District of Columbia: Paid Sick Leave Requirements
The short answer
The DC Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act requires all employers to provide paid sick-and-safe leave, with the accrual rate and annual cap scaled by employer size — up to 7 days a year at large employers, 5 at mid-size, and 3 at small ones. Leave accrues from hire, is usable after 90 days, and covers the employee's or a family member's health and safety needs. It need not be paid out at separation.
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This is the general rule in District of Columbia. Ezel applies current District of Columbia law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law and local interaction | District of Columbia Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008, as amended, D.C. Code §§ 32-531.01 to 32-531.13, administered by the Department of Employment Services (§ 32-531.10). As the District is a single jurisdiction there is no separate local overlay; an employer whose existing paid-leave policy is at least equivalent need not change it (§ 32-531.05). |
|---|---|
| Employer and employee coverage | Applies to all employers regardless of size (the accrual rate scales with size), and includes the District government. A covered 'employee' is any individual employed in the District, excluding volunteers, casual babysitters, independent contractors, students, health-care workers in a premium-pay program, and short-term (30-or-fewer-day) DCPS substitutes (§ 32-531.01(2)). |
| Accrual and annual entitlement | Accrual scales with employer size (§ 32-531.02(a)): 100+ employees, one hour per 37 hours worked, up to 7 days a year; 25–99, one per 43 hours, up to 5 days; 24 or fewer, one per 87 hours, up to 3 days; tipped restaurant or bar workers, one per 43 hours, up to 5 days (§ 32-531.02(g)). Leave accrues from the start of employment but may be used only after 90 days of service (§ 32-531.02(c)). |
| Frontloading, caps, and carryover | The tiered day figures are annual accrual caps per calendar year (§ 32-531.02(a)); the Act prescribes no separate frontloading election and does not require any payout of unused leave. Accrued unused leave is reinstated if the employee is rehired by the same employer within one year of separation (§ 32-531.02(c)(3)). An equivalent employer PTO or universal-leave policy satisfies the Act (§ 32-531.05). |
| Qualifying uses and family | The employee's own physical or mental illness, injury, or condition; professional medical diagnosis, care, or preventive care; care for a family member with those needs; and 'safe leave' for stalking, domestic violence, or sexual abuse — medical care, victim services, counseling, relocation, or legal action (§ 32-531.02(b)). Family is broad: spouse or domestic partner, parents and parents-in-law, children/grandchildren/foster children and their spouses, siblings and their spouses, a child the employee parents, and a committed-relationship cohabitant of 12+ months (§ 32-531.01(4)). |
| Requests, notice, documentation, and increments | An employee must make a reasonable effort to schedule leave so as not to unduly disrupt the employer's operations (§ 32-531.02(d)). Certification may be required only for an absence of three or more consecutive days and may be a health-care provider's note, police report, court order, or victim-advocate statement, provided on return to work, with confidentiality protections (§ 32-531.04). An employer may seek more frequent certification only on evidence of a pattern of abuse (§ 32-531.08(c)). |
| Pay, payout, reinstatement, and records | Paid leave is compensated at the employee's regular rate; commissioned salon workers use a prior-year average formula (§ 32-531.02(f)) and tipped restaurant or bar workers are paid at the District minimum wage (§ 32-531.02(g)). No payout of unused leave is required at separation. On rehire by the same employer within one year, previously accrued unused leave is reinstated (§ 32-531.02(c)(3)); an employee discharged after a 90-day probation and rehired within 12 months may use leave immediately (§ 32-531.02(c)(4)). |
| Posting, retaliation, enforcement, and remedies | Interference and retaliation are barred; an adverse action within 90 days of protected activity raises a rebuttable presumption of violation, and an absence-control policy may not count protected leave against the employee (§ 32-531.08). An injured employee may bring a civil or administrative action; remedies include $500 in additional damages for each accrued day of leave denied, back pay, reinstatement, compensatory and punitive damages, attorney's fees, and willful-violation civil penalties of $1,000–$2,000 per employee (§ 32-531.12). |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
The District of Columbia Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008, codified at
D.C. Code §§ 32-531.01 through 32-531.13 and amended several times since, requires
every employer to provide paid "sick and safe" leave. The Department of Employment
Services administers it (§ 32-531.10). Because the District is a single
jurisdiction, there is no city-versus-state overlay; an employer that already
offers an at-least-equivalent paid-leave or universal-leave policy does not have
to change it (§ 32-531.05).
