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District of Columbia Employment and Labor Law

Author(s): Sophia Balemian-Spencer (Author), Marcy L. Karin (Author)

District of Columbia Employment and Labor Law delivers in-depth analysis of the statutes, regulations and case law governing employment and labor issues in Washington, D.C. Designed for practitioners and students, this treatise pairs legal analysis with practical tools, including practice notes, checklists and forms, to support day-to-day employment law work.

Publisher: LexisNexis

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Print Book: 1 volume, softbound 2026 Edition $ 365.00	In Stock ISBN: 9781663377609
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District of Columbia Employment and Labor Law provides detailed, practice-oriented coverage of employment and labor law in Washington, D.C. This single-volume treatise examines the statutory, regulatory and judicial authorities that shape the District’s employment landscape, offering clear explanations of how the law applies in real-world practice.

The treatise addresses a broad range of employment topics, including employment relationships and classifications, wage and hour requirements, workplace health and safety, employer recordkeeping and reporting obligations and employee privacy and testing issues. It also analyzes discrimination and harassment under applicable civil rights laws, employee leave and severance requirements, labor relations and collective bargaining and benefits and retirement plans.

Throughout the treatise, analytical discussion is supported by practice notes, checklists and forms that help practitioners translate legal requirements into actionable guidance. Explanations connect these tools directly to the underlying law, supporting effective compliance, counseling and advocacy.

Focused exclusively on District of Columbia law, District of Columbia Employment and Labor Law expands and deepens jurisdiction-specific coverage requested by users and serves as a practical resource for navigating employment and labor issues in the District.

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP
§ 1.01 Introduction
§ 1.02 The General Nature of the Employment Relationship
§ 1.03 Employee v. Independent Contractor Tests
§ 1.04 Covered “Employees” and Worker Classiﬁcation
§ 1.05 Covered “Employers”
§ 1.06 Formation of an Employment Relationship
§ 1.07 Conclusion

CHAPTER 2: EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS
§ 2.01 General Provisions — Breach of Contract
§ 2.02 Restrictive Covenants
§ 2.03 Domestic Worker Contracts
§ 2.04 Union Contracts
§ 2.05 Conclusion

CHAPTER 3: EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES: DUTIES AND LIABILITIES
§ 3.01 Overview of Relational Duties
§ 3.02 Good Faith and Fair Dealing
§ 3.03 Loyalty
§ 3.04 Employers’ Liability
§ 3.05 Workplace Torts
§ 3.06 Defamation
§ 3.07 Employee Privacy
§ 3.08 Conclusion

CHAPTER 4: COLLECTIVE ACTION
§ 4.01 Introduction
§ 4.02 Federal Regulation of Private Sector Labor Relations
§ 4.03 Scope and Coverage of the NLRA
§ 4.04 Employee Rights Under the NLRA
§ 4.05 Representation Proceedings
§ 4.06 Collective Bargaining
§ 4.07 Employer Unfair Labor Practices
§ 4.08 Union Obligations
§ 4.09 Adjudication of Unfair Labor Practice Cases Before the NLRB
§ 4.10 Employee Grievance Resolution
§ 4.11 State Regulation of Private Sector Labor Relations
§ 4.12 Public Sector Labor Relations in D.C.
§ 4.13 Conclusion

Chapter 5: Hiring
§ 5.01 Introduction
§ 5.02 Employer’s Duty Not to Discriminate
§ 5.03 Job Postings, Recruitment, and Disclosures
§ 5.04 Interviewing
§ 5.05 Background Checks
§ 5.06 Selection and Job Offers
§ 5.07 Special Provisions for Deﬁned Categories of Workers
§ 5.08 Conclusion

CHAPTER 6: TESTING
§ 6.01 Introduction
§ 6.02 Drug and Alcohol Testing
§ 6.03 Polygraph Testing
§ 6.04 Medical Examinations
§ 6.05 Genetic Testing
§ 6.06 Fingerprinting
§ 6.07 Conclusion

CHAPTER 7: TERMINATION
§ 7.01 Introduction
§ 7.02 Ending the Employment Relationship
§ 7.03 Potential Liability Related to Termination
§ 7.04 Post-Termination Obligations
§ 7.05 Protections for Special Categories of Workers or Situations
§ 7.06 Conclusion

CHAPTER 8: UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION
§ 8.01 Unemployment Compensation
§ 8.02 Beneﬁts Eligibility
§ 8.03 Unemployment Fund and Employer Taxes
§ 8.04 Non-Discrimination Protections
§ 8.05 Conclusion

CHAPTER 9: THEORIES OF DISCRIMINATION
§ 9.01 General Principles
§ 9.02 Disparate Impact
§ 9.03 Disparate Treatment
§ 9.04 Harassment: Quid Pro Quo and Hostile Work Environment
§ 9.05 Conclusion

CHAPTER 10: DISCRIMINATION: CORE PROTECTIONS
§ 10.01 Introduction
§ 10.02 Federal and D.C. Laws
§ 10.03 Race and Color Discrimination
§ 12.04 Sex Discrimination
§ 12.05 National Origin Discrimination
§ 12.06 Discrimination Based on Religion
§ 12.07 Age Discrimination
§ 12.08 Disability Discrimination
§ 12.09 Additional Anti-Discrimination Protections
§ 12.10 Contracts and Section 1981
§ 12.11 Affirmative Action
§ 12.12 Conclusion

