Paid Leave is Under Attack...Again

The District’s groundbreaking paid family and medical leave has helped thousands of people take time away from work to heal and care for themselves and their families. Despite its tremendous impact and the fact that it has a dedicated funding source, the Mayor has proposed devastating cuts to the program. This is part of the Mayor’s overall proposal that balances the budget on the backs of workers and residents with the least resources. 

DC’s Paid Leave Program Supports Workers and Businesses

DC’s Universal Paid Leave program (“PFL”) provides DC workers with wage replacement for up to 12 weeks when they go on leave to care for themselves or their family. People are allowed to use the program if they need to take time off because of their own medical need, the medical need of a family member, or to bond with a new child. The program also provides for 2 weeks of prenatal care for birthing parents.

The program is funded by a payroll tax, paid by every DC employer. While the payroll tax is set at 0.75% only 0.23% of  this tax goes to the Paid Leave program and the rest gets swept into the general fund for the Mayor to allocate however she wants. For the upcoming budget year (fiscal year 2027), the Chief Financial Officer certified that putting 0.25% from the payroll tax toward PFL would maintain the program at current levels.

Paid leave supports businesses by boosting employee productivity, enhancing employee recruitment, and decreasing turnover costs. Without PFL, small businesses would be at a disadvantage in the hiring process, because they cannot offer the same paid leave benefits as larger, better resourced businesses. State paid leave programs increase mothers’ labor force participation by 6 percentage points in the year their child is born. Women who had paid leave access when their child was born are more likely to be in the labor force up to 5 years following the birth of their child. Paid leave not only benefits individual workers and their households by providing replacement wages during leave, it also increases overall employment and economic growth through increased spending by households receiving benefits.

The Mayor’s Proposed Changes Would Slash Benefits DC Workers Count On

In her fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget proposal, Mayor Bowser proposed several changes to PFL that would gut this critical benefit for DC workers:

• Eliminates medical and family caregiving leave benefits for FY 2027. Between October 1, 2026 and September 30, 2027, workers would not be able to take leave for their own or family member’s serious medical needs. This means that if you or a loved one have a medical issue next year that prevents you from working, you would not be able to use this program.

• Permanently caps the maximum weekly benefit at $1000. Currently, the max is $1,190, and it increases each year with inflation. Keeping the maximum at $1,000  would effectively decrease the value of the benefit over time.

• Permanently reduces benefit length to 8 weeks (for medical leave) or 6 weeks (for family caregiving leave). Even after medical and family caregiving leave benefits resume in 2028, they would be cut from the current maximum of 12 weeks. 

In making these cuts, the Mayor is raiding the payroll tax that employers contribute to so they can cover paid leave for their workers. Out of the 0.75% payroll tax, only a 0.11% rate would go toward paid leave for FY 2027.

Family Medical: Reduced to 6 weeks, Maximum $ reduced to $1000*, No new claims for 1 year

Personal Medical: Reduced to 8 weeks, Maximum $ reduced to $1000*, No new claims for 1 year

Parental Bonding: Reduced to $1000*

Prenatal: Reduced to $1000*

* no longer increases with inflation

Talking Points for Testimony

• The Paid Leave program already has dedicated revenue via the payroll tax and is fully solvent. The mayor raiding this fund to make up for general revenue shortfalls, then saying that she is  “right-sizing” the program, is dishonest.

• Employers are paying the same amount of tax (0.75%) and getting less of a benefit for their employees.  Since the Paid Leave program has already existed for years, many employers have built this leave into their benefits packages or collective bargaining agreements. In the coming year, employers will be forced to cut benefits or absorb the cost of up to $1190 per week of family and medical leave taken to maintain level benefits. This at the same time that they continue to pay at the same tax rate. Under the current proposal, less than 15% of the paid leave taxes paid by employers will actually go to fund the paid leave program.

• People aren’t going to stop having medical problems over the next year. Instead, workers—many of whom already are one paycheck away from missing rent or other bills—will not have this critical lifeline when they are unable to work due to long-term illness or injury. And they may not be able to afford to take time off work to provide needed care for a loved one. 

