In November 2022, Colorado voters approved Proposition 118, a ballot initiative that establishes a statewide paid medical leave program. This new law, known as the Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) program, provides eligible workers with up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year for reasons such as (1) caring for their own serious health condition; (2) caring for a family member with a serious health condition; (3) caring for a new child within the first year of birth, adoption, or placement of a foster child; (4) making arrangements for a family member’s military deployment; and (5) taking “safe leave,” meaning the employee or employee’s family member is the victim of domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, or sexual abuse.
Most Colorado workers will be eligible for FAMLI; workers must have earned at least $2,500 in wages in the previous year and been employed for at least 180 days with their current employer. The FAMLI program will pay a portion of an employee’s regular wage, to a maximum benefit of $1,100 per week. Workers earning close to minimum wage could receive up to 90% of their usual paycheck. Utilizing the FAMLI Premiums and Benefits Estimator, a worker making $60,000 a year, or $1,153 a week, would receive approximately $847.03 a week, or around 73% of their pay. Through the FAMLI program, employers will not need to directly pay their employee(s) on leave. The program established a state fund that will pay out eligible employees. However,...
The Justice Department has fired back at the Southern Poverty Law Center after it filed an injunction against Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for saying the group didn’t share information from...