Articles About D.C. Labor and Employment Law.

The District of Columbia City Council has paved the way for full enforcement of the District’s Earned Sick and Safe Leave Amendments Act of 2013. Employers should comply with the amendments as of October 3, 2014.

Revisions to the District of Columbia’s Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act (“the Act”) adopted last February have become fully effective following the District’s adoption of a 2015 budget. The District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (DOES) has published a revised “Official Notice” that must be posted in affected workplaces across the District of Columbia. The revisions accelerate workers’ ability to take paid sick leave from one year to 90 days after starting work, allow former temporary workers to claim credit for time worked with their employer on a trial basis, and require employers to reinstate accrued leave banks for individuals who transfer to work locations outside the District and return within one year. The new law also extends paid sick and safe leave benefits to both temporary workers and tipped employees not covered in the original 2008 legislation. (Littler published an ASAP describing the new legislation soon after the D.C. Council adopted revisions to the law, which is accessible here.)

A new District of Columbia law prohibits employers from inquiring into a prospective employee’s criminal conviction background on its application and before making a conditional offer of employment.

On August 22, 2014, the District of Columbia Mayor signed a new law restricting most employers that operate in the District of Columbia in their ability to rely on criminal history information, including criminal background records, for employment purposes. In fact, the new District of Columbia law is one of the few in the United States that restricts the ability of private sector employers to screen applicants on the front end (i.e., before an interview or an offer). The law does this by prohibiting employers from both inquiring about criminal history information during the application process and obtaining a criminal background check until after a conditional offer of employment is made to the applicant.

Recent updates to the official District of Columbia Code appear to relieve employers at this time from any obligation to comply with the District’s Sick and Safe Leave Act Amendments Act of 2013 — after many employers in the District of Columbia, particularly those in the hospitality industry, already have made changes to their paid leave policies to comply with the amendments, as a precaution against possible private civil litigation. The Act, which took effect on February 22, 2014, amended the D.C. Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008 (“SSLA”) to expand the number of employees eligible for sick and safe leave and made other significant changes, described below.

A new District of Columbia law has expanded the protections afforded to workers by the D.C. Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008.

The District of Columbia is poised to implement sweeping new amendments to the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008. The amendment, entitled the Earned Sick and Safe Leave Amendment Act of 2013 (the “Act”), has been signed by D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and is projected to take effect at the end of February 2014 absent an unlikely veto or amendment by the U.S. Congress as permitted by the D.C. Home Rule Act. However, the Act will not apply fully until a fiscal impact statement is incorporated into the D.C. budget and published in the D.C. Register.

In the first change since 2010, the wage rate required by the Washington D.C. Living Wage Act has been increased to $13.40 per hour. The increase is retroactive to January 2013.

On September 12, 2013, District of Columbia Mayor Vincent Grey vetoed the “Large Retailer Accountability Act of 2013,” which was passed by the D.C. Council in an 8-5 vote on July 10, 2013.

The District of Columbia City Council and Mayor Vincent Gray have enacted a first-of-its-kind law protecting jobless individuals from discrimination in the hiring process. The new law prohibits employers and employment agencies from discriminating against potential employees based on their status as unemployed, and it is the first in the United States to both prohibit employers from considering the employment status of potential employees and provide whistleblower protections for current employees who report employer violations. Although the law does not give aggrieved individuals a private right of action to enforce the law, civil penalties are available and may be assessed against noncompliant employers by the D.C. Office of Human Rights. The Unemployed Anti-Discrimination Act of 2012 (“the Act”) was signed by Mayor Vincent Gray on March 19, 2012, and has been in effect since May 31, 2012. Regulations implementing the Act are anticipated as well.

The first law in the nation to prohibit discrimination against job applicants who are unemployed has been enacted in the District of Columbia.

The District of Columbia Department of Employment Services (DOES) has issued its long-awaited poster under the D.C. Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act (SSLA). The poster comes four months after the agency issued final rules under the D.C. paid leave law, which was passed in 2008.