Is paid sick leave required in Washington, D.C.?

Yes. The Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act covers every DC employer on a size-tiered schedule: employers with 100+ employees owe 1 hour per 37 worked up to 7 days a year; 25–99 employees, 1 per 43 up to 5 days; 24 or fewer, 1 per 87 up to 3 days. Tipped restaurant and bar workers accrue at 1 per 43 regardless of size.

How does DC Paid Family Leave work for employers?

It's a public insurance program funded by a 0.75% employer payroll tax: employees can draw up to 12 weeks of parental, family, or own-medical benefits per year (12-week combined cap) plus 2 prenatal weeks, at up to $1,190 a week. PFL pays wages but doesn't protect the job — protection comes from DC FMLA or federal FMLA running concurrently.

What is DC FMLA and how does it differ from federal FMLA?

DC FMLA applies at 20+ employees (federal: 50+) to workers with 1 year of service and 1,000 hours (federal: 1,250), and provides 16 weeks of medical leave plus 16 weeks of family leave per 24-month period — more than double the federal allowance. Absences it protects can't drive attendance discipline.

When is the final paycheck due in Washington, D.C.?

Fired: the next working day (up to 4 days if the employee handled the employer's money). Quit: the earlier of the next regular payday or 7 days. Late payment accrues liquidated damages of 10% of the unpaid wages per working day, up to treble the amount.

Can a DC employer require a doctor's note?

Only for absences of 3 or more consecutive days — and the certification (a provider's note, or for safe leave a police report, court order, or victim-advocate statement) must be accepted if provided upon return to work or within one business day after.

District of Columbia sick leave law & call-off rules

Q: Can a DC employer give attendance points for sick days?

Not for protected leave — D.C. Code § 32-531.11 explicitly prohibits counting ASSLA sick or safe leave as an absence that leads to discipline under a no-fault attendance policy. DC is one of the few jurisdictions where the points ban is written into the statute itself.

Washington, D.C. layers three separate leave regimes on every employer: ASSLA sick-and-safe leave accruing on a size-tiered schedule, the Universal Paid Family Leave program (funded by a 0.75% employer payroll tax, paying up to $1,190/week), and DC FMLA's 16+16 unpaid protected weeks at 20+ employees. ASSLA also says outright that counting protected leave under a no-fault points policy is retaliation. Here is what applies in 2026.

District of Columbia at a glance

Paid sick leave mandate	Yes — ASSLA, every employer: 7 days (100+) / 5 days (25–99) / 3 days (≤24) per year
Attendance points on sick time	Expressly barred by § 32-531.11
Paid Family Leave	12 weeks (+2 prenatal) at up to $1,190/week, funded by a 0.75% employer payroll tax
DC FMLA	16 weeks medical + 16 family, unpaid, job-protected, at 20+ employees
Voting leave	2 hours paid, on request
Jury duty	Employers with 10+ employees pay the first 5 days (full-time staff)
Final paycheck deadline	Fired: next working day · Quit: next payday or 7 days, whichever is earlier

Is paid sick leave required in District of Columbia?

Yes. The Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act (D.C. Code § 32-531.01 et seq.) covers every DC employer — size only sets the tier. 100+ employees: 1 hour per 37 worked, up to 7 days a year. 25–99: 1 per 43, up to 5 days. 24 or fewer: 1 per 87, up to 3 days. Tipped restaurant and bar workers accrue at 1 per 43 regardless of size, paid at the full DC minimum wage. Accrual starts at hire; use begins after 90 days.

How District of Columbia's sick leave law works

Program	Who	What it provides
ASSLA sick & safe leave	All employers (tiered)	3–7 paid days/year per the tiers above; carryover required; safe-leave uses included
Paid Family Leave	All private employers (0.75% payroll tax)	Up to 12 weeks parental / 12 family / 12 own-medical (12-week combined cap) + 2 prenatal, max $1,190/week — benefits, not job protection
DC FMLA	20+ employees; 1 year + 1,000 hours service	16 weeks medical + 16 weeks family unpaid, job-protected, per 24 months — far past federal FMLA

Notice and notes (ASSLA): written request 10 days ahead for foreseeable leave; an oral request before the shift for unforeseeable; emergencies covered by notice within 24 hours. Certification only for absences of 3+ consecutive days — and it must be accepted if provided on return or within one business day after.

