Disclaimer: These materials do not constitute legal advice and should not be substituted for the advice of legal counsel.

Guide last updated October 2025.

At-Will Employment

Washington, D.C., is an at-will employment entity, meaning that the assumption will be that even though the parties speak in terms of "permanent" employment, the parties have in mind merely the ordinary business contract for continuing employment that can be terminated at the will of either party. Sheppard v. Dickstein, Shapiro, Morin & Oshinsky, 59 F. Supp. 2d 27, 32 (D.D.C. 1999). The District of Columbia recognizes a "very narrow" public policy exception to the at-will doctrine. Carl v. Child.'s Hosp., 702 A.2d 159 (D.C. 1997). Numerous courts in the District of Columbia have held that at-will employment relationships do not give rise to interference with contract claims. Gross v. Davis, No. CV 01-1486 (GK), 2003 WL 27178762, at *3 (D.D.C. Mar. 3, 2003).

District of Columbia Human Rights Act

The D.C. Human Rights Act (DCHRA) prohibits discrimination against residents of the District, as well as visitors and people who work in D.C., on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, familial status, family responsibilities, matriculation, political affiliation, genetic information, disability, source of income, sealed eviction record, status as a victim of an intrafamily offense, place of residence or business, status as a victim or family member of a victim of domestic violence, a sexual offense, or stalking, and homeless status. D.C. Code § 2-1401.01 et seq). Sex includes, but is not limited to, pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions. D.C. Code § 2-1401.05.

Immigration Verification

The District of Columbia places no additional employment verification procedures on employers beyond federal I-9 compliance. There is no requirement to use E-Verify in the District of Columbia.

Drug Testing

An employer may only test a prospective employee for marijuana use after a conditional offer of employment has been extended unless otherwise required by law. D.C. Code § 32–931.

Medical and Recreational Marijuana

D.C.'s drug testing laws are not intended to permit or accommodate the use, consumption, possession, transfer, display, transportation, sale, or growing of marijuana in the workplace at any time during employment. D.C. Code § 32-931. However, an employer, employment agency, or labor organization shall treat a qualifying patient's use of medical marijuana to treat a disability in the same manner as it would treat the legal use of a controlled substance prescribed by or taken under the supervision of a licensed health care professional. D.C. Code § 2-1402.11. D.C. employers are also prohibited from refusing to hire, terminate, suspend, fail to promote, demote, or penalize an employee based on their use of cannabis, their status as a medical cannabis program patient, or the presence of cannabinoid metabolites in the individual's bodily fluids in an employer-required or requested drug test without additional factors indicating impairment. Exceptions apply for employees in safety-sensitive positions; if the employer's actions are required by federal statute, federal regulations, or a federal contract or funding agreement; or if the employee used, consumed, possessed, stored, delivered, transferred, displayed, sold, transported, purchased, or grew cannabis at work while performing work for the employer or during the employee's hours of work. D.C. Code § 32-951.02.

Jury Duty Leave

All D.C. employers must provide full-time employees with up to five days of paid jury duty leave unless they would not earn regular wages if not serving on a jury, or they would have worked one-half or less of a shift that extends into the following day if not serving on a jury. D.C. Code § 15–718(c). Eligible employees must be paid their usual compensation less the fee received for jury service. An employer also shall not deprive an employee of employment, threaten, or otherwise coerce an employee with respect to employment because the employee receives a summons, responds to a summons, serves as a juror, or attends Court for prospective jury service. D.C. Code § 11-1913.

Voting Leave

District of Columbia law allows employees, upon request to the employer, to take at least two hours of paid leave from their scheduled working shift to vote: (i) in an election held in the District if the employee is eligible to vote in the District; or (ii) in an election held in the jurisdiction in which the employee is eligible to vote. However, an employer may require the employee to request the leave a reasonable time in advance and specify the hours during which the employee may take the leave, including by requiring that the employee take the leave during a period designated for early voting instead of on the day of the election. D.C. Code § 1-1001.07a.

