B 26-0326

                          COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
                             1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, N.W.
                                  WASHINGTON, D.C. 20004
Phil Mendelson  Office: (202) 724-8032
Chairman  Fax: (202) 724-8085
                                                                    July 11, 2025
 Nyasha Howard, Secretary to the Council
 Council of the District of Columbia
 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
 Washington, DC 20004
 Dear Secretary Howard:
         Today I am introducing the District Employee Paid Parental, Family, and Medical Leave
 Amendment Act of 2025. This bill is identical to the Mayor's Title I, Subtitle F of the introduced
 version of the Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Support Act of 2025 (Bill 26-265). Members think the
 issue is sufficiently complex to warrant consideration and review through the regular legislative
 process.
         The District Employee Paid Parental, Family, and Medical Leave Amendment Act of 2025
 would make several changes to the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit
 Personnel Act of 1978, including modifying the definition of “eligible employee”, reducing the
 number of paid leave workweeks for qualifying family leave events from 8 to 2, and requiring a
 non-probationary employee to enter into a continuation of service agreement and continue to serve
 as a District employee for 12 weeks after use of paid parental, family, or medical leave.
        Pulling this legislative proposal out of the Budget Support Act will enable fuller
 consideration of the policy ramifications. In this regard, the Committee on Executive
 Administration and Labor has committed to holding a hearing on the bill early in the fall of 2025.
                                                     Sincerely,
                                                     Phil Mendelson
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2Chairman Phil Mendelson
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6A BILL
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12IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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17 To amend the District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 to
18modify the definition of “eligible employee”; to reduce the number of paid leave
19workweeks for qualifying family leave events from 8 to 2; to require that, when
20practicable, an eligible employee provide written notice to their personnel authority when
21paid leave is going to be used; to require that a probationary employee who voluntary
22violates the one-year continuation of service agreement is indebted to the District for
23salary paid during the leave period; and to require a non-probationary employee to enter
24into a continuation of service agreement and continue to serve as a District employee for
2512 weeks after use of paid parental, family, or medical leave.
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27BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
28 act may be cited as the “District Employee Paid Parental, Family, and Medical Leave
29 Amendment Act of 2025”.
30Sec. 2. The District of Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of
31 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-139; D.C. Official Code § 1-601.01 et seq.), is
32 amended as follows:
33(a) Section 1204 (D.C. Official Code § 1-612.04) is amended as follows:
34(1) Paragraph (4) is amended to read as follows:
35“(4)(A) “Eligible employee” means a District government employee, including an
36 employee of an independent agency; provided, that for the purposes of using paid family leave or
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37 paid medical leave, the term “eligible employee” means a District government employee,
38 including an employee of an independent agency, has worked for the District government for at
39 least 180 days, without a break in service, as of the date on which the paid family leave or paid
40 medical leave will be used.
41“(B) The term “eligible employee” does not include:
42“(i) A temporary employee appointed for less than 90 days; or
43“(ii) An employee with intermittent employment.”.
44(2) Paragraph (5) is amended as follows:
45(A) Subparagraph (B) is amended by striking the semicolon at the end and
46 inserting the phrase “; or” in its place.
47(B) Subparagraph (C) is amended to read as follows:
48“(C) A spouse or domestic partner.”.
49(C) Subparagraphs (D) and (E) are repealed.
50(b) Section 1204a (D.C. Official Code § 1-612.04a) is amended as follows:
51(1) Subsection (a)(1)(B) is amended by striking the phrase “8 workweeks” and
52 inserting the phrase “2 workweeks” in its place.
53(2) A new subsection (c-1) is added to read as follows:
54“(c-1)(1) To the extent practicable, an eligible employee shall, before using paid leave,
55 provide written notice to their personnel authority or agency of the need for the use of paid leave
56 and of the expected date or dates on which the employee intends to use paid leave.
57“(2) If the employee plans to use paid leave on an intermittent basis, the written
58 notice shall, to the extent practicable, include a schedule of the expected hours during which the
59 employee intends to use paid leave.
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60“(3) The written notice shall include a reason for the use of paid leave, within the
61 parameters of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, approved August
62 21, 1996 (Pub. L. No. 104-191; 110 Stat. 1936).
63“(4) If the use of paid leave is foreseeable, the written notice shall be provided at
64 least 10 days, or as early as possible, in advance of the use of the paid leave.
65“(5) If the use of paid leave is unforeseeable, a notification, either oral or written,
66 shall be provided before the start of the work shift for which the paid leave is being used.
67“(6) In the case of an emergency resulting in the use of paid leave without the
68 opportunity to provide prior notification, the eligible employee, or another individual on behalf
69 of the eligible employee, shall notify the Mayor, either orally or in writing, within 48 hours after
70 the emergency occurs.
71“(7) If the agency determines that the use of paid leave is likely to interfere with
72 the operations of the agency, the agency and eligible employee shall engage in good-faith
73 negotiations on alternate dates or hours for the use of the paid leave. The agency may deny the
74 use of paid leave under this section if an employee does not agree to a reasonable request to
75 revise the dates or hours for the use of the paid leave.”.
76(3) Subsection (d)(2) is amended to read as follows:
77“(2) If a probationary employee voluntarily separates in violation of the 1-year
78 continuation of service agreement, the individual shall be indebted to the District government for
79 the salary paid during the leave period. Indebtedness incurred pursuant to this paragraph may be
80 treated in whole or in part as an erroneous payment pursuant to section 2901 of the District of
81 Columbia Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 (D.C. Law 2-139; D.C.
82 Official Code § 1-629.01 et. seq.).
83(4) A new subsection (d-1) is added to read as follows:
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84“(d-1)(1) An employee, other than an employee serving in a probationary capacity, using
85 paid parental, family, or medical leave shall be required to enter into a continuation of service
86 agreement. The continuation of service agreement shall require the employee to continue to
87 serve as a District employee for 12 weeks after the use of the paid parental, family, or medical
88 leave.
89“(2) If the employee voluntarily separates in violation of the continuation of
90 service agreement, the individual shall be indebted to the District government for the salary paid
91 during the leave period. Indebtedness incurred pursuant to this paragraph may be treated in
92 whole or in part as an erroneous payment pursuant to section 2901 of the District of Columbia
93 Government Comprehensive Merit Personnel Act of 1978 (D.C. Law 2-139; D.C. Official Code
94 § 1-629.01 et. seq.).
95Sec. 3. Fiscal impact statement.
96The Council adopts the fiscal impact statement of the Budget Director as the fiscal impact
97 statement required by section 4a of the General Legislative Procedures Act of 1975, approved
98 October 16, 2006 (120 Stat. 2038; D.C. Official Code § 1-301.47a).
99Sec. 4. Effective date.
100This act shall take effect following approval by the Mayor (or in the event of veto by the
101 Mayor, action by the Council to override the veto) and a 30-day period of congressional review
102 as provided in section 602(c)(1) of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act, approved December
103 24, 1973 (87 Stat. 813; D.C. Official Code § 1-206.02(c)(1)).
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