Who is covered
Every employer must provide the leave; the rate simply scales with size. A covered
"employee" is any individual employed in the District, but the Act excludes
unpaid volunteers, casual babysitters, independent contractors, students,
health-care workers who opt into a premium-pay program, and District of Columbia
Public Schools substitutes working 30 or fewer consecutive days (§ 32-531.01(2)).
How leave accrues — and the size tiers
The accrual rate and the annual cap both depend on how many people the employer
has (§ 32-531.02(a)):
- 100 or more employees: 1 hour per 37 hours worked, up to 7 days a year.
- 25 to 99 employees: 1 hour per 43 hours worked, up to 5 days a year.
- 24 or fewer employees: 1 hour per 87 hours worked, up to 3 days a year.
- Tipped restaurant and bar workers: 1 hour per 43 hours worked, up to 5
days a year, paid at the District minimum wage (§ 32-531.02(g)).
Leave accrues from the first day of employment, but a new employee cannot use it
until completing 90 days of service (§ 32-531.02(c)).
Uses and family
Leave may be used for the employee's own illness, injury, or condition; for
medical diagnosis, treatment, or preventive care; to care for a family member
with those needs; or as "safe leave" connected to stalking, domestic violence,
or sexual abuse — including medical care, victim services, counseling,
relocation, or legal action (§ 32-531.02(b)). The family definition is unusually
broad, reaching a domestic partner, in-laws, grandchildren, foster children, the
spouses of children and siblings, and a long-term committed-relationship
cohabitant (§ 32-531.01(4)).
Certification and pay
An employer may ask for certification only when leave runs three or more
consecutive days, and the proof may be a provider's note, police report, court
order, or victim-advocate statement handed in on return to work — with statutory
confidentiality protections (§ 32-531.04). There is no requirement to cash out
unused leave at separation, but accrued unused leave is reinstated if the same
employer rehires the worker within one year (§ 32-531.02(c)(3)).
What trips people up
The employer-size count is a monthly average, not a headcount today. Whether
you fall in the 7-, 5-, or 3-day tier turns on the average monthly number of
full-time-equivalent employees for the prior calendar year (§ 32-531.02(a)(4)),
so a business near a size threshold can be in a different tier than its current
roster suggests.
Denying earned leave is expensive. If an employer refuses to let an employee
use accrued leave, the Act adds $500 in damages for each accrued day denied —
whether the worker takes unpaid time or shows up anyway — on top of back pay and
other remedies (§ 32-531.12(b)).
Counting protected leave against attendance is itself illegal. An absence-
control or no-fault attendance policy may not treat sick-and-safe leave as a
strike (§ 32-531.08(e)).
Common questions
When can a new hire actually use the leave?
After 90 days of service. It accrues from day one, but access begins at 90 days
(§ 32-531.02(c)).
Can my employer demand a doctor's note every time?
No. Certification may be required only for absences of three or more consecutive
days, and more frequent proof only if there is evidence of a pattern of abuse
(§ 32-531.04; § 32-531.08(c)).
Do I lose my balance if I change jobs and come back?
Not if you return within a year to the same employer — previously accrued unused
leave is reinstated (§ 32-531.02(c)(3)).
Can I sue, or only file a complaint?
Either. An injured employee may bring a civil action or an administrative
complaint, with remedies including back pay, reinstatement, damages, and
attorney's fees (§ 32-531.12).
Statutes and sources
- D.C. Code 32-531.01. Definitions of covered employee, employer, and the
broad family-member list. Section
32-531.01
(accessed July 23, 2026). - D.C. Code 32-531.02. Size-tiered accrual and annual caps, 90-day use rule,
rehire reinstatement, and tipped-worker rate. Section
32-531.02
(accessed July 23, 2026). - D.C. Code 32-531.04. Certification limited to absences of three or more
consecutive days, with confidentiality protections. Section
32-531.04
(accessed July 23, 2026). - D.C. Code 32-531.08. Prohibited acts, the 90-day rebuttable presumption,
and the absence-control-policy ban. Section
32-531.08
(accessed July 23, 2026). - D.C. Code 32-531.12. Enforcement: civil or administrative action, $500-per-
day damages, penalties, back pay, and attorney's fees. Section
32-531.12
(accessed July 23, 2026).
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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