Is Maternity Leave Paid in Colorado Under FAMLI?

Yes, paid maternity leave in Colorado is available through the state’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance program, known as FAMLI. Eligible workers can take up to 12 weeks of partially paid leave to bond with a new child by birth, adoption, or foster placement, with a maximum benefit of $1,381.45 per week for the 2025–2026 period.¹ If you experience pregnancy or childbirth complications, you may qualify for up to 16 weeks total.²

Who Qualifies

You’re eligible if you’ve earned at least $2,500 in wages subject to FAMLI premiums in Colorado during the last five completed calendar quarters, which is roughly the past year.² Earnings from multiple employers count toward the threshold, and full-time, part-time, and seasonal work all qualify.³

Unlike the federal FMLA, FAMLI has no tenure requirement with your current employer. You’re eligible from day one of a new job as long as you’ve already met the $2,500 wage requirement through earlier Colorado work.⁴ FMLA requires 12 months and 1,250 hours with the same employer before you qualify.

One wrinkle: some employers meet their FAMLI obligations through an approved private plan rather than the state program. A private plan must provide at least the same benefits — same duration, same wage replacement, no extra requirements for workers.⁵ If your employer uses one, you’ll file claims through that plan instead of the state’s portal. Ask HR which applies to you before you plan around state deadlines.

FAMLI also covers situations beyond new-parent bonding, including your own serious health condition, caring for a family member, military deployment needs, and situations involving domestic violence or sexual assault.² That matters because you might use some of your 12 weeks for pregnancy-related health issues before delivery and still have bonding time available afterward.

How Much You’ll Actually Receive

Your weekly check is calculated on a sliding scale that replaces a higher share of lower wages. The formula uses Colorado’s state average weekly wage (SAWW), set at $1,534.94 for the 2025–2026 period. The portion of your average weekly wage up to 50% of the SAWW is replaced at 90%. The portion above 50% of the SAWW is replaced at 50%, up to the $1,381.45 weekly cap.¹

In practice: if you earn $1,000 per week, about the first $767 is replaced at 90% (roughly $690), and the remaining $233 is replaced at 50% (roughly $117), for about $807 per week. If you earn $600 per week, which falls entirely below the 50% threshold, you’d receive about $540. Higher earners hit the $1,381.45 cap regardless of how much they make above it. The FAMLI Division offers an online calculator for an exact estimate based on your wages.

When Payments Actually Start

For continuous leave, your first payment won’t go out until you’ve missed one full week of work.⁶ Plan to cover that first week from savings or accrued paid time off.

Once your claim is fully submitted with all required paperwork, the FAMLI Division has two weeks to issue a decision. After approval, payments are issued weekly.²

How to Apply

You file through the state’s online portal, My FAMLI+. You can submit a claim up to 30 days before your expected leave start date, which is worth doing if you have a due date or a scheduled C-section.⁷ You can also file up to 30 days after your leave starts, though a late filing may require you to explain the delay. Claims filed more than 90 days after leave began are denied automatically, and that denial can’t be overturned through the standard appeal process.⁸

You’ll need to upload proof of birth, proof of adoption, or documentation of a foster placement, depending on the situation.⁹ If you’re claiming leave for your own serious health condition, such as pregnancy complications before delivery, you’ll need a form completed by your healthcare provider.

One detail that stalls claims: even if you’ve submitted everything in advance, you must log back into My FAMLI+ or call the contact center on the day your leave actually begins to confirm it has started. Payments won’t be approved until you do.⁷ Set a reminder.

Will Your Job Be Waiting

If you’ve worked for your employer for at least 180 days before your leave starts, FAMLI guarantees your right to return to the same position or an equivalent one with equivalent pay and benefits. Your employer must also continue your health insurance on the same terms that applied before you left.¹⁰

If you’ve been at your job for fewer than 180 days, you still receive FAMLI benefits. You just don’t have the statutory guarantee of getting your specific job back. That’s a meaningful gap if you recently started.

Employers can’t retaliate against you for applying for FAMLI leave, taking it, or discussing it. Retaliation includes firing, cutting hours, or disciplining you for a FAMLI-related reason. Complaints go to the FAMLI Division’s Job Protection and Retaliation Investigations Unit.¹⁰

How FAMLI Interacts With Other Leave

If your situation qualifies under both FAMLI and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, the two run concurrently. You don’t stack 12 weeks of FAMLI on top of 12 weeks of FMLA. Your employer must notify you of FMLA eligibility when you request FAMLI leave.⁴ The practical difference is that FAMLI pays you; FMLA alone does not.

If your leave also qualifies under FMLA, your employer must maintain your group health plan on the same terms as if you were still working, including family coverage you already had. Any plan changes or new options added while you’re out apply to you just as to active employees.¹¹

Your employer cannot force you to burn through accrued vacation, sick leave, or PTO before or during your FAMLI leave. That choice is yours. An employer may, however, require FAMLI benefits to run concurrently with employer-provided disability coverage or voluntary paid family leave policies the company offers.¹²

Colorado’s Healthy Families and Workplaces Act is a separate program that requires employers to provide one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 48 hours per year. Depending on circumstances, your leave could be covered by one or both laws.¹²

If you carry private short-term disability insurance, know that many policies reduce or offset their payments when you also receive state paid leave benefits. The specifics turn on your policy’s language. Call your insurer before your leave starts so you know the combined income to expect.

What FAMLI Does to Your Taxes

FAMLI benefits are not subject to Colorado state income tax but may be subject to federal income tax.¹³ The IRS has indicated taxability can vary based on individual circumstances. The FAMLI Division cannot give tax advice, so ask a tax professional about your specific situation.²

Taxes aren’t withheld from your benefit payments automatically. You can opt in to have 10% withheld and sent to the IRS, and you can toggle that setting through My FAMLI+ at any time.² If you don’t withhold, set money aside so tax time isn’t a surprise.

The FAMLI Division issues a Form 1099-G to anyone who receives $10 or more in benefits during the year, with benefits reported in Box 1 labeled “unemployment compensation.”¹³ FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare) will not be deducted from benefits paid in 2026.¹⁴

If Your Claim Is Denied

Request a reconsideration through your My FAMLI+ account. The option appears on your Claim Details page. If reconsideration doesn’t resolve it, file a formal appeal through the same portal.¹⁵

You generally have 30 days from the denial to request reconsideration, extendable to 60 days with good cause. Have your supporting documents ready — medical records, proof of the qualifying event, or anything that addresses the stated reason for the denial. You can upload additional documents as the case progresses.¹⁵

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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Premium and Benefits Calculator
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Individuals and Families FAQs
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Individuals and Families
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. FAMLI and FMLA
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Private Plans
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. What to Expect from Your First FAMLI Payment
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. My FAMLI+
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. My FAMLI+ User Guide – Filing A Claim
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. My FAMLI+ User Guide – Reasons for Leave
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Job Protection and Retaliation
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eCFR. 29 CFR 825.209 – Maintenance of Employee Benefits
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. FAMLI and Other Types of Leave
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. My FAMLI+ User Guide – Next Steps
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Rules and Guidance
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Family and Medical Leave Insurance. Appeals