Federal FMLA

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) generally requires private employers with 50 or more employees to provide eligible employees with up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period for certain family and medical reasons. Those reasons include the birth and care of a newborn child or placement of an adopted or foster child with an employee, as well as leave to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition or when an employee is unable to work because of the employee’s own serious health condition (including incapacity due to pregnancy).

Employees are eligible for federal FMLA leave if they have worked for their employer for at least 12 months, at least 1,250 hours over the past 12 months, and work at a location where the company employs 50 or more employees within 75 miles. Employers subject to FMLA are required to maintain group health insurance coverage for an employee on FMLA leave on the same terms as if the employee continued to work. Upon return from FMLA leave, an employee generally must be restored to the employee’s original position or an equivalent position identical to the original in terms of pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions.

Many states also have laws requiring that employers grant certain employees leave from work due to specified family, medical, or other circumstances.

District of Columbia Family and Medical Leave Act

Employers with 20 or more employees must grant an eligible employee up to 16 workweeks of family leave during any 24-month period for:

• The birth of a child of the employee;
• The placement of a child with the employee for adoption or foster care;
• The placement of a child with the employee for whom the employee permanently assumes and discharges parental responsibility; or
• The care of a family member of the employee who has a serious health condition.

Additionally, an eligible employee who becomes unable to perform the functions of the employee's position because of a serious health condition is entitled to medical leave for as long as the employee is unable to perform the functions, except that the medical leave shall not exceed 16 workweeks during any 24-month period.

An employee is eligible for such leave if the individual has been employed by the same employer for 1 year without a break in service except for regular holiday, sick, or personal leave granted by the employer and has worked at least 1000 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the request for family or medical leave.

An employee may not take family leave for a new child more than 12 months after the birth or placement of the child.  If the need for leave is foreseeable, the employee should provide the employer with reasonable prior notice of the leave and make a reasonable effort to schedule treatment in a manner that avoids unduly disrupting the employer’s business operations. 

Family or medical leave need not be paid.  Any paid sick, family, vacation, personal, or compensatory leave provided by an employer that the employee elects to use for medical or family leave shall count against the 16 workweeks of allowable leave. 

An employee who takes family or medical leave is entitled to restoration of employment to his or her former position or a position with equivalent employment benefits, pay, seniority, and other terms and conditions of employment.  An employee is not entitled to seniority that would have been accumulated during the period of family or medical leave.

For more information, please see DC Code §32-501 et seq.

District of Columbia Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act

The District of Columbia’s Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act generally requires employers to provide to each employee paid leave to be used by the employee for any of the following:

• An absence resulting from a physical or mental illness, injury, or medical condition of the employee or of a family member.
• An absence resulting from obtaining a professional medical diagnosis or care, or preventive medical care, for the employee or a family member.
• An absence if the employee or the employee's family member is a victim of stalking, domestic violence, or sexual abuse, if the absence is directly related to social or legal services pertaining to the stalking, domestic violence, or sexual abuse.

To become eligible to access leave under the Act, an employee must work for the employer for one year and work at least 1,000 hours during the year. Accrual of paid leave is determined by the number of employees an employer has and the number of hours the employee works.

For more information, please see DC Code §32-131.01 – 131.17.