FAMLI Leave Webinar Answered Urgent Small Business Questions

January 26, 2023

FAMLI Leave Webinar Answered Urgent Small Business Questions

The state’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program is now in effect and the premiums that all employers must pay are due April 30. There are still a lot of questions that small-business owners have, and in order to help answer many of them, NFIB hosted an exclusive webinar for its members and other entrepreneurs, featuring top officials from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE). Participating were:

Daniel Chase, CDLE chief of staff
Tracy Marshall, CDLE director of state paid medical and family leave
Cher Haavind, CDLE public communications and employer outreach director
Phil Spesshardt, CDLE director of unemployment

Breathing Room Because of the newness of the FAMLI program, Marshall said CDLE is extending the first payment due date from April 30 to the end of May. “You will not incur any fee or anything like that if you do not get it to us before the end of May.” Questions NFIB members had a lot on their mind and asked the webinar guests such questions as:

How many employees does an employer have to have to be eligible for this [FAMLI]?
What are the premiums for employers with 10 or fewer employees?
Will Colorado go the way of Washington state where use of the paid leave program is outstripping the revenues used to fund it?
What if an employee has two jobs?
How are premium costs calculated? Are some employers exempt?

Unemployment Insurance NFIB Colorado State Director Tony Gagliardi asked Spesshardt about the condition of Colorado’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and the program’s relation to FAMLI. “Right now, with FAMLI coming online for all of you and the increase in the wage base for UI … we’re doing everything we can to not have an extra [UI] surcharge on employers,” Spesshardt said. Colorado’s remaining loan debt on the UI funds it borrowed from the federal government to keep the COVID-challenged program solvent have been paid off, Spesshardt said, through a loan the state took out with a private bank. Spesshardt also pitched the importance of small-business owners who normally transact their state-compliance business through the mail to start doing so online for greater ease of use. Background Colorado voters approved Proposition 118 in November of 2020, creating a mandated Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program. Employers/employees will contribute premiums to this program beginning January 1, 2023. FAMLI will start providing benefits beginning January 1, 2024. Click the arrow below to listen to the 38-minute webinar. NFIB thanks the CDLE officials for making the time to talk to its members.