• Permanently capping the maximum benefit at $1000/week immediately cuts the benefits by nearly 20% and forever institutionalizes gradual cuts to the value of this benefit as the cost of living increases over time.

• Medical providers should decide the length of time people need to use the program, not the Mayor. The Mayor has frequently cited that average medical leave use is 8 weeks, so it’s maximally effective to cut the program off there. But the average is made up of people who need less than and more than 8 weeks. Therefore these cuts would exclude those with more severe medical needs and deserve to use the program to its fullest—even if there are fewer people in this category. 

• DC has chosen to invest in universal paid leave in part to level the playing field for small businesses to compete for and retain the employees who will make their business thrive. If the District cuts paid leave benefits, larger employers are much more likely to be able to make up for the lost benefits out of pocket to give themselves a leg up in recruiting and retaining employees, putting small businesses at a disadvantage. In these difficult times, D.C.’s small businesses need support, not cuts to the programs they count on to help their businesses thrive and compete. 

• Cutting medical leave benefits harms health equity. Under this proposal, for next year, only those whose employers provide paid medical leave or those who can afford to take leave unpaid will be able to take the full time they need to heal or get treatment. That means that many workers, especially low-income workers and workers of color—who are less likely to have access to paid leave or be able to take unpaid leave—will go back to work before they are ready, take less time than they need, or even forego or postpone needed care, harming their health.  

• These effects also compound existing racial and wealth health disparities. For example, research shows that Black patients are diagnosed or treated later than white patients for many cancers and other serious diseases. Later diagnosis or treatment can mean needing longer to recover—making longer paid leave all the more important. 

• Furthermore due to the District’s Paid Leave program operating for 8 years many DC businesses no longer have a private paid leave program as they operate on the understanding their employees will be able to utilize the District’s program, which they pay into.

Sources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14acoF4Q5Od3cad5VGkz1sV2rwmCCsaRa1p3Xw4e7ENQ/edit?usp=sharing

DC Paid Leave Campaign Celebrates the Expansion of the DC Paid Family Leave program to 12 Weeks of Paid Leave

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.

DC Paid Leave Coalition Supports COVID Leave Emergency Legislation

The DC Paid Leave Campaign, representing a diverse coalition of local businesses, community institutions, service providers, and advocacy organizations, supports Councilmember Elissa Silverman’s proposed emergency legislation to extend and expand COVID-related leave, which is currently in place until November 5, 2021.

For workers across the country, lack of access to paid leave has been a significant barrier to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. The emergency legislation proposed by Councilmember Silverman would remove that obstacle for workers in the District of Columbia, by ensuring paid time off for vaccination and, if necessary, recovery from any side effects.

This legislation would also extend the existing unpaid leave, created in March 2020, which provides leave for COVID-related purposes.

We applaud this effort to make access to vaccines more equitable and to ensure job protection and economic stability for the District’s most vulnerable workers, as we continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic.

DC Paid Leave Campaign Celebrates DC Council’s Historic Vote to Strengthen & Expand the DC Paid Family Leave program

Washington, DC - The DC Paid Leave Campaign, representing a diverse coalition of local businesses, community institutions, service providers, and advocacy organizations, commends the DC Council’s unanimous vote on the “Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Support Act of 2021” to strengthen and expand the DC Paid Family Leave program. The changes to this effective and life-changing program stand to benefit half a million workers and their families.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, no one should have to lose their job or income in order to care for themselves or the people they love. Expanding Personal Medical leave is particularly critical to advancing equity for Black and brown workers and 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 that applied for medical leave live in Wards 7 and 8. The expansion of the DC Paid Family Leave program represents a concrete step towards addressing long-standing racial, economic, and health disparities that have only been exacerbated by the pandemic.

By rejecting the Mayor’s proposed tax cut and restoring the payroll tax rate to 0.62%, the Council is able to fund critical changes to DC’s paid family & medical leave (PFML) program. Our coalition strongly supports the following changes included in the FY22 DC Budget and Budget Support Act:

• Expanding Personal Medical leave from two to six weeks in fiscal year 2022 - for workers who take time off for their medical needs

• Expanding access – especially for the District’s most vulnerable workers – and enabling workers to take the leave to which they are entitled by:

  • Strengthening job protection by conforming with federal FMLA, so workers who return to their job after the pandemic have the job protection necessary to take leave

  • Removing the 7-day waiting period before a worker can access benefits– on a one-year trial basis – and allowing workers to apply for benefits retroactively - within a reasonable period after the leave event has occurred

  • Expanding the period of reported wages used to determine benefits, for one year post-pandemic. 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 lost income during the pandemic will still receive paid leave benefits.

