Colorado Maternity Leave Laws: FAMLI Benefits, Job Protection, and FMLA

Colorado’s maternity leave laws give most workers in the state up to 12 weeks of paid, job-protected leave to bond with a new child through the state Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program, with an additional four weeks available if a healthcare provider certifies pregnancy or childbirth complications. On top of that, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act may add a layer of unpaid job protection if you work for a larger employer. Colorado law also requires pregnancy accommodations before you take leave and nursing breaks after you return.

How Much Paid Leave You Get and What It Pays

FAMLI pays up to 12 weeks of wage-replacement benefits for bonding with a new child by birth, adoption, or foster placement. If a healthcare provider certifies that you are experiencing complications from pregnancy or childbirth, you can receive four additional weeks, for a total of 16.¹

Benefits are set on a sliding scale tied to Colorado’s average weekly wage. For the 2025–2026 benefit year, the state average weekly wage is $1,534.94. The first $735.67 of your own average weekly wage is replaced at 90%, and anything above that is replaced at 50%, up to a maximum weekly benefit of $1,381.45.² Lower-wage workers replace a bigger share of their income under this formula. Someone earning $700 a week would receive roughly $630 a week in FAMLI benefits.

FAMLI is funded by a 0.88% payroll premium for 2026, split evenly between you and your employer. Employers with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from the employer share, but their workers still contribute the employee portion and remain fully eligible for benefits.²

Who Qualifies

To be eligible for FAMLI benefits, you need to have earned at least $2,500 in Colorado wages during your base period, which is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim.³ The benefit follows you as a worker rather than attaching to one employer, so changing jobs within Colorado does not reset your eligibility.

Job protection has a separate test. If you have worked for your current employer for at least 180 days before leave begins, you have the right to return to the same position or an equivalent one with the same pay and benefits.⁴ There is no minimum employer size for this protection, which matters for people at smaller companies that fall outside federal FMLA.

Your Job, Your Health Insurance, and Retaliation

During FAMLI leave your employer must continue your health insurance under the same terms as if you were still working. You remain responsible for your share of the premium.⁴

Colorado law makes it illegal for an employer to interfere with your right to take FAMLI leave or to retaliate for using it. Retaliation includes firing, demoting, suspending, or disciplining you for filing a claim, taking leave, or talking with coworkers about their rights under the program. Your employer also cannot count FAMLI leave as an absence that leads to discipline or termination.⁴

How Federal FMLA Fits On Top

The federal FMLA provides up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a year for the birth or placement of a child. You must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months, logged at least 1,250 hours during the prior year, and work at a location where the employer has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.⁵ When you return, your employer must restore you to the same position or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, and working conditions, and must maintain group health coverage during leave.⁶

If you qualify for both FAMLI and FMLA, the two run concurrently. You receive your paid FAMLI benefits while your job is protected by both state and federal law at the same time; the leave periods do not stack. Many workers at smaller Colorado companies will qualify for FAMLI’s paid benefits and its job protection even though FMLA does not apply to them at all.

How to File a FAMLI Claim

FAMLI claims are filed through the My FAMLI+ online portal. You can open a claim up to 30 days before a planned absence, such as a scheduled delivery date, or within 30 days after your first day of leave. Claims filed between 31 and 90 days after the absence started are considered only if you can show good cause for the delay.⁷

Bonding leave claims do not require a healthcare provider certification. Instead, upload proof of birth or placement that shows the child’s birth or placement date: a birth certificate, a verification-of-birth worksheet from the hospital, birth or recovery care records from a medical facility, or adoption and foster placement paperwork.⁸

If your leave involves a pregnancy-related health condition rather than straight bonding, you need a Serious Health Condition certification completed by a licensed healthcare provider. The provider specifies the medical need for leave, the expected recovery timeline, and the hours of leave needed per reporting period if you are taking intermittent leave.⁹

The application asks for your name, date of birth, Social Security Number or ITIN, gender identity, and your employer’s information. You choose direct deposit or a state-issued prepaid debit card. Once approved, benefits are paid biweekly, and you should report any change in your leave status or return-to-work date through the portal to avoid overpayment.¹⁰

Some Colorado employers use an approved private plan instead of the state program. A private plan has to meet or exceed what FAMLI provides and cannot deduct more from your paycheck than the state program would.¹¹ If your employer uses one, you may file through a private insurer rather than through My FAMLI+. Ask HR before you need to file.

Pregnancy Accommodations Before Leave

Before you reach the point of taking leave, Colorado law requires employers to accommodate health conditions related to pregnancy and recovery from childbirth. Under C.R.S. § 24-34-402.3, an employer must provide reasonable accommodations when you request them, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the business.¹²

Accommodations can include more frequent restroom and water breaks, modified seating, lighter duty assignments, temporary transfers to less physically demanding work, and adjusted schedules. You and your employer are expected to work through an interactive process to figure out what adjustments are feasible. Your employer cannot force you to take leave if a reasonable accommodation would let you keep working.¹² Violating this law is a discriminatory employment practice.

Nursing Breaks After You Return

Colorado requires employers to provide break time for nursing parents to express breast milk for up to two years after a child’s birth. The employer must make reasonable efforts to provide a private space near the work area that is not a bathroom stall.¹³ Break time can be unpaid, or you can use existing paid breaks and meal periods. Before suing over a violation, the law requires nonbinding mediation first.

Self-Employed Workers

FAMLI is optional for self-employed workers. You can opt in through the My FAMLI+ Employer portal, pay only the employee share of 0.44% of gross self-employment income, and commit to paying premiums for at least three years. Benefits become available after you have reported and paid premiums for at least one quarter, and you must submit updated tax documents each year by December 1 to maintain eligibility.¹⁴

Taxes on FAMLI Benefits

Colorado does not tax FAMLI benefits at the state level. The FAMLI Division issues IRS Form 1099-G to anyone who received at least $10 in benefits during the tax year, reporting the amount in Box 1. Federal tax treatment has some ambiguity, and if you want to avoid a surprise bill, you can elect to have 10% of each payment withheld for the IRS. Talk to a tax advisor if you are unsure how your benefits will be treated.⁷

If Your Claim Is Denied

You cannot jump straight to a formal appeal. First request a reconsideration through the My FAMLI+ portal. If that does not resolve the issue, file a formal appeal by uploading the reconsideration notice or the letter of determination you received. Appeals are handled through a separate portal and ask for your contact details, the reason for appeal, and the party you are appealing against, which is typically the FAMLI Division itself.¹⁵

1
Justia. Colorado Code 8-13.3-501 – Short Title
2
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Premium and Benefits Calculator
3
Colorado Department of Labor and Employment. Colorado Code 8-13.3-501 et seq. – Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Act
4
Justia. Colorado Code 8-13.3-509
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S.C. 2611 – Definitions
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S.C. 2614 – Employment and Benefits Protection
7
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Individuals and Families FAQs
8
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Parental (Bonding) Leave
9
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). How FAMLI Leave Can Be Used
10
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). My FAMLI+ User Guide – Filing a Claim
11
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Private Plans
12
Justia. Colorado Code 24-34-402.3 – Prohibition of Discrimination – Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Related Conditions
13
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Colorado Code 8-13.5-104 – Workplace Accommodations for Nursing Mothers Act
14
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). Opting In to FAMLI – Self-Employed Individuals
15
Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). My FAMLI+ User Guide – Appeals