DC Labor Laws: Wages, Leave, Hiring, and Worker Protections

D.C. labor laws give workers in the District some of the strongest protections in the country: an $18.40 minimum wage as of July 1, 2026, paid sick leave at every employer regardless of size, a government-run paid family leave program funded entirely by employers, overtime after 40 hours, a near-total ban on non-compete agreements, and anti-discrimination coverage that reaches 23 protected traits. Most of these rules apply to anyone performing work inside the District, no matter where the employer is based, and cover full-time, part-time, and temporary workers alike. The Department of Employment Services (DOES) enforces most of them.

Minimum Wage and Overtime

The standard minimum wage in D.C. is $18.40 per hour as of July 1, 2026, up from $17.95. It applies to every employer, regardless of size, and adjusts automatically each July 1 based on the Consumer Price Index for the Washington metro area.¹

Tipped workers have a separate base wage of $10.30 per hour as of July 1, 2026.¹ If your base pay plus tips averaged over a workweek doesn’t reach the full $18.40 minimum, your employer has to make up the difference.

Overtime kicks in after 40 hours in a single workweek. Under D.C. Code § 32-1003(c), those extra hours must be paid at one and one-half times your regular hourly rate.² Several categories of workers are exempt. Bona fide executive, administrative, or professional employees and outside salespeople are exempt from both minimum wage and overtime. Overtime alone doesn’t apply to seamen, railroad employees, certain auto dealership workers, or airline employees who voluntarily swap shifts to use travel benefits.³ For the white-collar exemption, the federal salary threshold is still $684 per week ($35,568 annually) in 2026, after courts blocked a planned increase.

When You Must Be Paid

D.C.’s Wage Payment and Collection Act requires employers to pay workers at least twice per month on regular paydays set in advance. Executive, administrative, and professional employees can be paid monthly. No more than 10 working days may pass between the end of a pay period and the payday for that period.⁴ “Wages” covers all monetary compensation owed for work, whether calculated by time, task, piece, commission, or any other method.⁵

Final paycheck rules are strict. If an employer fires or discharges you, your final pay is due no later than the next working day. The one exception: if you were responsible for handling the employer’s money, the employer gets four days to verify accounts before paying out. If you quit voluntarily, your final wages must come by the next regular payday or within seven days of your resignation, whichever is sooner.⁶ “Next working day” means the employer’s next business day, not 24 hours.

Paid Sick and Safe Leave

Under the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act, every D.C. employer must provide paid leave for health and safety needs. The accrual rate depends on the employer’s size:⁷

100 or more employees: one hour for every 37 hours worked, up to seven days a year.
25 to 99 employees: one hour for every 43 hours worked, up to five days a year.
24 or fewer employees: one hour for every 87 hours worked, up to three days a year.

You can use this leave for your own illness or medical appointments, to care for a sick family member, or as “safe leave” tied to domestic violence, sexual abuse, or stalking. Safe leave covers seeking medical treatment, getting legal help, relocating, or using counseling and victim services for yourself or a family member.⁷ This leave comes from your employer and is separate from the D.C. paid family leave program.

Paid Family Leave

D.C. runs a paid family leave insurance program funded entirely by a 0.75% payroll tax on employers.⁸ Nothing comes out of your paycheck. The program pays wage replacement for qualifying life events:

Parental leave: up to 12 weeks to bond with a new child by birth, adoption, or foster placement.
Family leave: up to 12 weeks to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
Medical leave: up to 12 weeks for your own serious health condition.
Prenatal leave: up to 2 weeks for pregnancy-related needs.

These categories are tracked separately, but the total combined leave available in a 52-week period is capped.⁹ The maximum weekly benefit is $1,190, calculated as a percentage of your average weekly earnings.¹⁰ Lower-wage workers receive a higher replacement percentage than higher earners.

Paid family leave handles your wages. Job protection comes from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which gives up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave if you work for an employer with at least 50 employees within 75 miles, have been there at least 12 months, and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the prior year.¹¹ Many D.C. workers run the two together: D.C. paid leave for the money, FMLA for the job guarantee.

