Colorado FAMLI: 0.88% of wages in 2026
In effectChecked November 9, 2026Run by Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI)
Short answer
Colorado’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) premium is 0.88% of each employee’s wages in 2026 and drops to 0.86% on January 1, 2027, on wages up to the Social Security wage base. Employers may deduct up to half of it from employees’ pay; employers with 10 or more employees pay the other half, while smaller employers send in only the half they may deduct. Wage reports and premiums go to the FAMLI Division of the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) every quarter through the My FAMLI+ Employer portal.
Next date: December 31, 2026: Annual maintenance fees due for employers with approved private plans.
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What changed recently
· Rate announced
Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) premium drops to 0.86% for 2027
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) set the 2027 Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) premium at 0.86% of wages, down from 0.88%, split evenly between employer and employee on wages up to $192,300. Employers with fewer than 10 employees still pay only the employee half.
· Took effect
Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) maximum weekly benefit rises to $1,448.02
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) set the state average weekly wage for Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) benefits at $1,608.91, effective July 1, 2026. That puts the maximum weekly benefit at $1,448.02, or 90% of the state average weekly wage.
- Premium, share of wages
- 0.88%
- Most you may deduct from employees
- 0.44%
- Employer pays at least
- 0.44%
- Wages subject to premium, per employee
- $184,500
- 2027 premium
- 0.86%
Employers with fewer than 10 employees pay no employer share and remit only the half they may deduct from wages (0.44%).
Colorado FAMLI premium calculator
In 2026, Colorado FAMLI premiums are 0.88% of each employee’s wages up to $184,500 a year. With 10 or more employees, employers may deduct up to 0.44% from pay and must cover the rest (at least 0.44%).
- Total premium a year
- $220.00
- Most you may deduct from employees
- $220.00
- Employer pays at least
- $0.00
Standard rates applied: 10 or more employees.
Small-employer rule applied: 9 or fewer employees. Employers with fewer than 10 employees pay no employer share and remit only the half they may deduct from wages (0.44%). Not tested here: the Division may treat an employer that doesn’t report its size as having 10 or more employees.
Assumes the full employee share is deducted. Employer size is tested on the number you enter here; each program counts employees its own way, and the page explains how.
Colorado FAMLI deadlines
· Paid leave
Fourth-quarter 2026 wage report and premium payment due in My Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI)+ Employer
January 31, 2027 is a Sunday, so the deadline moves to Monday.
· Paid leave
Deadline to update your annual total employee headcount in My Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI)+ Employer
The Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Division sets February 28 each year and may presume 10 or more employees for any employer that doesn’t report. An employer with an approved private plan doesn’t need to report annually. February 28, 2027 is a Sunday; the Division moved the 2026 deadline to Monday, March 2, when February 28 fell on a Saturday, but has not posted a different date for 2027.
· Paid leave
Second-quarter 2027 wage report and premium payment due
July 31 is a Saturday, so the deadline moves to Monday.
· Paid leave
Deadline in law for the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Division director to adopt the 2028 premium rate by rule
The rate cannot exceed 1.2% of wages.
· Paid leave
Third-quarter 2027 wage report and premium payment due
October 31 is a Sunday, so the deadline moves to Monday.
· Paid leave
First-quarter 2028 wage report and premium payment due
April 30 is a Sunday, so the deadline moves to Monday.
Dates already passed (4)
- : Premium fell from 0.9% to 0.88% of wages under Senate Bill 25-144.
- : Neonatal care leave began: for qualifying absences from work on or after this date, up to 12 more weeks of benefits while a newborn receives inpatient care in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
- : Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) benefits became available to Colorado workers.
- : Premiums began on wages paid, at 0.9% of wages.
What employers have to do
- Register in My Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI)+ Employer, the FAMLI Division’s employer portal, and report your total employee headcount there by February 28 each year (employers with an approved private plan don’t need to report it annually). If you don’t report it, the Division may presume you have 10 or more employees.
