{"id":30429,"date":"2023-11-28T10:52:25","date_gmt":"2023-11-28T17:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-workers-can-apply-for-paid-family-and-medical-leave-through-new-online-portal\/"},"modified":"2023-11-28T17:52:25","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T17:52:25","slug":"colorado-workers-can-apply-for-paid-family-and-medical-leave-through-new-online-portal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-workers-can-apply-for-paid-family-and-medical-leave-through-new-online-portal\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado workers can apply for paid family and medical leave through new online portal"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A
A Denver mother holds her 4-month-old daughter on a doctor's visit at Denver Health. (John Daley\/CPR)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most Colorado workers will be eligible for paid family leave starting Jan. 1, 2024. The Family & Medical Leave Insurance program, approved by voters in 2020, will partially replace workers\u2019 wages while they go on leave for childbirth, adoption, serious health conditions, and more.<\/p>\n

It was the first time that voters in any state have been asked to decide on a paid leave law.<\/p>\n

The measure is funded by premiums equal to about 0.9% of a worker\u2019s wages, although that could rise to 1.2%. Workers and employers are generally expected to split the cost. The program started collecting fees this year and the benefits start in the new year.<\/p>\n

The application portal is launching early as a way to help people who know they will need paid leave as soon as the benefit becomes available. Every private employee in Colorado will be eligible to have a portion of their wages covered for 12 weeks for the following reasons:<\/p>\n

The birth, adoption, or fostering of a new child<\/div>\n
Medical care for them or their family<\/div>\n
Addressing the impacts of domestic violence<\/div>\n
Military service of a family member<\/div>\n

The law requires all employers to either participate in the program, which is funded by withholding premiums from workers\u2019 paychecks or offer a comparable benefit that meets state requirements.<\/p>\n

However, local governments are allowed to opt-out. So far, 20 cities have opted out, including Denver, citing high costs and the untested nature of the new program.<\/p>\n

The state is holding three virtual town halls over the next three months in English and Spanish to help people navigate the portal on the following dates:<\/p>\n

Dec. 6, 2023 \u2013 English 11 a.m., Spanish 3 p.m.<\/div>\n
Jan. 10, 2024 \u2013 English 11 a.m., Spanish 3 p.m.<\/div>\n
Feb. 1, 2024 \u2013 English 11 a.m., Spanish 3 p.m.<\/div>\n

Registration, streaming, and dial-in details are\u00a0available here.<\/p>\n

Public affairs reporter Andy Kenney contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Denver mother holds her 4-month-old daughter on a doctor’s visit at Denver Health. (John Daley\/CPR) Most Colorado workers will be eligible for paid family leave starting Jan. 1, 2024. The Family & Medical Leave Insurance program, approved by voters in 2020, will partially replace workers\u2019 wages while they go on leave for childbirth, adoption, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[120,28,2172,1094],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-30429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado","tag-headlines","tag-healthcare-policy","tag-insurance"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30429\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30430"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30429"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=30429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}