On January 27, 2020, Jennifer Prozinski and Karel Mazanec were quoted in USAE News regarding the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services' release of a mandatory Paid Family Leave Employee Notice (PFL Notice). According to the article, all employers subject to the new paid family leave law, which was enacted by the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016 (UPLA), must provide the PFL Notice to covered employees by February 1.
Prozinski and Mazanec wrote: "Eligible employees may begin to apply for leave and wage replacement benefits under the UPLA beginning on July 1, 2020. If approved by the Office of Paid Family Leave (OPFL), employees may take up to a maximum of eight (8) weeks of paid leave per year in any combination of (1) parental leave for bonding with a new child (up to 8 weeks per year); (2) family leave to care for a family member with a serious health condition (up to 6 weeks a year); and/or (3) medical leave for the employee's own serious health condition (up to 2 weeks a year). Employees taking leave under the UPLA will receive partial wage replacement benefits from the OPFL, which are funded by employer payroll taxes."
"We currently do not have any information that would indicate there will be a delay in the implementation of the leave and benefits portions of the UPLA, as currently scheduled for July 1, 2020," Prozinski and Mazanec told USAE.