DC Parental Leave: Eligibility, Payment, and Job Protection

If you work in the District of Columbia and are expecting, adopting, or fostering a child, DC parental leave gives you up to 12 weeks of partial paid time off within a 52-week period, paid directly to you by the DC Department of Employment Services (DOES). Benefits currently cap at $1,190 per week, you file after the child arrives, and your employer’s approval is not required.¹²

Who Qualifies

You’re a covered employee if you spend more than 50% of your work time for a covered employer inside the District. There’s also a secondary path for workers based in DC who regularly spend a substantial portion of their time here, provided they don’t spend more than half their time in another jurisdiction.³ A covered employer is essentially any private-sector business that pays DC unemployment insurance for its workers.⁴

You also need to have worked as a covered employee during at least some portion of the 52 calendar weeks before the birth, adoption, or foster placement. You don’t need a full year of DC employment, but someone who started last month probably won’t qualify.³

Two groups are carved out and cannot claim DC PFL: federal employees and DC government employees. Federal workers fall under separate federal leave policies.⁴

If You’re Self-Employed

Coverage isn’t automatic. You have to opt in, either during November or December of a given year or within 60 days of becoming self-employed in DC. More than 50% of your self-employment work has to be performed in the District over the 52 weeks before your qualifying event. Delay matters: if you don’t opt in when first eligible, you can’t collect benefits during your first year in the program, and you must stay in for at least three years. Opting in early, before parenthood is on the horizon, avoids that waiting period.⁵

How Much Time You Get

Eligible parents receive up to 12 workweeks of parental leave within a 52-workweek period for bonding with a new child. The same 12 weeks apply whether you gave birth, adopted, or welcomed a foster placement.¹ Parental leave is a separate bucket from the program’s medical and family caregiving leave, so using it doesn’t reduce those other allotments.

Since October 2022, the program also provides 2 workweeks of pre-natal leave for pregnancy-related care before the child arrives. A pregnant worker can use the 2 pre-natal weeks and then the full 12 parental weeks after birth, for up to 14 weeks of paid benefits in the same year.⁶

How Much You’ll Be Paid

DOES calculates your average weekly wage from wages your employer has already reported to the agency.⁷ The formula uses a threshold set at 150% of DC’s minimum wage multiplied by 40 hours:

If your average weekly wage is at or below the threshold, you get 90% of your average weekly wage.
If your average weekly wage is above the threshold, you get 90% of the threshold plus 50% of everything you earn above it, up to the cap.

The maximum weekly benefit is currently $1,190.² Because the threshold is tied to the minimum wage, it moves when the minimum wage moves. DC’s minimum wage rises to $18.40 per hour on July 1, 2026, with annual CPI adjustments after that.⁸ The DOES benefits calculator on the Paid Family Leave site will estimate your specific weekly amount before you file.

One thing many new parents miss when budgeting: DC PFL payments are taxable income on both your federal and DC returns, and the program generally does not withhold taxes.⁹ Set aside a portion of each payment or adjust your estimated tax payments so there’s no surprise at filing time.

How to File Your Claim

You can tell your employer in advance that you plan to apply, but you can’t actually submit the claim until after the birth or legal placement has happened.¹⁰ The online portal at does.pflbas.dc.gov is the fastest route. If you can’t apply online, call the DOES contact center at (202) 899-3700.¹¹

Have these ready:

A Social Security Number or ITIN to verify your identity.
Your employer’s full legal name and contact information.
Proof of the qualifying event showing the child’s name, your name, and the date of birth or placement. A birth certificate or hospital documentation works for a birth; adoption or foster placement records work for those cases.¹²

Gather these documents before or shortly after the child arrives. Certification forms are available in multiple languages through the portal.¹²

Expect to hear back from the Office of Paid Family Leave within 10 business days of filing. Your first claim in a given year carries a 7-day waiting period that starts on the day of the qualifying event, not the day you file. A second claim within the same year skips that waiting period.¹⁰¹³ Filing promptly after the qualifying event means payments start as early as possible within your 12-week window.

If Your Claim Is Denied

You have 60 calendar days from the determination date to either request reconsideration from DOES or appeal to the DC Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH). If you ask DOES to reconsider and still disagree with the new determination, you get another 60 days from that second determination to file with OAH.¹⁴ Mark the deadline on the determination letter as soon as it arrives; missing it forfeits your right to appeal.

DC Parental Leave Does Not Protect Your Job

This is the single most common misunderstanding about the program. DC PFL replaces part of your income. It does not require your employer to hold your job while you’re out. Job protection comes from a separate law.

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave, but only if your employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles of your worksite and you’ve worked there at least 12 months and 1,250 hours in the prior year.¹⁵ The DC Family and Medical Leave Act (DCFMLA) is a separate District law that may offer broader coverage. If you qualify under either, you can run your DC PFL benefits concurrently with your job-protected leave, so you get paid while your position is legally preserved.

If your employer is small enough to fall below both the federal and DC thresholds, you may have no statutory job protection at all. Before your leave starts, ask your employer in writing what will happen to your position. Some employers voluntarily hold jobs they aren’t required to, but you want that answer documented.

Stacking PFL With Your Employer’s Benefits

You can receive DC PFL at the same time as employer-provided benefits like paid parental leave or sick leave. How those employer benefits coordinate with PFL is up to your employer: some require you to use DC PFL first, others let you layer the two.¹⁶ One firm rule applies either way: you cannot work while collecting DC PFL benefits. Read your employer’s leave policy early so you can map the full financial picture of your time away.

Workers don’t pay into the fund. The program is financed entirely by a 0.75% payroll tax on covered employers. If your paycheck shows a PFL deduction, that isn’t how the program works, and you should raise it with DOES.¹⁷

1
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-541.04 – Duration and Amount of Benefits
2
DOES Office of Paid Family Leave. Benefits Calculator
3
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-541.01 – Definitions
4
D.C. Law Library. D.C. Law 21-264 – Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016
5
DC Department of Employment Services. Self-Employed Workers Fact Sheet
6
Department of Employment Services. DC Paid Family Leave
7
DOES Office of Paid Family Leave. Parental Leave
8
DC Department of Employment Services. District of Columbia Minimum Wage Increase
9
DC Office of Tax and Revenue. Paid Family Leave Taxability
10
DOES Office of Paid Family Leave. DC Paid Family Leave FAQs
11
DOES Office of Paid Family Leave. Apply
12
District of Columbia – Paid Family Leave. District of Columbia – Paid Family Leave – Before You Apply
13
DC Paid Family Leave. Employee Handbook
14
Office of Administrative Hearings. Paid Family Leave
15
U.S. Department of Labor. Family and Medical Leave Act
16
DOES Office of Paid Family Leave. Medical Leave
17
DOES Office of Paid Family Leave. PFL Tax Rate Change FAQ and Preparation Guidance