CHAPTER 11: ACCOMMODATIONS
§ 11.01 Introduction
§ 11.02 Accommodating Disability
§ 11.03 Accommodating Religion
§ 11.04 Accommodating Needs Related to “Pregnancy, Childbirth and Related Conditions”
§ 11.05 Accommodating Needs Related to Gender-Based Violence
§ 11.06 Accommodating Gender Identity and Expression
§ 11.07 Leave as a Reasonable Accommodation
§ 11.08 Conclusion

CHAPTER 12: HOURS OF WORK AND PAYMENT OF WAGES
§ 12.01 Introduction
§ 12.02 Wages
§ 12.03 Hours of Work
§ 12.04 Minimum Wages
§ 12.05 Overtime
§ 12.06 Payment of Wages
§ 12.07 Time Off From Work
§ 12.08 Special Wage and Hour Issues
§ 12.09 Conclusion

CHAPTER 13: SAFETY
§ 13.01 Introduction
§ 13.02 Occupational Safety and Health
§ 13.03 Additional District Safety and Heath Provisions
§ 13.04 Workers’ Compensation
§ 13.05 Conclusion

CHAPTER 14: EMPLOYEE HEALTH CARE, DISABILITY AND RETIREMENT PLANS, AND OTHER NON-WAGE COMPENSATION
§ 14.01 Overview
§ 14.02 Common Terminology
§ 14.03 Federal Statutory and Regulatory Framework
§ 14.04 D.C. Statutory and Regulatory Framework
§ 14.05 Employer-sponsored Health Beneﬁts
§ 14.06 Eligibility, Enrollment, and Continuation of Beneﬁts
§ 14.07 Employer Self-funding
§ 14.08 Group Life Insurance
§ 14.09 Employee Assistance Programs
§ 14.10 Employee Wellness Programs
§ 14.11 Retirement Beneﬁts
§ 14.12 Disability Beneﬁts
§ 14.13 Employee Privacy
§ 14.14 2025 Update: One Big Beautiful Bill Act
§ 14.15 Conclusion

CHAPTER 15: RETALIATION
§ 15.01 Introduction
§ 15.02 Statutory Retaliation Protections
§ 1503 Statutory Whistleblower Protections
§ 15.04 Other Whistleblower Protections for Employees
§ 15.05 Wrongful Termination in Violation of Public Policy
§ 15.06 Conclusion

CHAPTER 16: AFFIRMATIVE DEFENSES
§ 16.01 Deﬁning Affirmative Defenses
§ 16.02 Defenses Generally Available to Employers
§ 16.03 Additional Defenses Available Primarily in Discrimination Claims
§ 16.04 Defenses Available in Accommodation Claims
§ 16.05 Defenses Available in Other Claims
§ 16.06 Conclusion

CHAPTER 17: ENFORCEMENT AND REMEDIES
§ 17.01 Overview
§ 17.02 Options for Enforcing Workplace Disputes
§ 17.03 Remedies
§ 17.04 Fines, Penalties, and Restitution
§ 17.05 Conclusion

CHAPTER 18: NOTICES, RECORDKEEPING, AND REPORTING
§ 18.01 Introduction
§ 18.02 Employer Onboarding Documentation and Notices
§ 18.03 Required Workplace Posters
§ 18.04 Employer Record Retention Obligations
§ 18.05 Reporting Requirements
§ 18.06 Conclusion

Featured Authors

Marcy L. Karin Sophia Balemian-Spencer

Marcy L. Karin

Marcy L. Karin is a Professor of Law and Director of the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Women’s Rights and Gender Justice Clinic at Rutgers Law School in Newark, NJ. In addition to her clinical teaching, she offers courses in Employment Law, Employment Discrimination, Gender and the Law, Reproductive Justice, Disability Law, Legislation, Torts, and Service-Learning. Before joining Rutgers, Professor Karin served as the Jack and Lovell Olender Professor of Law and Director of the Legislation/Civil Rights Clinic at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. She previously led the Work-Life Law and Policy and Civil Justice Clinics as Director and Clinical Professor of Law at Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. Her academic career launched at Georgetown University Law Center as a Supervising Attorney and Teaching Fellow in the Federal Legislation and Administrative Clinic and as Counsel for Workplace Flexibility 2010. Before entering academia, she practiced labor and employment law as an Associate at Arent Fox PLLC. Professor Karin earned her LL.M. (with honors) from Georgetown University Law Center, her J.D. from Stanford Law School, and her B.A. (summa cum laude) in Justice and Gender Studies from American University.

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Sophia Balemian-Spencer

Sophia Balemian-Spencer’s professional passions lie at the intersection of employment, race, immigration, and gender/sexuality issues. She takes a community-informed approach to her legal and advocacy work, engaging directly with workers and organizers to ensure her efforts advance equity in
ways that are both responsive to community needs and grounded in lived experience.

Sophia is currently the Employment Policy Attorney at the National Domestic Workers Alliance (“NDWA”), where she advocates for stronger protections for domestic workers on the state and local level across the United States. Before joining NDWA, Sophia was a Georgetown Women’s Law and Public Policy Fellow—and later the Workers’ Rights Associate Counsel—at the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. In this role, she litigated on behalf of low-income D.C. residents of color facing employment discrimination, sexual harassment, wage theft, and misclassification issues. She also held internships at the National Latino Farmer and Ranchers Trade Association, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the National LGBTQ Task Force.

View All Books by Sophia Balemian-Spencer (1)

District of Columbia Employment and Labor Law

Featured Authors

Marcy L. Karin

Sophia Balemian-Spencer

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