Colorado FAMLI private plan bonds.
From $100.

What the FAMLI private plan bond actually guarantees

Colorado voters created FAMLI in 2020; premiums began in 2023 and paid leave benefits in 2024. An employer may substitute its own private plan under C.R.S. § 8-13.3-521, provided the plan confers all the same rights, protections and benefits as the state program. A private plan comes in two flavors: fully insured, written on a paid-family-leave policy from a carrier approved by the Division of Insurance, or employer self-insured, where the employer pays the benefits out of its own funds. Only the self-insured route requires this bond.

The bond is the Division’s backstop for benefits the employer promised but might not pay. It is a three-party arrangement: you (the principal), the surety carrier, and the FAMLI Division (the obligee), with your Colorado employees as the protected parties. If your private plan approval ends — voluntarily or because the Division pulls it — the Division may execute on and collect the entire bond amount, less any funds it receives from you within 30 days after the termination takes effect. It is not insurance for you: if the surety pays, you repay the surety.

A self-insured plan also carries obligations the bond does not replace. You must keep a separate account that receives every employee contribution and from which all benefits and plan administrative costs are paid — no withdrawals for anything else, and on termination the remaining balance goes to the Division. Private plans additionally pay an administration fee and, since 2025, an annual maintenance fee, and attest each year that the approved plan still satisfies the Act. Keep the bond in force for the entire life of the plan.

You need this bond if you are