LeaveCalc / Sick leave / District of Columbia

District of Columbia paid sick leave calculator

Enter your hours worked and see your accrued paid sick leave under District of Columbia’s law, including any cap and your running balance, instantly and privately.

✓ Free✓ Runs in your browser, nothing uploaded✓ Uses District of Columbia’s 2026 sick leave rules

1 Your hours

How we count:
  • We multiply the hours you worked by District of Columbia's accrual rate to estimate hours earned.
  • If the law sets an annual accrual cap, we stop counting new hours once you hit it.
  • If the law sets a maximum balance, your total before subtracting used hours is capped there too.
  • This does not account for hours carried over from a previous year or usage timed partway through the period.
Not legal advice or a payroll record. These are estimates based on the accrual rules on file for District of Columbia. Always check your actual balance against your pay stub, employee handbook or HR/payroll system; real-world proration and policy exceptions are not reflected here.

The rule in District of Columbia

“Tiered by employer size: 1h/37 worked (100+ employees, cap 7 days/yr), 1h/43 worked (25-99, cap 5 days/yr), 1h/87 worked (<25 employees…

“Tiered by employer size: 1h/37 worked (100+ employees, cap 7 days/yr), 1h/43 worked (25-99, cap 5 days/yr), 1h/87 worked (<25 employees, cap 3 days/yr)”

  • 1 to 24 employees. earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 87 hours you work, up to 24.0 hours a year.
  • 25 to 99 employees. earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 43 hours you work, up to 40.0 hours a year.
  • 100 or more employees. earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 37 hours you work, up to 56.0 hours a year.
  • Payout at termination. Sick leave payout at termination is generally not required unless your employer’s own policy promises it. (This is separate from any vacation-payout rules that may apply in District of Columbia.)
  • Carryover. A forfeiture clause is enforceable only if the written policy discloses it clearly before the leave year in question; silent policies default toward payout under DC wage rules.
Verify before relying on itOfficial source

How District of Columbia’s paid sick leave accrual works

Under District of Columbia’s paid sick leave law, earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 87 hours you work (the exact rate depends on…

Under District of Columbia’s paid sick leave law, earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 87 hours you work (the exact rate depends on your employer’s size; see the table below). That works out to about 0.5 hours a week for a full-time, 40-hour-a-week employee, or about 23.9 hours over a full 2,080-hour work year, before any cap in the law is applied.

District of Columbia sets different accrual rates and caps depending on how many people your employer has: 1 to 24 employees: earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 87 hours you work, up to 24.0 hours a year. 25 to 99 employees: earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 43 hours you work, up to 40.0 hours a year. 100 or more employees: earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 37 hours you work, up to 56.0 hours a year.

Sick leave you do not use is generally not paid out when you leave your job unless your employer’s own policy says otherwise; that is a separate question from District of Columbia’s rules about ordinary vacation pay at termination, which this page does not cover. On carryover: A forfeiture clause is enforceable only if the written policy discloses it clearly before the leave year in question; silent policies default toward payout under DC wage rules.

Part-time employees accrue the same way, just on fewer hours: someone working 25 hours a week under this law would earn about 0.3 hours of paid sick leave every week, or roughly 14.9 hours over a full year, subject to the same cap rules described above.

FAQ

How fast does paid sick leave accrue in District of Columbia?

You earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 87 hours you work. The exact hours-worked threshold and cap depend on how many people your employer has, since the law is tiered by employer size.

Is there a cap on how much I can earn?

Yes, and it depends on your employer’s size. 1 to 24 employees: earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 87 hours you work, up to 24.0 hours a year. 25 to 99 employees: earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 43 hours you work, up to 40.0 hours a year. 100 or more employees: earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 37 hours you work, up to 56.0 hours a year.

Can I carry unused sick leave into the next year?

The data on file does not show a numeric carryover cap for this specific sick leave mandate. For context, District of Columbia’s general note on ordinary vacation carryover says: A forfeiture clause is enforceable only if the written policy discloses it clearly before the leave year in question; silent policies default toward payout under DC wage rules.

Does my employer’s size change my sick leave rules in District of Columbia?

Yes. 1 to 24 employees: earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 87 hours you work, up to 24.0 hours a year. 25 to 99 employees: earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 43 hours you work, up to 40.0 hours a year. 100 or more employees: earn 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 37 hours you work, up to 56.0 hours a year.

Is unused sick time paid out when I leave my job?

Generally, no. Paid sick leave you have not used is typically not required to be paid out when you leave a job, unless your employer’s own written policy specifically promises it. That is a separate question from any rules your state may have about ordinary vacation pay at termination, which this page does not cover.

Where is District of Columbia’s paid sick leave law?

See the official source: https://does.dc.gov/service/accrued-sick-and-safe-leave. LeaveCalc’s confidence rating for this page is Medium, so double-check the current rule before relying on it.