- Deduct up to half the premium from each employee’s wages on pay up to the Social Security wage base: up to 0.44% in 2026 and 0.43% in 2027.
- If you have 10 or more employees, pay the other half yourself.
- File wage reports and pay premiums every quarter by the last day of the month after the quarter ends, moving to the next business day when that falls on a weekend or holiday.
- Post the official Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Program Notice, and give employees written notice of the program when they’re hired and when they have a qualifying event. Employers with a private plan post their plan’s own notice.
- Restore employees who have worked for you at least 180 days to their job or an equivalent one after Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) leave, and keep their health coverage going during leave.
Handling Colorado FAMLI in payroll
The free route: register directly with the state
You can register and report on your own through Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE), Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI). You’ll still need your payroll to figure the premium on each paycheck and withhold any employee share.
Payroll systems with a help document covering Colorado FAMLI
| System | What the documentation says | Link |
|---|---|---|
| Gusto | Colorado tax article says Gusto withholds and sends employee and employer FAMLI contributions each payroll once it is authorized as third-party agent; it does not file FAMLI for self-employed owners. Read their help doc, Nov 8, 2026 | See plans for Gusto |
| OnPay | Help article explains Colorado FAMLI settings in OnPay and says OnPay calculates, withholds, files and remits FAMLI contributions each pay run. Read their help doc, Nov 7, 2026 | See plans for OnPay |
| Patriot Software | Help article says Patriot calculates Colorado FAMLI for all payroll customers and collects, deposits and files it for Full Service customers. Read their help doc, Nov 7, 2026 | See plans for Patriot Software |
| QuickBooks Payroll | Help article explains setting up the Colorado FAMLI policy in QuickBooks Workforce and Desktop Payroll, including the employee count, FAMLI account ID and optional employer pick-up. Read their help doc, Nov 8, 2026 | See plans for QuickBooks Payroll |
| Square Payroll | Colorado tax article explains the FAMLI settings Square Payroll needs in order to file and pay the premiums on the employer’s behalf. Read their help doc, Nov 7, 2026 | See plans for Square Payroll |
Listed alphabetically. We may earn a commission from these links; it never decides who’s listed.
How Colorado FAMLI works
The premium is a percent of each employee’s wages up to the Social Security wage base. Any employer may deduct up to 50% of it from an employee’s pay. Employers with 10 or more employees send in 100% of the premium, paying the rest themselves; employers with fewer than 10 send in 50%. An employer that deducts less than the allowed share in a pay period is treated as having chosen to pay it and can’t take it from a later paycheck, unless wages were too low to cover it (7 CCR 1107-1, section 1.4).
An employer with 10 or more employees pays 0.44% of wages in 2026, about $220 a year for an employee earning $50,000, and 0.43% in 2027 ($215 on the same pay). Employers under 10 pay nothing of their own. Starting in 2027, employers with 10 or more employees also owe the employer share of FICA (Social Security and Medicare taxes) and federal unemployment tax (FUTA) on the taxable half of Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) medical-leave benefits for an employee’s own health condition, including pregnancy. Employers with fewer than 10 employees, and family or bonding leave, are not affected.
Up to 12 weeks in an application year, plus 4 more for serious pregnancy or childbirth complications and, for qualifying absences from January 1, 2026, up to 12 more weeks while a newborn is in a neonatal intensive care unit. Benefits replace 90% of the part of a worker’s wages up to half the state average weekly wage and 50% above that, capped at 90% of the state average weekly wage. CDLE set that cap at $1,448.02 a week effective July 1, 2026, based on a state average weekly wage of $1,608.91; it resets each July 1.
Questions employers ask
Who has to follow Colorado FAMLI?
Employers with one or more employees in Colorado: under C.R.S. 8-13.3-503, any employer that has employed at least one person on each working day of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or prior year, or paid $1,500 or more in wages in any quarter of the prior year. Local governments can decline to participate.
Is there a small-employer rule?
