Washington, DC - The DC Paid Leave Campaign, representing a diverse coalition of local businesses, community institutions, service providers, and advocacy organizations, celebrates the announcement from the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) that, as of July 1, 2022, DC workers will have up to 12 weeks of paid leave for parental, medical, and family caregiving needs and up to 2 weeks for pre-natal leave. DC’s Paid Family Leave program has already been life-changing for families and individuals across the District, and expanding paid leave to up to 12 weeks could benefit half a million workers and their families.
No one should have to lose their job or income in order to care for themselves or the people they love. Expanding medical and family caregiving leave is particularly critical to advancing equity for Black and brown workers and low-income families in the District of Columbia. Based on the Department of Employment Services (DOES) January 2021 report, more than 80% of those who applied for medical and family caregiving leave identify as Black, Hispanic, Asian or multi-racial. Additionally, 40% of people applying for these leaves have incomes of less than $50,000. And 35% of all DC residents who applied for medical leave live in Wards 7 and 8. This expansion of the DC Paid Family Leave program represents a concrete step towards addressing longstanding racial, economic, and health disparities that have only been exacerbated by the pandemic.
The Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Act of 2021, which was passed unanimously by the DC Council last August, laid out a plan to expand paid family and medical leave benefits, if there was enough money to do so in the Universal Paid Leave Fund. Yesterday, the OCFO determined that not only is there sufficient funding to enact the maximum level of benefits authorized by current law — 12 weeks for qualifying parental, medical, or family caregiving leave and 2 weeks for pre-natal leave — but that, in addition, the employer contribution rate could be lowered to 0.26 percent and the program would remain solvent to provide this level of benefits to all DC working families.
The DC Paid Leave Campaign originally called for 16 weeks of paid leave in the campaign leading up to the passage of the Universal Paid Family Leave Amendment Act in 2016. We were certain then that the funding for this program would be more than adequate to provide this level of benefits. We are deeply gratified by this announcement today.
The DC Paid Leave Campaign would like to thank Councilmember Elissa Silverman for her unwavering leadership on this issue, and the many other Councilmembers who have championed a strong paid family and medical leave program. We are also deeply grateful to all the workers, parents, and other individuals who have shared their stories, testified at hearings, and advocated in so many other ways for paid family and medical leave. This program would not exist today if not for the working families who spoke up and took action.