As of July 1, 2020, District of Columbia workers now have paid parental, family, and medical leave.

1199SEIU was part of the coalition that fought hard for this win, and it’s finally here! Congratulations to all DC workers, and a special shout-out to 1199SEIU members who made this happen for everyone!

Here’s some important information about this new program and how to apply.

INFORMATION

The paid leave program does not provide job protection, but workers may be protected under other laws.

Length and types:

1. Parental leave to bond with a new child: 8 weeks
    
2. Family leave to care for a family member (child, parent, grandparent, spouse or domestic partner, sibling) with a “serious health condition”: 6 weeks
    
3. Medical leave for your own “serious health condition”: 2 weeks
    
4. You cannot take any more than a total of 8 weeks of leave in a year.

Benefit details. For more info on benefits, see pp. 27 – 30 of the Employee Handbook.

1. Payments are based on your average weekly wage in the last 5 calendar quarters.
    
2. Payments are 90% for workers earning up to 1.5 times DC’s minimum wage ($22.50/hour).
    
3. Maximum weekly payment amount is $1,000.
    
4. There is a 7-day waiting period for benefits.
    
5. Claims will be processed within 10 days.
    
6. You can receive your benefits either continuously (ex. 8 weeks in a row) or intermittently (ex. 2 weeks this month, 2 weeks next month).
    
7. Payments are paid out every two weeks.

Which workers are covered?

1. Workers who spend more than 50% of their work time for the employer working in DC, including both part-time and full-time workers.
    
2. If your employer pays unemployment insurance in the District for a calendar quarter of a calendar year, then you are covered for that calendar year.
    
3. You don’t have to work a certain amount of time be eligible. However, you must have reported wages for a calendar quarter to receive payments.

Coordinating DC’s Benefits with Employer Benefits:

1. Employers cannot restrict an employee from applying for and receiving DC Paid Family Leave.
    
2. The Department of Employment Services will notify employers of employees’ claim filings.
    
3. Employers can decide if their own paid leave benefits overlap with workers’ use of the District’s Paid Family Leave program. Most likely, employer leave, FMLA, and DC Paid Family Leave will run at the same time, instead of you being able to take all of them at different times. So, you will likely still only have a total of 16 FMLA weeks 8 of which at most will be paid in some way.
    
4. If your employer’s leave policy is better or equal to DC Paid Family Leave, go through your employer to get your benefits.
    
5. If your employer does not offer leave or if what they offer is worse than DC Paid Family Leave, go through the Office of Paid Family Leave.

HOW TO APPLY FOR PAID LEAVE

If your employer’s leave policy is better or equal to DC Paid Family Leave, go through your employer to get your benefits. Follow their policies.

If your employer does not offer leave or if what the offer is worse than DC Paid Family Leave, go through the Office of Paid Family Leave.

1. Tell your employer at least 10 days before you need the leave. Do it in writing so you have a record. Give your employer this information:
    
   1. Type of benefits – “parental leave,” “family leave,” or “medical leave.” You don’t have to include any details about your claim.
       
   2. How long you expect to be out on leave.
       
   3. The expected start and end dates of the leave.
       
   4. If you will be out for a single period of time (ex. 8 straight weeks without being at work at all) or if you will be working and taking leave at the same time (ex. working 3 days per week and out 2 days).

If you are unable to provide 10 days’ notice because of an emergency, give notice before the first work shift that you would miss. If you are physically unable to provide notice before missing work, you or someone on your behalf must give notice to your employer no more than 2 days after the emergency happened.

FMLA requires 30 days’ notice, so if you want to use that at the same time as this benefit and are able, give 30 days’ notice.
 

2. Gather your documents. For the documents you need for each kind of claim, see pp. 19-22 of the Employee Handbook.
    
3. Submit your claim through the benefits portal on the Office of Paid Family Leave’s website at dcpaidfamilyleave.dc.gov or call 202-899-3700. You must wait until after the event happens to submit a claim. But apply soon after the event!
    
4. The Office of Paid Family Leave will contact you within 10 business days with approval or denial.