On January 10, 2024, D.C. Mayor, Muriel Bowser, signed the “Minimum Wage Clarification Amendment Act of 2023” into law. If the Act is not overturned by Congress, it will expand the circumstances where employers must pay employees D.C.’s minimum wage (currently $17.00 an hour for non-tipped employees).

Under existing law, employers are required to pay employees D.C.’s minimum wage for all hours worked when: (1) “the employee regularly spends more than 50% of their working time in” D.C.; or (2) the employee’s employment is based in” D.C. and the employee “regularly spends a substantial amount of their working time in the District of Columbia and not more than 50% of their working time in any particular state.” Existing law also includes certain exceptions for security officers.

The Act adds a new circumstance when employees must be paid D.C.’s minimum wage, providing that an employee “shall not be paid less than the District’s minimum wage for each hour worked in the District when an employee performs at least 2 hours of work in the District, for the same employer, within one workweek.”

The Act will take effect following a 30-day Congressional review period and publication in the D.C. Register.

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