Ready or not, 2024 is right around the corner. With the new year comes new changes, and for employers with Colorado-based workers, comes new changes to the benefit landscape. Starting 1/1/2024, benefits for Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (FAMLI) are in effect. During 2023 we’ve worked to be your resource for all things CO FAMLI, and we will continue to be there during the rollout of the program. At this point, you’ve picked your plan (state-administered or private), the benefits are coming, and we’re breaking down how to best prepare your business and your employees for the new year.

2023 required some tough decisions as employers were faced with a choice to select either state-administered or private plans. And there was much to consider. To help make it easier, MJ offered a custom impact analysis to show which plan better impacted the organization’s bottom line without sacrificing employee benefits. Whether the results of that analysis favored a private plan or a state plan, the fundamental concepts of the program and its intended purpose remained the same.

The FAMLI program was created to ensure all Colorado workers have access to paid leave and for qualifying life events – job protection and benefit continuation.  There are four different types of leave under the FAMLI program:

With FAMLI leave, eligible beneficiaries will have twelve weeks of paid benefits with an additional four weeks if related to pregnancy or childbirth complications. To help remain compliant, it’s critical that employers understand the basics of CO FAMLI prior to the benefit implementation on  January 1.

Private plan applications were due on October 31. For those organizations who opted-for a private plan, you are eligible and should receive a contribution reimbursement.* The State is working on processing refunds and should be reaching out in the coming months to affirm your preferred refund method.

During this process, it is your responsibility identify any employee who contributed to the premium (Remember—you and your employees have been paying the premium since January 1, 2023!) and has left the company. The State will make a reasonable effort to get a refund to that employee.

For fully insured employers, the remaining refund amount will be returned to you so that your active employees may be refunded. For those who chose to self-fund their private plan, you may not be required to reimburse; this depends on whether your policy (or associated addendum) stipulated that your organization could collect and retain 2023 employee premiums. Finally, whether fully insured or self-funded, you can retain the employer portion of the 2023 premium refund to be put towards future private plan premiums.

As noted above, you and your employees have been paying the premium, and the portal to apply for FAMLI leave is now open to your employees. With the portal live, we encourage you to share this information with your employees so they can request their benefits if they are planning leave or know they have a significant life event that qualifies for the FAMLI leave in 2024.¹

It’s also best practice to  ensure that your MyFAMLI+ Employer portal is up to date. You can now add a point of contact who will receive notification when employees apply for FAMLI leave. If you do not list a contact, information will be sent to the mailing address listed on the account.

Finally, it’s often helpful to share with your employees the premium and benefit calculator. FAMLI leave doesn’t mean full pay—there’s an $1,100 weekly max payout.²

With any new regulation comes confusion, so it’s important to take a moment to level set. Regardless of your plan selection, January is expected to be chaotic for everyone.  If we’ve learned anything from the experience in other states, we’ll need to exercise patience – both with the State and our private plan carriers. Delays, errors, and growing pains will all be par for the course during the initial weeks of 2024. But don’t fret, we’ve faced these challenges before and  our Absence Management experts will be there every step of the way to navigate this terrain with you – no matter if you selected a state or private plan.

Remember, you have choices! Your plan selection this year isn’t set in stone. Unhappy with the state plan? It’s never too early to envision your 2025 benefit offerings—after all, 2024 is just around the corner! Whether you’re seeking a custom impact analysis, a friendly sounding board, or a dollop of expert guidance, we’re here to help.

Don’t hold back—reach out to us at absence.mgmt@themjcos.com today and let us help put your future in focus.

*Please note, the details in this section are based on what the State has indicated to date, but the process may vary slightly.