• Planning for future expansion of PFML benefits to twelve weeks for each of Parental, Family Caregiving, and Personal Medical leave – based on the Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s future projections, while maintaining the 0.62% tax rate.

The DC Paid Leave Campaign would like to thank Councilmember Elissa Silverman and Chairman Phil Mendelson for their leadership, and for the strong support from many other Councilmembers to protect and expand the DC Paid Family Leave program. 

DC Paid Leave Campaign Celebrates DC Council’s Historic Vote to Strengthen & Expand the DC Paid Family Leave program

The DC Paid Leave Campaign, representing a diverse coalition of local businesses, community institutions, service providers, and advocacy organizations, commends the DC Council’s vote to strengthen and expand the DC Paid Family Leave program. The changes to this effective and life-changing program stand to benefit half a million workers and their families.

By rejecting the Mayor’s proposed tax cut and restoring the payroll tax rate to 0.62%, the Council is able to fund critical changes to DC’s paid family & medical leave (PFML) program. Our coalition strongly supports the following changes, included in the FY22 DC Budget and Budget Support Act:

• Expanding Personal Medical leave from two to six weeks in fiscal year 2022 (for workers who take time off for their medical needs)

• Expanding access – especially for the District’s most vulnerable workers – and enabling workers to take the leave to which they are entitled, by:

  • Strengthening job protection by conforming with federal FMLA, so workers who return to their job after the pandemic have the job protection necessary to take leave

  • Removing the 7-day waiting period before a worker can access benefits– on a one-year trial basis – and allowing workers to apply for benefits retroactively (within a reasonable period after the leave event has occurred)

  • Expanding the period of reported wages used to determine benefits, for one year post-pandemic. 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 lost income during the pandemic will still receive paid leave benefits.

• Planning for future expansion of PFML benefits to twelve weeks for each of Parental, Family Caregiving, and Personal Medical leave – based on the Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s future projections, while maintaining the 0.62% tax rate.

Jaime Contreras, a Vice President of 32BJ SEIU, the nation’s largest property service workers union, with over 175,000 members in 11 states including over 20,000 Black and Immigrant essential workers in the D.C. area and Baltimore, MD, made the following statement: “Essential workers are grateful for D.C. Council’s decision to strengthen the Paid Family & Medical Leave program by addressing long-standing health, economic and racial disparities that have only been exacerbated by the pandemic. Expanding medical leave from two to six weeks is a great example of how cities and states can and should ensure that all workers have the support they need to care for themselves and the people they love.” 

Nikola Nable-Juris, Staff Attorney at First Shift Justice Project, a nonprofit organization helping working parents in low-wage jobs assert their workplace rights to prevent job loss, said: “Low-income workers – especially mothers and women of color who have been hardest hit by the pandemic – will directly benefit from these changes to DC’s Paid Family & Medical Leave program. We have seen time and time again how barriers to access have blocked our city’s most vulnerable workers from the paid leave benefits they deserve. These much-needed changes will allow more workers to receive benefits when caring for themselves and their families.” 

The DC Paid Family Leave Campaign would like to thank Councilmembers Elissa Silverman and Phil Mendelson for their leadership and for the strong support from many Councilmembers to protect and expand the DC Paid Family Leave program. We call on the DC Council to follow up with this vote during the second budget vote on August 3rd. Especially as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, no one should have to lose their job or income in order to care for themselves or the people they love.

STATEMENT: DC Paid Leave Campaign Celebrates Proposal to Strengthen the Family Leave, Extend Medical Leave Programs

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.

