Paid Time Off for Vaccination and Recovery in D.C.

Great news! Thanks to the leadership of Councilmember Elissa Silverman and the Labor Committee of the D.C. Council, D.C. workers will soon be able to take paid time off from work to get vaccinated or to recover from side effects related to the vaccination for COVID-19.* Parents will also be able to use this leave to take their kids to be vaccinated or to care for children who experience side effects. Many of First Shift’s clients will benefit from this as the rollout for vaccinations for kids aged 5-11 is [finally] happening!

First Shift contributed to this effort by testifying at a D.C. Council hearing on COVID recovery and sharing stories of its clients who suffered job loss and other employment-related consequences when they missed work because of side effects from the COVID-19 vaccine.

The law will go into effect after the Mayor signs the legislation in the next few weeks. We will share more details then!

*D.C. government workers and employees of charter schools are not covered by the law because their employers successfully advocated for their exclusion.