Reasons for Leave

Reasons for Leave

Individuals can use FAMLI leave to take time away from work in order to:

• Care for and to bond with a new child, including adopted and fostered children

• Care for themselves, if they have a serious health condition

• Care for a family member’s serious health condition (see definition of "family member below")

• Make arrangements for a family member’s military deployment

• Address the immediate safety needs and impact of domestic violence, sexual assault, abuse, or stalking

See more detailed information on the Different Leaves Explained page

Definitions

"Family Member" Definition

• Regardless of age, a biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild or legal ward, a child of a domestic partner, a child to whom the covered individual stands in loco parentis, or a person to whom the covered individual stood in loco parentis when the person was a minor;

• A biological, adoptive or foster parent, stepparent or legal guardian of a covered individual or covered individual's spouse or domestic partner or a person who stood in loco parentis when the covered individual or covered individual's spouse or domestic partner was a minor child;

• A person to whom the covered individual is legally married under the laws of any state, or a domestic partner of a covered individual as defined in section 24-50-603(6.5);

• A grandparent, grandchild or sibling (whether a biological, foster, adoptive or step relationship) of the covered individual or covered individual's spouse or domestic partner; or

• As shown by the covered individual, any other individual with whom the covered individual has a significant personal bond that is or is like a family relationship, regardless of biological or legal relationship.

"In Loco Parentis" Definition

• "In loco parentis" is a Latin phrase that means "in the place of a parent" or "instead of a parent". It is a legal doctrine that refers to when an adult who is not the child's natural parent takes on parental responsibilities.

Example Cases:

Example of Care of a Family Member

"Meet Elizabeth"

Elizabeth’s great aunt lives alone and will undergo a double hip replacement as a planned surgery. Elizabeth tells her employer 30 days before the surgery date that she will need to take care of her aunt after the surgery and requests to take FAMLI leave to be able to do so. Elizabeth takes off the day of the surgery, and her aunt goes to a rehabilitation facility for 10 days before returning home. Elizabeth was out of the office the day of the surgery but then returned to work over the time her aunt was being looked after and undergoing physical therapy. Her aunt returns home, and Elizabeth goes to stay with her for 2 weeks to make sure she is safe to stay in her home. Elizabeth meets with the visiting nurses and plans to accompany her aunt to follow up visits and weekly physical therapy visits over the next three months.

Elizabeth used FAMLI leave for the day of the surgery, then worked for a week, and then took two more weeks of FAMLI leave to provide direct care. She then returned to her job full time, but uses FAMLI leave to take four hours of the afternoon off twice a week to accompany her aunt to therapy.

The FAMLI program allows for intermittent use and will reimburse Elizabeth for her time away from work in eight hour increments. Elizabeth was not required to use her own earned paid time off (PTO), and received a check directly from the FAMLI program.

Example of Military Family Leave

"Meet Kate and James"

Kate is a single mother who is serving in the National Guard. She receives orders indicating she is expected to deploy for a nine month period of time. Kate’s brother James, agrees to be the guardian for Kate’s son while she is out of the country. He will need to take time off work to prepare for being a long term guardian and spend time with his sister and her son before her deployment.

James informs his employer he will be using FAMLI for a qualified military leave and asks his sister to assist him in providing the proper documentation that he will scan and upload into the FAMLI portal. Jesse will take off a total of three weeks of FAMLI leave, and gave notice to his employer two months in advance. He will use his earned paid time off (PTO) per his company's internal policy for any parenting related needs that arise over the following nine months of his sister’s deployment. The FAMLI program will pay a portion of James’ wages for the three weeks he is gone on leave.

Example of Medical Leave to Care for Yourself

"Meet Lin"

Lin was driving from their home to the grocery store when they were involved in a car accident that sent them to the hospital with significant injuries. Lin’s partner and emergency contact called Lin’s supervisor Janet and let her know that Lin was going to be incapacitated for an undetermined amount of time. Janet sent Lin’s partner all the information about how to apply for FAMLI leave benefits. Lin and their partner applied to the FAMLI program and both a FAMLI representative and Lin’s partner notified Janet. An assistant at the hospital helped Lin’s partner complete the documentation and information needed for the FAMLI program. Lin’s employer does not need to pay Lin for time they did not work, and the FAMLI program will pay a portion of Lin’s salary to them while they are unable to work.

Types of Leave

Continuous Leave 

Continuous leave is taken for a specific period of time without any interruption. Some examples include:

• Your family member is recovering from heart surgery and needs your full-time care for several weeks at a time.

• You welcome a new child and would like to take twelve consecutive weeks of leave to bond with the child.

• You welcome a new baby and would like to take four weeks to bond with the baby right after birth, return to work for several weeks, then go back on leave to bond with the baby for the remaining eight weeks before the child’s first birthday. This scenario would be taken as two separate continuous leave claims. When you go to open your second (or third) block of continuous leave to bond with your child after returning to work for a period of time during the first year of birth or placement, you’ll be able to link it to the first claim, which will result in faster processing times.

Intermittent Leave

Intermittent leave is taken in separate blocks of time occurring at irregular intervals that are not continuous or steady within a six-month period. Some examples include:

• You undergo periodic medical treatment twice a week over the course of three to six months and the dates of treatment vary each week.

• You must care for a family member with a medical condition that has episodic flareups.

• You experience unexpected, chronic migraines that prevent you from working.

CO FAMLI vs Federal FMLA

It’s important to note that Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance (CO FAMLI) is different from the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Differences include:

• *CO FAMLI is paid leave by the State of Colorado....while FMLA is unpaid leave (NOTE: Federal FMLA for Self was negotiated by AFA to be paid by default from your available sick bank hours unless you request to take it as "unpaid" at the time of the FMLA sick call).

• CO FAMLI eligibility begins after only $2500 in gross earnings... while Federal FMLA eligibility begins after 1 year of employment (from date of hire) and 504 Duty hours in the last 12 months.

＊️ Employers may choose to let employees to use their available sick bank to supplement CO FAMLI Paid Leave (up to their average weekly wage), however United Airlines currently has decided not to allow employees this opportunity. 

• While CO FAMLI and FMLA are separate legislative acts (state vs federal), CO FAMLI is designed to run concurrently with FMLA. If FAMLI leave is used for a reason that also qualifies as leave under FMLA (assuming you are eligible for FMLA), then the leave also counts as FMLA leave.

• The reverse is not true - if FMLA is used, CO FAMLI does not necessarily have to run concurrently unless you apply for both. So as we understand it, FMLA can be used first and if additional leave is needed, CO FAMLI should still be available to use. 

• There may be cases where Flight Attendants will not qualify for federal FMLA but will qualify for CO FAMLI. This is because the eligibility requirements for CO FAMLI can differ from those for federal FMLA.