The District of Columbia Employment Law Guide

Employers must pay the cost of purchase, maintenance, and cleaning of uniforms and protective clothing (including hats and shoes) required by the employer or by law, unless:

The employer pays 15 cents per hour in addition to the employee’s regular wages with a weekly maximum of $6 for the responsibility of purchasing, maintaining and cleaning a plain and washable uniform.
The employer pays 10 cents per hour in addition to the employee’s regular wages for the responsibility of maintaining and cleaning a plain and washable uniform.
The employer pays 8 cents per hour in addition to the employee’s regular wages for the responsibility of purchasing a plain and washable uniform.

Employers who run background checks should ensure they’re following the requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which are available here.

The District of Columbia requires that employers conduct background checks on the following types of employees or applicants: Those working for healthcare and community residence facilities, hospices, and home care facilities; Firefighters; Those working for a D.C. Public School; Those working for a D.C. agency that provides direct services to minors; Mortgage bankers, mortgage brokers, and loan officers; Department of Corrections personnel.

The District of Columbia does not expressly regulate employers’ obtaining credit checks on applicants or employees, but the Fair Credit Reporting Act almost certainly applies to employers’ obtaining credit checks. Additional information is available here.

Employers may not ask about arrests, criminal accusations (that are not pending or did not result in a conviction), or criminal convictions on an application form or during the interview process.

Once a conditional job offer is made, an employer may ask about and look into criminal convictions (at no point can an employer ask about arrests or criminal accusations).

The job offer may be withdrawn only if there is a legitimate business reason to revoke the offer. A reasonable business purpose will be determined using six factors: Specific duties and responsibilities necessarily related to the employment; Fitness or ability of the person to perform one or more job duties or responsibilities given the offense; Time elapsed since the occurrence of the offense; Age of the applicant when the offense occurred; Frequency and seriousness of the offense; Information provided by applicant or on their behalf that indicates rehabilitation or good conduct since the offense occurred.

Employers in the District of Columbia that have contracts with the District government may not discharge, discriminate, or retaliate against an employee (or former employee) because they refused to comply with an illegal order or reported any of the following:

Mismanagement of a public contract
Misuse or waste of public resources or funds
Abuse of authority
A violation of federal, state, or local law
A nontechnical violation of a contract
A substantial and specific danger to public health and safety

COBRA is a federal law that allows many employees to continue their health insurance benefits after their employment ends. Because federal COBRA only applies to employers that have 20 or more employees, many states have adopted their own versions of the law, which are known as “mini-COBRAs.” The District of Columbia’s mini-COBRA allows employees to continue their coverage for up to three months. Employers must provide an employee with a notice of their COBRA rights within 15 days of the triggering event.

DC minimum wage laws require employers to pay employees for one additional hour at the applicable minimum wage rate for each day employees work a split shift, or a daily schedule where the hours worked are not worked consecutively (not including meal periods of one hour or less).

The District of Columbia prohibits employers from doing any of the following:

Requiring an employee to refrain from asking about, disclosing, or discussing their wages or another employee’s wages.
Discharging, discriminating against, or interfering with an employee because they asked about, disclosed, or discussed their wages or another employee’s wages.
Prohibiting or trying to prohibit an employee from asserting their rights or participating in a proceeding regarding wage transparency.

Employers of tipped employees to implement sexual harassment policies and prevention training. The policy must outline how employees can report sexual harassment to management and the D.C. Office of Human Rights. Employers must document instances of sexual harassment, noting if the harasser was an owner, operator, manager, or non-manager, and report these instances to the OHR. Reporting must be done on an annual basis by July 1.

Employers in the District of Columbia are required to cover the costs of employee’s travel expenses, tools, and uniforms in addition to their regular wage or salary. Travel time, except for the employee’s regular commute, is considered hours worked and therefore must be paid.

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View the resources available to District of Columbia business owners and workers impacted by the coronavirus outbreak in our state-by-state COVID-19 Resource Center.