Family and Medical Leave

The District of Columbia Family and Medical Leave Act (DCFMLA) gives employees the right to time off work for pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting. D.C. Code § 32-541.04. The DCFMLA also gives employees the right to take time off for serious health conditions. Employers are covered by the DCFMLA if they have 20 or more employees, but employees may only take leave if, prior to the requested leave, they worked for the employer for at least 12 months, consecutively or non-consecutively, in a seven-year period, and totaled at least 1,000 hours. Under the DCFMLA, employees are entitled to take up to 16 weeks of Family Care Leave, Parental Leave, or both in any 24-month period. Under the DCFMLA, employees are also entitled to take up to 16 weeks of Medical Leave in a 24-month period. An employer is not required to provide paid family leave. The employer can request certification issued by the health care provider of the employee or family member evidencing the necessity of leave. D.C. Code § 32-504.

Paid Sick Leave

Under D.C.'s Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008 and D.C.'s Earned Sick and Safe Leave Amendment Act of 2013, all D.C. employers must provide eligible employees with paid leave for use in certain circumstances. D.C. Code § 32-531.01 et seq.

Eligible employees include any individual employed by an employer, including tipped restaurant and bar employees, except volunteers, lay members elected or appointed to office of religious organizations and engaged in religious functions, casual babysitters, independent contractors, students, health care workers choosing to participate in a premium pay program, and public school substitute teachers or aides employed fewer than 30 consecutive work days. Paid leave begins to accrue at the beginning of employment as follows:

• 100+ employees: one hour for every 37 hours worked (capped at seven days per year);
• 25-99 employees: one hour for every 43 hours worked (capped at five days per year);
• 1-24 employees: one hour for every 87 hours worked (capped at three days per year); and
• Tipped employees: Tipped restaurant and bar employees accrue one hour for every 43 hours worked (capped at five days per year), regardless of employer size.

Leave may be used for care for a physical or mental illness, injury or medical condition, or professional medical diagnosis, care, or preventive care of same, of an employee or employee's family member, defined as spouse (including domestic partner), spouse's parent, child (including foster and grandchildren, or child who lives with employee for whom employee has permanent parental responsibility), child's spouse, parent, sibling, sibling's spouse, or person residing with employee in a committed relationship (as defined by statute). Leave may also be used for specified purposes if an employee or family member is a victim of stalking, domestic violence, or sexual abuse.

An employer's PTO policy may comply with D.C. law if it allows employees to accrue and use leave on terms at least equivalent to paid leave under D.C. law.

Bereavement Leave

An employee is entitled to no more than three days of leave without loss of or reduction in pay, leave, or service to make arrangements for or attend the funeral or memorial service for an immediate relative. In addition, an employee shall be entitled to ten days of bereavement leave without loss of pay, leave, or service credit when the employee suffers a stillbirth or the employee suffers the death of the employee's child under the age of 21 years. D.C. Code § 1-612.03.

Break Time to Express Milk

An employer must provide reasonable daily unpaid break time, as required by an employee, so she may express breast milk for her child to maintain milk supply and comfort. The break time for expression of milk, if possible, may run concurrently with any break time, paid or unpaid, already provided to the employee.

An employer is not required to provide such break time if it would create an undue hardship on the operations of the employer. Nevertheless, an employer is required to make reasonable efforts to provide a sanitary room or other location in close proximity to the work area, other than a bathroom or toilet stall, where an employee can express her breast milk in privacy and security. D.C. Code § 2-1402.82.

Meal and Rest Breaks

District of Columbia labor laws do not have any meal or break requirements for employers, so federal rules apply. The federal rule does not require an employer to provide either a meal (lunch) period or breaks. However, if an employer chooses to do so, breaks – usually of the type lasting less than 20 minutes – must be paid. 29 CFR 785.18. Meal or lunch periods (usually 30 minutes or more) do not have to be paid, as long as the employee is free to do as they wish during the meal or lunch period. 29 CFR 785.19(a).

Minimum Wage

Beginning July 1, 2025, the minimum wage in the District of Columbia increased from $17.50 per hour to $17.95 per hour for all workers, regardless of the size of the employer. As of October 1, 2025, the base minimum wage for tipped employees increased to $12.00 per hour. D.C. Code § 32-1003(f)(6); D.C. Act 26-94 (2025). Minimum wage is expected to increase to $14.00 on July 1, 2026. D.C. Code § 32-1003(f)(7).

