Compliance Watch:

What are my rights as an hourly employee in District of Columbia?

As an hourly employee in District of Columbia, you are entitled by state law to earn the minimum hourly wage of $17.00. Therefore, in a regular 40-hour workweek, you should typically be expected to earn at least $680 under state law.

Minimum wage laws are implemented to ensure that employees earn a basic wage in return for their labor that is adequate in amount to upkeep the cost of necessities and personal expenses. Moreover, in America, the Fair Labor Standards Act has established that the federal minimum wage in the country is $7.25 for every hour worked. That means, according to federal law, the lowest amount of money an American citizen can earn for every hour worked is $7.25. However, individual U.S. states have the autonomy to fix a minimum wage that is higher than the federal minimum. As exemplified above, the District of Columbia is one of those states that have chosen to implement their own minimum wage law establishing a higher minimum wage than the federal threshold. 

Notably, not all occupations are entitled to earn the state’s hourly minimum wage. State law has excluded employees of certain occupations from making this amount. For example, if you decide to take a casual babysitting job to earn some extra pocket money, you will not be eligible to earn the state’s minimum hourly wage. Moreover, those working in an administrative, executive, or professional capacity are also excluded from the state’s minimum wage requirement. In this aspect, it is important to check the District of Columbia’s Department of Labour website to ensure that your employer does not misclassify you as an exempt employee from earning the state’s minimum wage. If instances like this arise, you are entitled to bring legal action against your employer for such misclassifications.

In the state of the District of Columbia, the labor laws specify that any hours above 40 hours a week are regarded as overtime hours for which an employer must pay an employee at a rate of one and a half times the regular hourly pay for each overtime hour worked. Therefore, hourly employees in District of Columbia who find themselves overworking the regular weekly 40-hour benchmark, must be compensated with $25.50 per hour of overtime.

In brief, these overtime laws are implemented to ensure that employees like you are fairly compensated for the hours they work and to dissuade employers from exploiting the labor of their existing workforce and instead, focus on expanding it.

However, similar to the state’s minimum wage exceptions, not all employees are eligible to receive overtime pay. For instance, seamen are excluded from overtime pay as well as railroad employees. Therefore, employees working in certain occupations are exempt from this requirement according to state law. To find out if your occupation is exempt from overtime pay, it is best to refer to the District of Columbia’s Department of Labour website.

Rest and meal breaks provide employees with the opportunity to revitalize their energy before returning back to work again. While these breaks do wonders to an individual’s mental and physical health, the laws at federal level do not actually mandate its provision. However, federal law does mandate the provision of compensation if short work breaks are taken and the District of Columbia is among the many states that follow the federal requirements in this regard. Put simply, the federal law only requires employees to be compensated for breaks that last 20 minutes or less but not for breaks that are 30 minutes or longer, provided that employees are free to do as they please during that time.

As for breastfeeding breaks, employers must grant employees with reasonable daily unpaid break time to express milk for their child to maintain milk supply and comfort. If possible, breastfeeding breaks should run concurrently with any paid or unpaid break time that has already been provided by the employer. If undue hardship occurs in the employer’s business operations, the provision of such breaks is not required.

Taking time off is equally essential for any individual engaged in employment. In the United States, there are many different types of leaves tailored to the unique needs of the employee in which they can utilize to address certain on-going personal matters. Below is a list of leaves that are available to employees like you in the District of Columbia:

• Universal Paid Leave Emergency Amendment Act: Qualified employees are entitled to two weeks of paid prenatal leave, covering various pregnancy-related needs such as routine and specialty appointments, pregnancy complications, required bedrest, prenatal physical therapy, and medical care for miscarriages. In addition, employees with approved claims or leave starting from September 26, 2021, through September 30, 2022, can now utilize six weeks of employment-protected leave.
• Jury duty leave: As an employee called to serve on a jury, you have the right to take unpaid leave for this purpose. Furthermore, your employer cannot take any adverse employment actions against you for the time you have taken to respond to a jury summons.
• School leave: Employers in Washington, D.C. are required to provide 24 hours of leave within a 12-month timeframe for parents, guardians, aunts, uncles, or grandparents to attend school-related activities. Employers must be notified by their employees at least 10 days prior unless the activity is unforeseeable. This leave can be either unpaid or paid for family, vacation, personal, compensatory, or leave bank leave.
• Military leave: The District of Columbia’s military personnel are safeguarded under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA). This law ensures their ability to take military leave while maintaining the right to return to their previous job, complete with accrued leave benefits like sick, vacation, and annual leave. Moreover, it protects them from unjust termination for a year following their military service.
• Sick days leave: Employees must be provided with sick leave by their employers, with varying requirements based on the size of the business: 
  • For employers with 24 employees or less: Employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 87 hours worked, with an annual accrual cap of three days.
  • Employers with 25-99 employees: Employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 43 hours worked, with an annual accrual cap of five days.
  • Employers with 100 or more employees: Employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 37 hours worked, with an annual accrual cap of seven days.

For hourly employees in District of Columbia, it is imperative to grasp the nuances of paycheck deductions. In the District of Columbia, specific regulations govern the timing and methods for these deductions to safeguard your earnings from improper handling. Let us explore how these laws are implemented.

The pay deduction rules in the District of Columbia are relatively straightforward. Under state law, your employer is prohibited from charging or deducting from your paycheck to cover any one of the following items: wages breakages, walkouts, mistakes on customer checks or similar charges, or fines, assessments, or charges if the payment of such lowers the employee’s wage below the minimum wage requirement. 

Furthermore, keep in mind that your employer is strictly prohibited from deducting wages from your paycheck if you have taken rest breaks that have lasted for 20 minutes or less. District of Columbia employers are also responsible for covering the cost of purchase, maintenance, and cleaning of  your uniforms required by the employer or by law, or they must pay you 15 cents an hour in addition to your regular wage for the care of washable uniforms.

Additionally, your employer is legally required by state law to issue you a written statement on or before each payday which should outline, at minimum, the following details:  

• Net wages paid and hours worked.
• Gross wages paid.
• List of wage deductions.

Generally, work benefits help to boost employee satisfaction on the long-term and ensures that employees are treated fairly in the workplace. As an hourly employee, here are some of the various benefits that you are entitled to in District of Columbia.

• Minimum wage: You have the right under the state’s minimum wage laws to earn $17.00 for every hour worked.
• Overtime: You have the right under federal and state law to earn 1.5 times your regular hourly wage for every hour you have worked over 40 hours a week. 
• Worker’s compensation insurance: If you have suffered any work-related injury or illness, you have the right under state law to have your medical expenses covered for under the workers’ compensation insurance. Furthermore, if you are a domestic worker employed for at least 240 hours per quarter of a calendar year, your employer must also provide you with these benefits. Independent contractors are not required to pay their own insurance.
• Unemployment insurance benefits: Under the District of Columbia’s unemployment compensation law, if you have lost your job recently through no fault of your own, you are entitled to receive unemployment insurance benefits covered by your employer.
• Extended health insurance benefits: According to the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA), you are allowed to continue your health insurance coverage after being separated from your employment. Because COBRA only applies to employers with a workforce of 20 or more employees, the District of Columbia has enacted its variant of the law, providing the option to prolong health insurance coverage for up to 3 months. A notice of an employee’s COBRA rights must be issued by the employer within 15 days from the triggering event.
• Expense reimbursement and travel time: In Washington, D.C., employers must pay for your travel expenses, tools and uniforms in addition to your regular wage or salary. Travel time, excluding your regular commute, is regarded as hours worked and must be compensated.
• Shift scheduling: In accordance with the state’s minimum wage laws, employers must pay you for the extra hour at the prevailing minimum wage rate for each day you have worked on a split shift. A split shift refers to a daily work schedule where the hours worked are not in consecutive order, with the exception of meal breaks lasting an hour or less.
• Uniforms: It is your employer’s responsibility to cover the expenses related to uniforms and protective clothing, including hats and shoes, that are required by the employer or the law. However, your employer may choose to provide additional compensation, in addition to your regular wages, at the rates of 15 cents per hour (with a weekly maximum), 10 cents per hour for maintenance, and 8 cents per hour for the purchase of plain and washable uniforms.

