District of Columbia Family and Medical Leave Act of 1990 ("D.C. FMLA") D.C. Code §§ 32-501 through 32-517 (see also D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 4, §§ 1600 through 1699)

Covered Employers: Employers of 20 or more employees in the District of Columbia during 20 or more weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.

Employee Eligibility: Any employee 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 having worked at least 1,000 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the request for leave.

Entitlement: Eligible employees are entitled to 16 workweeks of unpaid family leave during any 24-month period to bond with a newborn child, newly adopted child, newly placed foster child, newly placed child for whom the employee is assuming parental responsibility, or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Leave must be taken within 12 months after the birth or placement of the child. "Family member" includes a person related to the employee by blood, legal custody or marriage, foster children, children who live with the employee for whom the employee assumes parental responsibility, and people who share or within the past year have shared a mutual residence and committed relationship with the employee.

If two family members are employed by the same employer, the employer may limit to 16 workweeks during a 24-month period the aggregate number of family leave workweeks to which the family members are entitled. The employer may also limit to 4 workweeks during a 24-month period the aggregate number of family leave workweeks to which the family members are entitled to take simultaneously.

Employee Notice: Yes. When leave is foreseeable, employees must provide notice 30 days prior to the start of leave. (Note: the Absence product does not have an automated way of identifying whether enough notice was given, because it is impossible to identify in the system whether the employee could foresee their need for leave, and if so, when they knew they would need leave.)

Employer Notice: Employers must prominently post a notice detailing employees' rights to family and medical leave. The employer must also provide an employee with a written "eligibility letter" within 5 days of the employee's leave request or notice that the employee needs time off for a qualifying reason, detailing whether the employee qualifies, the number of hours available, the need for medical certification, and the obligations and expectations of the employee while on leave.

Certification Supporting Need for Leave: Yes. Employer may request certification from the health care provider of the employee or family member with a serious health condition that is submitted within 15 days of the request for leave. The certification shall state:

• The date on which the seriously health condition commenced

• The probably duration of the serious health condition

• Medical facts within the health care provider's knowledge that entitle the employee to take leave

• An estimate of the amount of time the employee is needed to care for the family member

If the employer has reason to doubt the validity of the certification, it may require a second (and in some instances a third) certification at its own expense. An employer may require subsequent re-certifications on a reasonable basis. Medical information obtained from a certification request must be kept confidential.

Paid? No, but any paid medical, sick, vacation, personal, or compensatory leave that the employee elects to use for medical leave counts against the 16 workweeks of allowable family leave may, at the employee's election, count towards the 16 workweeks of allowable leave.

Benefits: Employers must maintain group health plan coverage for employees on family or medical leave, at the same level and under the same conditions that coverage would have been provided if no leave were taken. Employers may require employees to continue to make any contribution to a group health plan that the employees would have made if no leave were taken. Employees unable or unwilling to make such contributions forfeit the health plan benefit during leave.

Reinstatement: Yes. Upon return from family or medical leave, the employee shall be restored by the employer to the position of employment held by the employee when the leave commenced, or restored to a position of employment equivalent to the position held by the employee when the leave commenced that includes equivalent employment benefits, pay, seniority, and other terms and conditions of employment.

Other Important Definitions/Requirements: Note that paid benefits become available under the D.C. Universal Paid Leave Act on July 1, 2020, which will run concurrently as the wage-replacement component to D.C. FMLA. D.C. Universal Paid Leave does not include an employer opt-out provision or allow for private/voluntary plans.

Relationship with Other Leave: Leave must be coordinated with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Absence Specification: District of Columbia Family Leave