STATEMENT: The Campaign for DC Paid Family Leave calls on all DC Councilmembers to speak out against cuts to paid family and medical leave

The Campaign for DC Paid Family Leave is outraged that Mayor Bowser has proposed raiding our city’s groundbreaking paid family and medical leave program in order to implement a tax cut that would overwhelmingly benefit the largest corporations in the District. All of us, no matter our race, our zip code, or how much we are paid, need to be able to care for our families. At a time when people most need the support of this valuable program, this shortsighted action would harm DC’s small businesses and working families — especially Black and brown families, who due to systemic racism are less likely to have employer-provided paid family and medical leave. 

We call on the DC Council to:

• reject the Mayor’s proposed tax cuts for businesses

• use surplus money in the paid family and medical leave fund to expand benefits

• make critical programmatic changes to ensure that everyone who is eligible can use our city’s paid leave program.

As the coalition has said from the very beginning, surplus funds should be used as they were intended: to expand benefits for the working families who need them, not provide tax breaks for large companies. We urge the Council to implement a one-year expansion of medical leave and family caregiving leave to 8 weeks, to match the 8 weeks given for parental leave. Currently, the program only pays for 2 weeks of personal medical leave. If we are serious about an equitable recovery from the pandemic, it is critical to expand medical leave. For years, national and local policy experts have said that based on what other states’ leave programs cost, the same payroll tax we have now could actually fund much higher paid leave benefits. The original proposal for Paid Family Leave in DC would have provided 16 weeks of paid parental, family caregiving, and personal medical leave, which is far from the reduced benefits we now have. The Paid Family and Medical Leave program is not over-funded; rather, it under-provides benefits. We support the use of $15 million to help working people who are excluded from federal aid. 

In her proposed budget for the next fiscal year, Mayor Bowser has instead chosen to raid hundreds of millions of dollars from paid family and medical leave to implement wasteful tax cuts. There are many ways the city can help the small businesses that were hit hard by the pandemic. But the Mayor’s proposed tax cut is not a meaningful source of assistance. The paid family and medical leave tax is modest: a 0.62% payroll tax that amounts to just over one-half of one percent. Since it is based on payroll, many businesses that laid off employees during the pandemic have already paid less in taxes than they anticipated. Instead of substantially assisting small businesses, this tax cut disproportionately benefits the largest corporations in the District — it is unnecessary and wasteful.  Essential needs should be funded by asking wealthy individuals and corporations to pay their fair share in taxes, not by weakening programs that have helped thousands of working families stay afloat during this crisis. 

Finally, the paid family and medical leave fund currently shows a surplus in part because so many workers, especially Black and brown people, were laid off or otherwise disqualified from using the program during the COVID pandemic. The Council must make important changes to the program’s rules to address this and ensure that all eligible people can access the program. Specifically, the DC Paid Family Coalition urges the Council to:

1. Ensure that workers have job protection so that they can actually take paid family leave, matching federal law and so that workers who are laid off and hired back by the same company have job protection to take their paid leave.

2. Change the program so that people do not need to be currently employed in order to access paid leave. People who have lost their jobs this past year should not lose access to the paid family and medical leave that their former employers already paid for on their behalf.

3. Protect workers who lost jobs or income during the pandemic. The Paid Family Leave program should look back for a longer time period and base leave benefit amounts on earnings from the highest quarters. This would protect workers from losing access to their paid family and medical leave benefits if, like so many, they had no or low income during the pandemic.

4. Make it easier for workers to receive paid leave by reducing the 7-day waiting period and allowing them to apply for benefits for leave they have already taken.

5. Follow the advice from national experts to allow birth parents to use personal medical leave and parental leave back to back.

Our coalition calls on all DC Councilmembers to speak out against the Mayor’s fiscally irresponsible proposal to raid the paid family and medical leave program, which would harm all working families and hit Black and brown families especially hard. When they amend the city’s fiscal year 2022 budget, the DC Council should restore funding to the popular and effective paid family and medical leave program by rejecting the proposed tax cut, and should expand benefits and implement critical programmatic improvements.

DC Celebrates Launch of Paid Family Leave, $15/hour Minimum Wage

For Immediate Release: June 30, 2020

Contacts: 

Elizabeth Falcon, 202-674-2872, elizabeth@dcjwj.org
Joanna Blotner, 202-427-2376, joanna@jufj.org

DC Celebrates Launch of Paid Family Leave, $15/hour Minimum Wage
These laws will make workers healthier and more financially stable, just in time for safe reopening.