The District of Columbia has many laws that are designed to protect employees and ensure they are fairly treated with respect in the work environment. Here are some of the many rights that hourly employees have in the state.

• Arrest and Conviction checks protection: Employers are forbidden from making enquiries about arrests, non-conviction criminal accusations, or criminal convictions during the initial application and interview process. Only after providing a conditional job offer can they inquire about and investigate an applicant’s criminal convictions. However, a job offer can only be rescinded if there is a valid business justification. Determining this justification involves taking into account of six factors: the direct relevance of the offense to the job, the applicant’s ability to perform job duties, the time elapsed since the offense, the applicant’s age when the offense took place, the nature and frequency of the offense, and any evidence of rehabilitation or good conduct given by the applicant or on their behalf.
• Discrimination protection: Federal law prohibits employers from discriminating based on various factors such as race, age, sex, religion, and more. The District of Columbia Human Rights Act goes further to prohibit discrimination related to matriculation, family responsibilities, political affiliation, unemployment status and additional aspects like personal appearance and tobacco use.
• Sexual Harassment Protection: As a working employee in the state, you have the right to be provided with sexual harassment prevention training within the first 90 days of your job, unless you already have participated in another similar training program within the last 2 years. If you have been hired before the 1st of October 2020, you must commence training by the 30th of September 2022.
• Wage discussion protection: In the District of Columbia, employers are forbidden from several actions concerning employee wages. This includes prohibiting employees from discussing their own or others’ wages, as well as from retaliating against or discriminating against employees who ask about or disclose wage information. Employers are also not allowed to prohibit employees from asserting their rights or taking part in wage transparency proceedings. These laws are designed to safeguard employees’ rights and promote wage transparency in the work environment.
• Whistleblower protection: Employers in the District of Columbia holding contracts with the District government are forbidden from firing, discriminating against, or seeking retaliation against employees, including former employees if they object to following an unlawful order or report any of the following: mismanagement of a public contract, improper use or waste of public resources or funds, misuse of authority, violations of federal, state, or local laws, non-technical contractual breaches, or significant and specific threats to public health and safety.

Many U.S. states comply with the employment-at-will doctrine and the District of Columbia is no different. These laws specify that both employees and employers have the freedom to end the employment relationship at any given time and for any or no reason. Although these laws are generally admissible, there are specific circumstances where exceptions come and take precedence, restricting an employer’s authority to terminate an employee under certain conditions. These exceptions include terminating an employee in retaliation, for reasons that are discriminatory, for reasons that result in the violation of public policy or for reasons  other than those already stated in the employment contract, collective bargaining agreement or employee handbook.

In situations of employee termination in the District of Columbia, the employer must promptly pay all owed wages, typically within one workday of the discharge. If the terminated employee is financially responsible for any monies belonging to the employer, the employer has four days to verify the accuracy of those funds. For employees who voluntarily resign from their jobs, outstanding wages must be paid by the next regular payday or within seven days from the date of resignation, whichever happens first. When an employee faces suspension due to a labor dispute, the employer must pay all due wages by the next payday.

Severance pay, which is a monetary package provided by employers to departing employees, plays a key part in the provision of financial support to individuals during their job  transition phase and job search after losing employment. The precise value is usually determined based on the employee’s tenure at the company, often amounting to one week’s salary per year worked. While it is customary for this compensation to be paid as a lump sum, it can also be given in multiple payments.

It is worth keeping in mind that, although severance pay is a valuable employment benefit, federal and state laws do not require it. Instead, its provision depends on the mutual agreement between the employer and the employee. Consequently, if the stipulations of the employment contract or a collective bargaining agreement explicitly demand severance pay, the employer is obligated to grant it to avoid potential contract breach legal action.