DC COVID Vaccination Leave Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 Provides Paid, Protected Leave for Vaccine Administration and Unpaid Leave for COVID-Related Recovery and Caretaking

On November 18, 2021, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser signed the COVID Vaccination Leave Emergency Amendment Act of 2021, D.C. Act 24-209 (the “Act”).  The purpose of the Act is to “amend, on an emergency basis, the Accrued Sick and Safe Leave Act of 2008 [the ‘ASSLA’] to provide paid time off for COVID vaccinations and recovery; the District of Columbia Family and Medical Leave Act of 1990 [‘DCFMLA’]) to extend and update existing unpaid leave available for COVID-related purposes; and the Coronavirus Support Temporary Amendment Act of 2021 to make conforming amendments.”[1]  The Act applies to employers with any number of employees in the District of Columbia.  Some of the Act’s highlights are as follows:

·                     Under the ASSLA, employers must provide an employee, both for the employee and when the employee is accompanying their child, with up to 2 hours of paid leave per COVID-19 vaccination dose (including a booster injection);

·                     Under the ASSLA, employers must provide up to 8 hours of paid leave during the 24-hour period following each COVID-19 vaccination injection, for the employee to recover/care for a child recovering; and,

·                     Under the ASSLA, employers are not required to provide more than 48 hours of this paid leave in total in a year (which year begins on the effective date of the Act).

 ·                     Under the DCMLA, effective November 5, 2021, employers must provide leave under the DCFMLA if an employee is unable to work because the employee:

o        has tested positive for COVID-19 or is caring for a family member or individual with whom the employee shares a household who has tested positive for COVID-19 and must quarantine pursuant to Department of Health guidelines;

o        has a recommendation from a health care provider or directive from an employer that the employee isolate or quarantine due to COVID-19, including because the employee or an individual with whom the employee shares a household is at elevated risk for serious illness from COVID-19;

o        must care for a family member or an individual with whom the employee shares a household, who is isolating or quarantining pursuant to Department of Health guidance, the recommendation of a health care provider, or the order or policy of the family member’s or individual’s school or childcare provider; or

o        must care for a child whose school or place of care is closed or whose childcare provider is unavailable due to COVID-19.

·                     Employers are not required to provide more than 16 weeks DCFMLA COVID-19 leave in a 2-year period (which period begins on the effective date of the Act); leave may be unpaid except that:

o        Employees may elect to use any paid leave provided by the employer (including from any leave donation program (e.g. Leave Bank) if eligible), which leave counts towards the 16 weeks of total allowable leave;

o        Employees may not be required, but may elect, to use this DCFMLA leave before any other leave to which the employee is entitled.

[1] The Act became effective on November 18, 2021, but because of its “emergency” nature will only remain in effect until February 3, 2022.  Substantively similar temporary, then permanent, legislation is likely, but it must procced through the normal DC legislative process.