WASHINGTON, DC — July 1, 2020 marks a major milestone for workers in DC. Tomorrow, DC will be the first ‘state’ in the country to pay workers a $15/hour minimum wage and will become just the sixth jurisdiction to guarantee workers paid leave from work to care for a new child, an ill family member, or a worker’s own serious health condition. Tipped workers’ base pay will also increase to $5/hour. In the midst of a devastating health crisis and a national uprising demanding long overdue justice and an end to racist policing, these milestones are cause to celebrate.

To mark tomorrow’s worker rights milestones, DC Jobs with Justice, convener of the Just Pay Coalition, will host a “know your rights” webinar to help District residents, workers, and employers understand local laws regarding paid leave, paid sick days, a $15/hour wage, wage theft prevention, job protection, and more. The webinar will be conducted via Zoom and take place Wednesday, July 1, 4:00 - 5:30 PM; attendees can register at bit.ly/July_1 or watch the webinar via a live stream on the Restaurant Opportunities Center DC’s facebook page. Spanish and Amharic translation will be available. Attorney General Karl Racine will give introductory remarks; his office has been fighting to protect workers against wage theft. Dr. Unique Morris-Hughes, Director of the Department of Employment Services, will also join the webinar to answer questions and provide closing remarks.

“Better pay and leave benefits could not come at a better time for frontline workers who have been risking so much for the District these past few months,” said Dyana Forester, President of the Metro Washington Council of AFL-CIO & Director of Political and Community Affairs at UFCW Local 400. “The union community was proud to be part of the fight to win a $15 minimum wage and paid family and medical leave laws that improve the lives of working families throughout the metro area.”  

“The work of economic justice in this country is one of racial justice,” said Elizabeth Falcon, Executive Director, DC Jobs With Justice. “The pandemic has laid bare the essential work done by minimum wage workers, as well as the critical need to take time off because of a health emergency or major family event. Black and immigrant workers are more likely to have to report to work outside the home, and have therefore been exposed to the virus at higher rates. As more restaurant, retail, and hospitality workers return to jobs, a $15 minimum wage and paid leave benefits provide the basic compensation all workers deserve. We have been fighting for years for higher wages and better enforcement of our local labor laws to protect vulnerable workers and are proud to see this hard work paying off in ways that will advance a just recovery.” 

“This pandemic has demonstrated how immensely vulnerable we all are to illness, and reinforced how important it is to care for one another in a crisis,” said Joanna Blotner, Legislative Director for DC Family and Economic Security Campaigns at Jews United for Justice. “The US was caught flat-footed in this pandemic in part because of woefully inadequate paid leave laws. With the launch of DC’s paid family and medical leave insurance program, we are helping to change that. Paid leave not only allows you to care for yourself and for those you love, it also strengthens public health and makes our economy more resilient. JUFJ has been proud to play a leading role in passing and implementing this program.” 

The District passed laws in 2016 phasing in the implementation of the $15/hour minimum wage and a paid family and medical leave insurance program after years of organizing and advocacy by community organizations, labor unions, and District workers. The hard work to win and defend these advances for working families shows that public persistence can bring about change. There is more work to do to create full racial and economic justice in the District’s workplaces, but these advances are a step in the right direction. 

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The Metropolitan Washington Council is the AFL-CIO Central Labor Council for the DC region and shares their mission to organize in the community to promote social justice for all working people. The Metro Washington Council works with nearly 200 affiliated union locals and community, religious, student, and political allies to improve the lives of workers and their families throughout the greater metro Washington area. 

DC Jobs With Justice is a dynamic coalition of labor organizations, community groups, faith-based organizations, and student groups dedicated to protecting the rights of working people, supporting community struggles, and promoting racial justice to build a more just society. DCJWJ has been a lead partner on campaigns to raise wages, create paid leave, and enforce local labor laws. 

Jews United for Justice mobilizes the Jewish community to move the region closer to social, racial, and economic justice by advancing campaigns for immediate and concrete improvements in people’s lives. JUFJ was an anchor organization for the DC Paid Family Leave Campaign.