Denver City Council voted overwhelmingly Monday to opt the city out of a statewide paid-family leave program, one passed by Colorado voters two years ago, in favor of a Denver-specific benefit that could be available sooner.

The council voted 12-1 — with strong dissent from council member Candi CdeBaca — to launch Care Bank, which provides eight weeks of paid leave for family emergencies, illness or childbirth at no cost to employees.

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The decision pulls Denver’s municipal workers out of FAMLI, the state’s paid-leave benefit, which in 2023 would’ve split nearly $10 million in costs between employees and the city.

Heather Britton, the city’s director of benefits and wellness, told the council Monday that Care Bank can be available on Jan. 1, 2023, a full year before the FAMLI program would be ready for launch. She said the city’s plan will provide more reimbursement than the state’s for almost every type of paid leave, except for an absence related to caring for family members over a 12-week period.

The Care Bank program covers eight weeks of leave, while FAMLI will cover up to 12 weeks, Britton said. The city’s program can be supplemented by employee vacation or sick time, as well as through short-term disability payments, to extend beyond eight weeks.

The city plan will also cover 100% of wages for employees over those initial eight weeks, while the state plan covers a percentage over 12 weeks, depending on income level.

When factoring in short-term disability, Britton said, employees can still take 12 weeks under the city plan and be 100% covered for personal illness or child birth by c-section. The city’s plan, supplemented with short-term disability, will cover 90% of wages for employees on 12 weeks of leave for vaginal births. When factoring in accrued PTO, 12 weeks of leave to care for a family member covers 74% of lost wages; that’s better than the state plan for most city employees except for lower-income earners, like those who make $40,000, according to data provided by the city.

Council member Robin Kniech stressed that a city employee who takes eight weeks of leave to care for a family member will still get 100% reimbursement. Britton said that was the most common reason employees took leave in 2021 and that the average length of leave was roughly three weeks. She said the city anticipated the number of people taking leave will increase by 25% once this benefit is rolled out.

The median salary for civilians city employees is $66,000, Britton said. The average is $78,000. 

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CdeBaca’s concern was for lower-income city workers, who she said would lose money under the city’s plan if they needed longer leave times. She noted that state organizers and officials had worked for years to get the FAMLI program passed and that the city was slapping those organizers in the face by opting out.

“When you’re in a position that forces you to take leave, you’re buying time,” she said. “To propose a program alternative that does anything to undercut the length of a paid leave program or doesn’t propose full payment of employee and employer share sends a terrible message to employees.”

CdeBaca added the city should be willing to pay the entire $10 million to cover the FAMLI costs. The council and city “should be ashamed of ourselves” for giving employees fewer days of leave.

Council member Amanda Sandoval bristled at CdeBaca’s comments about people “buying time” while on leave and potentially struggling with family emergencies and serious illnesses. She called that sentiment “offensive” and said people in those situations are fighting for their lives or their family member’s lives.

She said she agreed the issue was important and said she initially had misgivings about Care Bank. But she said she can now tell employees they have paid time off if they need it and won’t need to rely on their own accrued PTO or donated PTO.

Sandoval said she “vowed to the Denver employees to monitor this so that we have better outcomes after a year.”

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Kniech said she supported launching Care Bank in favor of FAMLI because it would be enacted sooner and wouldn’t cost employees any money. 

“Our program is better for every employee of every income,” she said. She said she was concerned about employees who needed to take more than eight weeks of leave to care for a family member, but she said she was glad that the council members were committed to continuing to work on it going forward.