 2023.
Q: Will the Private Plan marketplace be changed frequently or will there be a defined time for the approved private plans?
A: The FAMLI Division is working closely with the Division of Insurance (DOI) to ensure private plan insurance carriers have products available to employers that meet all of the FAMLI requirements. Once an insurance carrier’s plan gets approved by the State, the plan will be added to My FAMLI+ Employer. A list of approved plans and those still pending approval is published here to indicate what policies will soon be available to employers in the marketplace.
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