City of Longmont employees will not be automatically enrolled in the state’s paid family and medical leave insurance program. The city council voted this week to opt out of the program, known as FAMLI.
Enrolling in FAMLI would have cost the city $425,462 in 2023. “The funding that would be saved by opting out could be used for a purpose that benefits all employees,” according to a staff report to the council.
City employees can enroll in FAMLI if they choose, city officials said. The program gives eligible workers up to 12 weeks of paid leave to take care of an injury, serious illness, serious injury or pregnancy without fear of losing their job.
The city offers full-time employees 96 hours of paid sick leave annually and up to 48 hours of paid sick leave for part-time employees with hours accrued each pay period, according to city staff. The city currently has 857 full time employees and 707 part-timers.
The state program makes more sense for small businesses that can’t afford to provide sick leave to their staff, Sandi Seader, assistant city manager, told the city council.
“That’s not the position the city is in, and that’s why they exempted municipalities,” Seader said.
If the city agreed to enroll in FAMLI, city employees would have had to contribute 0.9% of their annual salary to the program with the city paying half of the total cost and the employee chipping in the other half, according to the staff report.
