District of Columbia Paid Family Leave Act - Legislative Guidance

Overview

District of Columbia Paid Family Leave Act (DCPFML), provides eligible employees with up to 12 workweeks of wage replacement benefits to care for themselves, family members, or bonding with a new child. Eligible pregnant employees are also entitled 2 weeks for prenatal appointments, for a max benefit of 14 workweeks.

DCPFML is a district-administered program that is funded through employer contributions. There is no option for an employer equivalent plan.

AbsenceSoft Policies

District of Columbia Paid Family Leave Act is configured in AbsenceSoft with code and naming are listed below:

District of Columbia Paid Family Medical Leave Act DC-PFMLA

Legislation codes and statues

The information presented in the guidance relates to the following legislative codes, links to the specific legislation can be found within the 'Resources' section of this document. This law is also known Universal Paid Leave Act or DCPFL. :

Code of the District of Columbia Title 32, Chapter 5, Subchapter 4 (DC Code §32-541.01 - 32-541.12)
Code of the District of Columbia Title 32, Chapter 5, Subchapter 5 (DC Code §32-551.01 - 32-551.03)
D.C. Municipal Regulations Title 7, Chapters 34 and 35, sections 3400-3599 (DC Mun. Regs., tit. 7, §3400-3599).

Employer Coverage

Most all employers subject to unemployment tax.

Exclusions:

Employers who do not contribute to DC Unemployment
Federal government employers or DC government employers
Tax-exempt organizations

Employee Eligibility

An employee who has more than 50% of their work time within DC, has earned enough wages in a city determined base period, and a covered individual during some or all of the 52 calendar weeks prior to the commencement of leave.

Exclusions:

Self-employed individuals may opt-in
Federal employees or those who work for the United States or DC government employees

Qualifying Absence Reasons and Leave Duration

An employee is eligible for 12 workweeks of entitlement to care for their own health condition, care for a family member or bond with a new child, within a 52 workweek period measured on a Sunday rolling forward basis. Pregnancy claims allow an additional 2 weeks for prenatal care for a total of 14 workweeks.

Family Leave

Adoption/Foster Care: Care for and bond with a child during the first year after placement through adoption, foster care, or placement of a child where the employee has parental rights.
Bonding: Care for and bond with a new child during the first year after birth.
Family Health Condition: Care for a family member with a serious health condition.

Medical Care

Employee Health Condition: Care for the employee's own serious health condition.
Pregnancy/Maternity: Pregnancy disability, prenatal care, and/or pregnancy complications.

Qualifying Family Member

Spouse
Domestic Partner( or lives or resides with the employee in the last year and has a committed relationship with the employee)
Parent (Parent-in-law, Domestic Partner's parent, adoptive, foster, or stepparent, current legal guardian, or in loco parentis)
Child (adopted, foster, in loco parentis, child of domestic partner, stepchild, or any child the employee has permanent parental responsibility obligations)
Grandparent (adoptive, foster or step-grandparent)
Sibling/Sibling-in-Law (Domestic Partner's sibling, half-sibling, step-sibling, foster or adopted sibling, the spouse of the employee's sibling)
Any person related by blood, legal custody or marriage.

How Leave Can be Taken

Employees may take leave consecutively or intermittently for any qualifying reason.

Consecutive leave: A continuous, uninterrupted period of leave taken for a single qualifying reason.
Intermittent leave: Leave taken in separate, sometimes unpredictable, blocks of time (either hours, days or weeks) between the start and end dates of leave. Employees must take leave in full day increments.

Certification Requirements

An employee will need to file a claim or visit the DCPFML website in order to obtain forms needed to process their claim. All forms should be returned back to the DCPFML program, not the employer. Employees can create an account prior to their leave but cannot file a claim until after the leave begins.

Additional forms to verify a family member relationship or to explain a delay in filing are also available and may require additional documents be supplied in addition to any certifications.

Pay and Benefits

Where state pay benefits are involved with other law interactions, such as state mandated paid leave, employers will want to consider where PTO/employer pay benefit application should occur. There is no waiting period for benefits.

