Friday, Apr. 17, 2026
Can workers on medical leave in Colorado get state benefits?
A Colorado paid-leave program provides partial pay to workers who need time off to deal with personal medical issues, give birth, bond with their baby or care for a sick family member.
The Family Medical Leave Insurance Program replaces a portion of Colorado workers’ pay up to a weekly cap, set at $1,381.45 as of April 2026. The cap is tied to the average weekly pay in Colorado and could rise or fall as that number changes.
Colorado voters passed FAMLI in 2020 and the program began paying benefits in 2024. Most Coloradans can use FAMLI for up to 12 weeks per year, though employees who experience complications with pregnancy or childbirth can receive additional leave.
Since 2024, FAMLI has received more than 440,000 claims and has paid roughly $1.8 billion in benefits.
Colorado is among 13 states offering paid personal medical leave.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Premium and Benefits Calculator
- Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Division of Family and Medical Leave Insurance
- National Conference of State Legislatures Paid Leave: State Family and Medical Leave Laws
- Colorado Department of Labor FAMLI by the numbers
- Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Reasons to take FAMLI leave
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Fact briefs are bite-sized, well-sourced explanations that offer clear "yes" or "no" answers to questions, confusions, and unsupported claims circulating online. They rely on publicly available data and documents, often from the original source. Fact briefs are written and published by newsrooms in the Gigafact network.
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