D.C. Employers: Family Leave Recordkeeping Requirements Are in Effect!

Beginning on July 1, 2019, the D.C. Department of Employment Services (DOES) will begin to collect employer contributions to the D.C. Paid Family Leave Implementation Fund.  The Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016 (the “Act”) requires all private sector employers to pay a new 0.62% payroll tax each quarter based on gross wages paid in the preceding quarter.  DOES will use these contributions to fund District-provided Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits that employees will access starting July 2020.

Employees will pay into the Implementation Fund using the same online Employer Self Service Portal (ESSP) that is currently used to pay unemployment insurance (UI) contributions.  Prior to July 1st, employers must establish and/or update their account information in the ESSP system.

Because the inaugural July 1st collection will cover earnings from the preceding quarter (Q2), employers must begin recording employee wages and employment data in a PFL-compliant manner starting April 1, 2019.  With respect to wage data, the Act requires employers to keep records of the following:

• The name and Social Security number, or, if the Social Security number is unavailable, tax identification number, of each covered employee;


• The beginning and ending dates of each pay period;


• The wages paid for each pay period, including the cash value of other remuneration, gratuities, and tips and expenses incurred by each covered employee for which a deduction from wages is claimed;


• Method of payment;


• Earnings of employees; and


• The dates on which wages were paid.

DOES has stated that it will require employers to submit this information on ESSP in a form that is substantially similar to the one currently used for UI contributions (Form UC-30); this information will be used to calculate the employer’s gross wages for the quarter, which will then form the basis for calculating the employer’s 0.62% PFL contribution.         

If they are not already doing so, employers must immediately begin to track employee wages and wage payment information so that they can remit their inaugural PFL contribution in July 2019.

For more information about employer responsibilities under the PFL program, register for our upcoming free webinar on April 24th:  Attention All DC Employers: Are You Ready for Paid Family Leave in July 2019?