Amount of Pay

DCPFML pays a weekly benefit amount that is determined by comparing the employee's average weekly wage to the employee's average weekly wage, based on the state's minimum wage threshold. Benefits are calculated on a sliding scale, with lower-income employees generally receiving more of their usual wages compared to higher-income employees. Maximum weekly benefit amounts are based on the state's minimum wage. The state may increase the maximum benefit amount based on fluctuations in the minimum wage. Employers should monitor the state website for updates in determining top-off calculations.

Use of Paid Time Off (PTO)

Employees may choose to use any accrued time off available while on DCPFML. Employers may also run other paid leave policies at the same time as DCPFML. There are no limitations to the employee receiving benefits from both the employer and the District which may exceed 100% of the employee's wages from all sources. An employer can't pay Long-term Disability at the same time as an employee receiving DCPFML.

Job Protection

There is no job protection offered under DCPFML.

Other Protections

Employees who invoke their right to DCPFML are protected from discrimination and retaliation when requesting, inquiring, receiving benefits, or are participating in proceedings against their employer for unlawful acts/violations under DCPFML. Employers are prohibited from denying leave without cause or interfering with employee rights under DCPFML.

Benefits

Benefit protections should be reviewed by the employer to ensure the cancellation of benefits does not fall under discrimination or retaliation protections. Employers should review their policies and procedures on how other non-job protected leaves affect the employee's benefits and follow those procedures and policies to ensure compliance with the regulations. 1

Interaction with Other Laws

Where an employee meets the definition of family member, qualifying absence reason, or serious health condition, the state and federal laws may interact. Accommodations that are not leave related, would not run concurrently with other state or federal leave laws.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

FMLA may run concurrently where the definitions of serious health condition, family member relationship or qualifying reason match the DCPFML.

District of Columbia Family and Medical Leave (DCFML)

DCFML may run concurrently with DCPFML.

District of Columbia Pregnancy Workers Fairness Act(DCPWFA)

DCPWFA may or may not run concurrently with DCPFML depending on the situation and circumstances of accommodations.

Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA)

DCPFML may run concurrently PWFA.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

DCPFML may run concurrently with ADA.

Workers Compensation

Employees should consult with the DC Department of Employment Services if they have filed a Worker's Compensation claim to determine if they may also need to file for DCPFML.

Unemployment

An employee receiving unemployment benefits is not eligible for DCPFML.

Employee and Employer Responsibilities

Employee Responsibilities

Notify employer at least 10 days in advance when leave is foreseeable; For emergency situations, employees must notify the employer within 48 hours, after leave begins;
Create an account in advance of leave dates;
File a claim with DCPFML after leave begins;
Employees must inform the Office of Paid Family Leave of any work schedule changes and/or changes to their leave schedule such as moving from consecutive to intermittent;
Determine accrued leave usage;
Follow employer policies and procedures for time off reporting.

Employer Responsibilities

Posting requirements are as follows and all posters must be a place that is conspicuous/frequented by employees:
- Posters are made available by Office of Paid Family Leave (OPFL) that includes the employee's rights to paid leave benefits and when paid leave may apply, retaliation from the employer is prohibited, how to file a compliant, and that employers with less than 20 employees will not be entitled to job protection if they receive paid leave benefits (job protection is not provided under this law but is under the DCFMLA)
- Posting must be made available in all languages provided by The Office; and
- In addition to a posting, the employer must provide the required notice at the time of hire, annually, and at the time of leave request.
Register for DCPFML through the Unemployment Portal;
Report employee wages and employee counts;
Withhold and send employer contributions quarterly;
Supply exceptions to those employee who do not work within DC 50% of the time;
Maintain payroll records; and
Respond to inquiries from The Office.

Resources

District of Columbia Legislation: https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/titles/32/chapters/5/subchapters/IV
and

https://dcregs.dc.gov/Common/DCMR/ChapterList.aspx?titleId=25

District of Columbia Paid Family Leave:

https://dcpaidfamilyleave.dc.gov/

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1 D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 4, § 1704.4

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