Discrimination Protections

The DC Human Rights Act covers 23 protected traits, which is unusually broad. Federal law protects race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, age, and genetic information.¹² D.C. adds workplace protections based on:¹³

Personal appearance, including hairstyle, body size, tattoos, and piercings, subject to legitimate business standards.
Family responsibilities, meaning having dependents such as children, grandchildren, or parents.
Matriculation, meaning enrollment in a college, university, or vocational program.
Political affiliation.
Credit information, including credit score and history.
Homeless status.
Place of residence or business.
Sealed eviction records.
Gender identity and expression.
Marital and familial status.

The DC Office of Human Rights enforces these protections. An employer in D.C. generally cannot refuse to hire you because of your credit score, because you’re enrolled in school, or because of where you live in the region.

Hiring Rules

Criminal Record Screening

D.C.’s Fair Criminal Record Screening Act bars employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal history until after a conditional job offer. Employers also can’t ask about arrests that didn’t lead to a conviction or about criminal accusations that are no longer pending.¹⁴ Even after making a conditional offer, an employer who wants to rescind it based on a criminal record needs a legitimate business reason tied to the specific position.

Non-Compete Agreements

D.C. bans non-compete clauses outright for most workers. As of 2025, the ban covers any employee earning less than $158,363 per year, with a separate threshold of $263,939 for medical specialists. Both figures adjust annually with the Consumer Price Index.¹⁵

Even above those thresholds, non-competes face hard limits. The agreement must specify the activities and geographic area covered, can’t last more than one year after separation (two years for medical specialists), and must be given to the employee at least 14 days before employment begins or before the agreement takes effect.¹⁵ A vague or open-ended non-compete is unenforceable in D.C.

Salary History

D.C. employers can’t screen candidates based on wage history. An employer can’t ask what you earned at a previous job and can’t contact a former employer to find out.

At-Will Employment and Its Limits

D.C. follows the at-will doctrine, so an employer can generally fire an employee at any time and for any reason, and an employee can quit at any time. The exceptions matter. An employer cannot fire you for a reason that violates D.C.’s anti-discrimination laws or whistleblower protections, and D.C. courts recognize public-policy exceptions: you cannot be fired for refusing to break the law, for reporting the employer’s illegal activity, for exercising a legal right, or for participating in a legislative or judicial proceeding.

A personnel manual can also change the picture. If an employer distributes a handbook that spells out specific termination procedures (progressive discipline, for example), that handbook can create an implied contract that overrides the at-will default and binds the employer to its own process.

Workers’ Compensation

Every private employer in D.C. must carry workers’ compensation insurance, either through a commercial insurer or through an approved self-insurance program administered by the DOES Office of Workers’ Compensation.¹⁶ Nearly every private-sector worker is covered, including domestic workers and part-time employees who work at least about 19 hours per week (240 hours per 13-week quarter). The main exceptions are independent contractors and unpaid volunteers. Federal and D.C. government employees have their own separate programs.

Employee or Independent Contractor

Whether you’re classified as an employee or an independent contractor decides which of these protections apply to you. The IRS looks at three categories: behavioral control (does the company direct how you do the work), financial control (who supplies tools, how expenses and pay are handled), and the nature of the relationship (written contracts, benefits, whether the work is a key part of the business).¹⁷ Misclassification is one of the most common labor violations in the District, and it can expose an employer to back taxes, penalties, and liability for unpaid benefits. If you’re labeled a contractor but you work set hours, use company equipment, and can’t take on other clients, that label likely won’t hold up.

1
Department of Employment Services. District of Columbia Minimum Wage Increase
2
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1003 – Requirements
3
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1004 – Exceptions
4
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1302 – When Wages Must Be Paid; Exceptions
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1301 – Definitions
6
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1303 – Payment of Wages Upon Discharge or Resignation
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-531.02 – Provision of Paid Leave
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Office of the Chief Financial Officer. 2026 UL0 Universal Paid Leave
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Department of Employment Services. DC Paid Family Leave
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DOES Office of Paid Family Leave. Benefits Calculator
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Employee Eligibility – Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor
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U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
13
DC Office of Human Rights. Protected Traits
14
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-1342 – Inquiries Into Certain Arrests, Accusations, and Convictions
15
Department of Employment Services. District of Columbia Prohibition on Non-Compete Clauses
16
Department of Employment Services. Office of Workers’ Compensation
17
Internal Revenue Service. Worker Classification: Employee or Independent Contractor