How Does an Employer Determine Whether it is Required to
Contribute to CO FAMLI?
Employer contributions for FAMLI depend on their total number of employees (regardless of where in the United States they physically work):
Determining your total employee headcount: the 20-week requirement
When assessing the total number of employees to cover, count the total number of
- full-time,
- part-time, and
- seasonal employees
who were on the payroll for at least 20 calendar weeks in the preceding calendar year (even if they are no longer employed for that company, they are still counted and reported to the FAMLI Division), regardless of how many hours/days the employees worked within each week.
Here is an example
Let’s say an employer has 9 employees who worked the entire year in the preceding calendar year. A 10th employee also worked for 23 weeks, left the company, and was replaced by an employee who worked for 21 weeks.
This employer, therefore, had 11 employees for FAMLI purposes thereby meeting the threshold for contributions, and would be required to contribute the employer share of the premium.
It is important to note that this count of employees by their length of employment is used to determine whether the employer has met the total employee count threshold for a required contribution of the employer share of FAMLI premium. Employers may withhold the employee share of the premium from every CO employee on their payroll – even if the employee has just started working for the company. However, employers can optionally cover the cost of coverage for their employees.
Determining your total employee headcount: remote and national employees
When it comes to counting remote and national employees, if the employer has more than ten TOTAL employees – even if they work outside of Colorado – the employer is still responsible for sending in the full premium (employer plus employee share).
Here is an example
If you are a NY company and have 1 CO employee, but 300 employees in NY, your Total Employee Count is 301 and you must pay the employer share. Your “employee count” is 1 and you have to report 1 employee quarterly and need to pay premium on that 1 employee’s wages.
For more information about reporting remote and national employees, please visit the FAQs on CO FAMLI Division’s Employer page.