Overtime

District of Columbia labor laws require employers to pay employees at least one and one-half times their regular rate for all hours worked in a workweek in excess of 40 hours. D.C. Code § 32-1003. Some exceptions apply. An employer must also comply with federal overtime laws. See Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Federal law applies where it benefits employees more; otherwise, District of Columbia law applies.

Wage and Recordkeeping

Employers must pay hourly employees on regular paydays designated in advance by the employer and at least twice per calendar month. D.C. Code § 32-1302. Exceptions exist for bona fide administrative, executive, and professional employees.

At the time of payment, an employer must provide employees an itemized statement showing: the date of the wage payment; gross wages paid; deductions from additions to wages, including a separate line for gratuities; net wages paid; hours worked during the pay period; employee's tip-declaration form for the pay period, delineating cash tips and credit card tips; and any other information the mayor may prescribe by regulation. D.C. Code § 32-1008(b)(1)–(7).

At the time of hire and whenever such information changes, employers must provide each employee a written notice containing:

• Name of the employer and any "doing business as" names used by the employer;
• Physical address of the employer's main office or principal place of business, and a mailing address, if different;
• Telephone number of the employer;
• Employee's rate of pay and the basis of that rate, including by the hour, shift, day, week, salary, piece, commission, and any allowances claimed as part of the minimum wage, including tip, meal, or lodging allowances, or overtime rate of pay, exemptions from overtime pay, living wage, exemptions from the living wage, and applicable prevailing wages;
• Employer's tip-sharing policy;
• Employee's regular payday designated by the employer in accordance with D.C. Code § 32-1302; and
• Any other such information as the mayor considers material and necessary. D.C. Code § 32-1008(b)(1)–(7).

Disclosure of Pay and Health Care Benefits

On June 30, 2024, the Wage Transparency Omnibus Amendment Act of 2023 went into effect. An employer is required to provide the minimum and maximum projected salary or hourly pay in all job listings (old or new positions). D.C. Code § 32–1453.01(a)(1). The employer shall disclose the range in good faith at the time the posting is made. Id. Employers are required to disclose the potential health care benefits that a candidate may receive before their first interview. Id. § 32–1453.01(a)(2). If an employer fails to disclose the information, a candidate can request it. Id. § 32–1453.01(b).

Final Payments

Generally, under D.C. Code § 32-1303, an employer must issue a final paycheck to a terminated employee no later than the next working day. However, an employee who quits their job is not entitled to a final paycheck until the next regularly scheduled pay date or within seven days, whichever is earlier. D.C. Code § 32-1303.

Unemployment Insurance

Virtually all employers are subject to unemployment insurance taxes under the District of Columbia's unemployment compensation law. D.C. Code § 51-101 et seq.

Workers' Compensation

In D.C., employers are required to have workers' compensation insurance if they have at least one employee, and domestic workers who are employed for a minimum of 240 hours per calendar quarter must also be covered. Independent contractors do not have to insure themselves. D.C. Code § 32-1501 et seq.

Child Labor

In the District of Columbia, people under the age of 18 are considered minors for purposes of employment. The District's child labor laws distinguish among minors according to age, type of occupation, and hours of work. D.C. Code § 32-201 et seq. Generally, with limited exceptions, D.C. employers may not employ minors under 14 years of age. Both federal and District of Columbia child labor laws apply to most employers. If there is a conflict, the more protective standard applies.

Gun Laws

D.C. has not enacted any laws addressing guns in the workplace.

Non-Compete Restriction

In 2023, the District of Columbia passed new limitations on the creation of non-compete clauses. The new law bans non-compete agreements for most employees earning less than $150,000 a year (or $250,000 for medical specialists). D.C. Code § 32-581.01 et seq. Pursuant to Section 32-581.01(13)(B), Mayor Bowser has updated the restrictions to apply to most employees earning less than $158,363 a year (or $263,939 for medical specialists) as of January 1, 2025.

AI Regulations in the Workplace

While D.C. has not enacted any specific regulations regarding AI use in the workplace, there have been bills considered by the legislature. See Stop Discrimination by Algorithms Act of 2023, B. 25-0114. The Act died in chambers, but this is a developing area with many surrounding states enacting regulations and currently considering bills.