The DC Paid Leave Campaign, representing a diverse coalition of local businesses, community institutions, service providers, and advocacy organizations, strongly supports Committee Chair Elissa Silverman’s proposed Committee report to strengthen the life-changing DC Paid Family Leave program and expand medical leave to 6 weeks for the next year.
Our coalition celebrates these specific wins as part of the report:
Expanding leave for workers who take time off for their medical needs from 2 to 6 weeks in fiscal year 2022
Critical changes to the paid leave program policy to enable enable workers to take the leave to which they are entitled:
Allowing more workers to receive paid leave by reducing the 7-day waiting period and enabling them to apply for leave retroactively (that is, within a reasonable period after the leave event has occurred)
Providing benefits to workers who have earned leave, regardless of employment status at the time leave is needed
Strengthening job protection - by conforming with federal FMLA - so that workers have the job protection necessary to actually take leave
Expanding the period of reported wages that the program considers when determining benefits. By enabling the program to calculate benefits based on the highest 4 quarters of income over the past 10 quarters (instead of 5), this change will mean that workers who worked before the pandemic but had no or low income during the pandemic will receive paid leave benefits.
The coalition supports the Committee’s proposal for future expansion of weeks of leave — based on the CFO's future projections — that makes clear the Council's intent to expand leave to the maximum amount possible based on the 0.62% tax rate. Finally, we support the additional interventions proposed in the report to support those hit hardest by the pandemic.
This report makes common-sense updates ensuring that everyone who’s eligible can use the program and it strengthens the program for the future by creating clear benchmarks for future expansion. We urge Committee members to vote in favor of the report, and urge Chairman Mendelson to integrate all aspects affecting Paid Leave into the FY22 DC Budget and Budget Support Act.