The anti-retaliation rule: § 32-531.11 explicitly prohibits counting protected sick/safe leave as an absence that leads to discipline under a no-fault attendance policy — DC wrote the points ban into the statute, and the DOES Office of Wage-Hour enforces it with civil penalties.

The federal floor that still applies

FMLA

Employers with 50+ employees within 75 miles must give eligible employees (12+ months tenure, 1,250+ hours in the past year) up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for a serious health condition — their own or a close family member's. FMLA-protected absences can't accrue attendance points, and a call-off that mentions an ongoing condition can be notice enough to trigger your FMLA obligations, even if the employee never says "FMLA."

ADA

For employers with 15+ employees, the ADA can require modified attendance expectations or unpaid leave as a reasonable accommodation for a disability. An attendance policy applied "no exceptions" is exactly the kind that loses ADA cases — build an accommodation carve-out into the policy itself.

Call-offs, no-call no-shows, and firing in District of Columbia

DC is at-will with a public-policy exception and the broadest human-rights act in the country (20+ protected traits) — but for attendance operations, the three-overlay structure is the real work. A single absence can implicate ASSLA (pointable? never, if protected), PFL (a wage-replacement claim to route), and DC FMLA (16+16 weeks of job protection that outlasts federal FMLA twice over). The classification burden lands at call-off time: which regime does this absence belong to, and which records does it need? Notes are off-limits until day three, and the points ban is statutory rather than interpretive. The DOES Office of Wage-Hour enforces. A call-off hotline or text-based call-off system that captures each report verbatim is the front door all three overlays share.

PTO payout and final paychecks

Scenario	Rule	Source
Employee is fired or laid off	Next working day (up to 4 days if the employee handled the employer's money)	D.C. Code § 32-1303
Employee quits	The earlier of the next regular payday or 7 days	D.C. Code § 32-1303
Unused vacation / PTO	Treated as wages due at termination under the Wage Payment law unless a clear written policy expressly provides for forfeiture	DC WPCL interpretation
Late payment	Liquidated damages of 10% of unpaid wages per working day, capped at treble the wages	D.C. Code § 32-1303

The 10%-per-day escalator makes DC final checks urgent even though the base deadline sounds mild — and unwritten vacation practices default to payout. See how PTO accrual works.

Leave District of Columbia employers must (and must not) provide

Leave type	Required?	Notes
Sick & safe leave	Yes — paid	Per the ASSLA tiers; safe leave covers domestic violence, sexual abuse, and stalking needs
Paid Family Leave	Yes — benefits	Employer-funded via payroll tax; job protection comes from DC/federal FMLA running concurrently
Voting	Yes — paid	At least 2 hours on request; reasonable advance notice may be required (§ 1-1001.07a)
Jury duty	Yes — partly paid	10+ employee firms pay full-time employees their usual compensation (less juror fees) for the first 5 days; retaliation barred
Meal & rest breaks	No	No DC break statute — only lactation breaks are mandated

The District of Columbia employer's attendance playbook

Put it in writing. A written policy — call-off deadline and channel, points or steps, the no-call no-show rule, and carve-outs for legally protected absences — is what makes discipline defensible. Our attendance policy guide walks through it.
Give call-offs one channel. "Tell whoever answers" is how records get lost. One number every employee texts or calls makes the record automatic.
Log everything with timestamps. Unemployment hearings and discrimination charges are won on contemporaneous records, not recollections.
Enforce consistently. Uneven enforcement converts a lawful termination into a discrimination claim.
Screen call-offs for protected reasons before applying points — sickness that could be state-protected sick time or FMLA/ADA territory gets a different track than an overslept alarm.

Note: This is general information for District of Columbia private-sector employers as of 2026, not legal advice. Federal contractors and public employers have additional rules, and laws change. Confirm specifics with qualified counsel.

Comparing states? See all published guides on the state sick leave laws hub.

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