DCFMLA: Eligibility, Leave Requests, and Job Protections

The D.C. Family and Medical Leave Act, known as the DCFMLA, gives eligible workers in the District of Columbia up to 16 weeks of unpaid, job-protected family leave and a separate 16 weeks of unpaid medical leave within any 24-month period. That is more generous than the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which caps leave at 12 weeks. The D.C. law also reaches smaller employers, uses a wider definition of “family member,” and does not require you to have worked 12 months in a row to qualify.

Who the Law Covers

The DCFMLA applies to any employer with 20 or more employees working in the District of Columbia.¹ Private businesses, nonprofits, and the D.C. government itself are all included.² If your employer has fewer than 20 people on staff in D.C., the DCFMLA will not apply, though the federal FMLA might if the company has 50 or more employees within 75 miles.

To qualify as an employee, you need two things. First, at least 12 months of employment with the same employer. Those months do not have to run consecutively; the statute counts any 12 months, back-to-back or not, within the seven years before your leave begins.² Second, you must have worked at least 1,000 hours for that employer during the 12-month qualifying period.

The non-consecutive rule catches people off guard. Federal FMLA requires 12 consecutive months with the same employer. The DCFMLA is more forgiving: if you left a job and returned two years later, those earlier months still count as long as they fall within the seven-year window. Paid leave, holidays, and employer-granted sick days also count toward the 12-month total.

Reasons You Can Take Leave

The DCFMLA splits protected leave into two pools, each with its own 16-week allotment in a 24-month period. If you need both, you can draw on both, for a combined maximum of 32 workweeks.³ All of it is unpaid. The statute protects your job, not your paycheck.

Family Leave

You can take up to 16 workweeks of family leave for:

The birth of your child.
The placement of a child with you through adoption, foster care, or by permanently taking on parental responsibility.
Caring for a family member with a serious health condition.⁴

D.C.’s definition of “family member” is notably wide. It includes anyone related to you by blood, marriage, or legal custody. It also covers a child who lives with you and for whom you have taken on parental responsibility, a foster child, and a person with whom you share — or shared within the past year — a home and a committed relationship.² That reaches well beyond the federal FMLA’s shorter list of spouse, parent, and child.

Family leave can be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule under certain circumstances.⁵ That matters for things like recurring medical appointments for a family member or a phased return after the birth of a child.

Medical Leave

A separate 16 workweeks of medical leave is available when a serious health condition prevents you from performing the essential functions of your job. Medical leave can also be taken intermittently when medically necessary.⁶

A “serious health condition” is a physical or mental illness, injury, or impairment requiring either inpatient care — an overnight hospital or hospice stay — or continuing treatment or supervision by a health care provider. Routine physicals, eye exams, and dental checkups do not count. Cosmetic procedures do not count either, though medical care related to gender transition is not considered cosmetic under D.C. law.⁷

How to Request Leave

The DCFMLA does not impose the federal law’s rigid 30-day notice deadline. When leave is foreseeable, such as a planned surgery or an expected birth, you must give your employer “reasonable prior notice.”⁴ For planned medical treatment, you should also make a reasonable effort to schedule appointments in a way that minimizes disruption to your employer. For emergencies or sudden illness, notify your employer as soon as you can.

Your employer may require a medical certification from a health care provider. That certification must include:

The date the serious health condition started.
How long the condition is expected to last.
Relevant medical facts about the condition.
For medical leave, a statement that you cannot perform the functions of your job.
For family leave to care for someone, an estimate of how much time you need to provide care.⁸

Your employer can request recertification on a reasonable basis as leave continues. For leave tied to the birth or placement of a child, documentation of the relationship, such as a birth certificate or adoption papers, may be requested.

Your Job and Benefits When You Return

This is the heart of the protection. When you come back from DCFMLA leave, your employer must restore you to either your original position or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, seniority, and other terms of employment.⁹

While you are out, your employer must continue your group health insurance at the same level and under the same conditions as if you had never left. You may still owe your share of the premiums. If you normally contribute to the plan, that obligation continues during leave, and if you stop paying, your employer can drop your coverage until you return and resume payment.⁹

It is illegal for anyone to interfere with, restrain, or deny your rights under the DCFMLA. Your employer cannot fire you or discriminate against you for requesting or taking leave, filing a complaint, taking part in a proceeding, or giving testimony related to the act.¹⁰ Those protections cover both the employee who takes leave and anyone who supports another person’s claim.

If Your Employer Violates the Law

You can file an administrative complaint with the Mayor’s office within one year of the violation or its discovery. The process begins with an investigation and an attempt at conciliation. If that fails and probable cause is found, the case moves to a formal hearing.¹

If a violation is established, the employer can be ordered to pay lost wages and benefits with interest, additional damages of up to three times the amount of lost wages plus uncovered medical expenses, and the prevailing party’s reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.¹ An employer who proves the violation was made in good faith and with reasonable grounds for believing the action was lawful may receive a reduction in damages, but that call is left to the fact-finder.

How the DCFMLA Compares to Federal FMLA

Workers in D.C. are often covered by both laws at once, and the more generous provision generally applies. The main differences:

Employer size. Federal FMLA covers employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. The DCFMLA covers employers with 20 or more employees in the District.¹
Leave duration. Federal FMLA gives 12 weeks total. The DCFMLA gives 16 weeks of family leave plus 16 weeks of medical leave, up to 32 weeks combined.
Employment history. Federal FMLA requires 12 consecutive months. The DCFMLA counts any 12 months within a seven-year lookback.²
Family member definition. Federal FMLA limits family leave to a spouse, parent, or child. The DCFMLA extends to any blood relative, a committed partner you live with, and foster children.
Hours worked. Federal FMLA requires 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months. The DCFMLA requires 1,000 hours.²

When both laws apply, the leave periods generally run at the same time. If you take 12 weeks of medical leave, you will have exhausted your federal FMLA entitlement but still have 4 weeks of DCFMLA medical leave left.

Getting Paid During Your Leave

Because DCFMLA leave is unpaid, many workers rely on the District’s separate Universal Paid Leave program for income. Eligible D.C. workers can receive partial wage replacement up to a maximum of $1,153 per week.¹¹

The paid program currently provides up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child, up to 12 weeks of family leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition, up to 12 weeks of medical leave for your own serious health condition, and up to 2 weeks of prenatal leave.¹² Within any 52-workweek period, your total paid leave benefits across these categories cannot exceed 12 weeks, though prenatal leave can be added on top of parental leave.

Paid leave is funded entirely by employer contributions and has its own eligibility rules. You apply through the DC Department of Employment Services, separately from any DCFMLA request you make to your employer. The two programs can run at the same time: you can receive paid leave benefits while your DCFMLA job protection is active. Paid leave benefits are generally treated as taxable income at the federal level, and you should expect a tax form reporting those payments for the year in which they were issued.

1
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code Subchapter I – Family and Medical Leave
2
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-501 – Definitions
3
DC Office of Human Rights. D.C. Family and Medical Leave Act Frequently Asked Questions
4
D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-502 – Family Leave Requirement
5
DC Office of Human Rights. District of Columbia Family and Medical Leave Act FAQ
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-503 – Medical Leave Requirement
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-541.01 – Definitions
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-504 – Certification
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-505 – Employment and Benefits Protection
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code 32-507 – Prohibited Acts
11
DC Office of Paid Family Leave. Workers – DC Paid Family Leave
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D.C. Law Library. District of Columbia Code Subchapter IV – Universal Paid Leave