Employers with fewer than 10 employees don’t pay the employer half of the premium; they may deduct up to half from employees’ wages and send in that half (C.R.S. 8-13.3-507(5)). Size counts every employee working anywhere in the United States during 20 or more workweeks of the prior calendar year, not only Colorado staff. The Division recalculates size each year in the first quarter, and if an employer doesn’t report its size the Division may treat it as having 10 or more (7 CCR 1107-1, section 1.5).
What happens if an employer doesn’t comply?
The Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Division may fine an employer up to $50 for each employee whose premiums weren’t paid on time, and up to $25 per employee each time it deducts more than the allowed employee share; past-due premiums also accrue interest (7 CCR 1107-1). For violations of the job protection or anti-retaliation rules, the Division assesses a fine of $500 per covered individual for each violation (7 CCR 1107-7), and employees can sue for damages (C.R.S. 8-13.3-509).
Can employers use a private plan instead?
Allowed. Employers can apply to the Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Division to meet the law through a private plan that gives the same rights and benefits and costs employees no more (C.R.S. 8-13.3-521); employers with an approved plan don’t remit premiums to the state fund. For plans starting January 1, 2027, new applications and material changes were due November 1, 2026 (November 26 for a change of carrier), and plan maintenance fees are due December 31, 2026. A private plan’s administrator files a quarterly administration summary with the Division, or an annual one due January 30 after three years of timely quarterly summaries.
Everything employers in Colorado must do ·Paid leave in every state
Sources
- C.R.S. 8-13.3-501 to 8-13.3-524; 7 CCR 1107-1
- 7 CCR 1107-7, Job Protection, Anti-retaliation and Anti-interference: adopted changes effective January 1, 2027 (redline), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 9, 2026)
- 7 CCR 1107-1, Premiums: adopted changes effective January 1, 2027 (redline), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 9, 2026)
- 7 CCR 1107-3, Benefits and Employer Participation: adopted changes effective January 1, 2027 (redline), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 9, 2026)
- 7 CCR 1107-5, Private Plans: adopted changes effective January 1, 2027 (redline), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 9, 2026)
- IRS Tax Guidance for employers: federal taxes on FAMLI medical leave in 2027 (10-employee limit, employee’s own health condition only), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 8, 2026)
- Rules & Guidance: state average weekly wage $1,608.91 and maximum weekly benefit $1,448.02 as of July 1, 2026; rule changes effective January 1, 2027, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 8, 2026)
- For employers: headcount rule (due by February 28 each year, 10 or more assumed if not updated), 20-workweek count, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 8, 2026)
- CDLE Compliance Quarterly, October 27, 2026 (2027 premium 0.86%, IRS sick-pay change from 2027, private plan deadlines, Q3 2026 deadline), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (read Nov 7, 2026)
- FAMLI Business Brief, September 30, 2026 (2027 premium 0.86%, Program Notice, quarterly deadlines), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 7, 2026)
- CDLE Compliance Quarterly, January 2026 (annual headcount update due March 2, 2026; federal tax changes delayed to 2027), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (read Nov 8, 2026)
- FAMLI Update, June 12, 2025: new neonatal care leave and 2026 premium of 0.88%, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 7, 2026)
- Important FAMLI updates for Employers, June 24, 2025 (maximum weekly benefit $1,381.45 effective July 1, 2025), Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, FAMLI Division (read Nov 7, 2026)
- Senate Bill 25-144, signed act (0.88% for 2026; director sets later rates by September 1, capped at 1.2%; NICU leave), Colorado General Assembly (read Nov 7, 2026)
- 7 CCR 1107-1, Regulations Concerning Premiums, effective January 1, 2026 (quarterly due dates, fines, interest, employer size), Colorado Secretary of State (Code of Colorado Regulations) (read Nov 8, 2026)
- Cost-of-Living Increase and Other Determinations for 2027 (Social Security wage base $192,300 for 2027), Social Security Administration (Federal Register) (read Nov 7, 2026)
- Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates (2026 wage base $184,500), Internal Revenue Service (read Nov 7, 2026)