If you are an employer in the District of Columbia, your employees are owed certain compensation. To avoid wage disputes and substantial fines, make sure your employees have been properly paid for their work.

How much and when do you need to pay your employees? Under the District of Columbia Minimum Wage Act, most employees within the District of Columbia are protected and must be paid the minimum wage. The minimum wage in the District increased to $16.10 per hour on June 1, 2022. Tipped employees must be paid a minimum cash wage of $5.35 under the Act. If an employee has not been paid the wages they are owed, the District of Columbia Wage Payment and Collection Law allows employees to recover 10% of those unpaid wages for each day they go unpaid or are late. If an employee works more than 40 hours per week (or if your workweek is less, then based upon that workweek), they may be entitled to receive 1.5 times their regular wages. If an employer fails to pay their employee wages earned for overtime, they may be liable for up to 4 times the amount that was unpaid. Don’t forget to pay split shift time if you split the shift more than 60 minutes.

If an employee has been fired, when do you owe them payments? If an employee has been fired, an employer must pay the employee their earned wages no later than the following business day. However, if the employee owes money to the employer, the employer is allowed 4 days from the date of the firing to pay all the wages owed to the employee after determining the accuracy of the employee’s accounts.

If an employee resigns, when do you owe them payments? If an employee resigns, the employer must pay the employee their earned wages upon the next regular payday or within 7 days from the date the employee quit, whichever is earlier.

Make sure you’re compensating your employees appropriately to avoid claims being brought against you. Contact Weiss LLP for more information.