Washington D.C employees would receive 16 weeks of paid family-leave to care for a sick relative under proposed plan

• The DC Council's legislation would apply to both full and part-time workers who need to take time off for an illness, newborn or sick relative
• In the last 10 years only California, New Jersey and Rhode Island have passed similar laws - offering six weeks of partial paid leave 
• The DC plan would apply to those who work in the city as well as residents employed outside of the nation's capital 
• Workers earning up to $52,000 a year would get 100 percent of pay for the maximum 16 weeks
• The DC Chamber of Commerce is pushing back against the proposal 

By Associated Press and Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: 00:59 EST, 18 October 2015 | Updated: 06:19 EST, 18 October 2015

Workers in Washington, D.C. could receive 16 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or sick relative if new legislation supported by the Obama administration is approved. 

The D.C. Council's legislation, which was introduced Tuesday, would be the most generous family-leave benefits in the country, more than doubling the length of any other paid-leave program. 

In the past 10 years, just three states have passed similar laws. California and New Jersey offer six weeks of partial paid leave.

Workers in Washington, D.C. could receive 16 weeks of paid leave to care for a newborn or sick relative if new legislation supported by the Obama administration is approved (file photo) 

Both full and part-time workers would be able to use the time to bond with an infant or adopted child, recover from an illness, recuperate from a military deployment, or to care for an ill family member.

The plan would apply to those who work in Washington, D.C. as well as city residents employed outside of the nation's capital.   

The only employees who would be excluded are Virginia and Maryland residents who work for the federal government, which the city can't force to participate.

A government-run fund created by a new tax on employers would pay for the benefit. Workers earning up to $52,000 a year would get 100 percent of pay for the maximum 16 weeks. 

Higher earners could get $1,000 weekly plus 50 percent of additional income up to a maximum of $3,000.

The D.C. Chamber of Commerce is pushing back against the proposal, writing in a letter to the council on Monday that the program would make the city 'dangerously uncompetitive.' 

The D.C. Council's legislation, which was introduced Tuesday, would be the most generous family-leave benefits in the country, more than doubling the length of any other paid-leave program (file photo) 

The president of the Chamber of Commerce, Harry Wingo, called the move 'unprecedented' and bad for city businesses.

D.C. Council member David Grosso, who introduced the bill along with six other members of the 13-member council, said in a statement Tuesday that the so-called Universal Paid Leave Act 'will support our D.C. workers and families.'

The Obama administration has made $1million in grant money from the Labor Department available to cities and states working to expand access to paid leave, according to Fox News. 

At least $96,000 of that money would be used to kick start the DC plan, and city employers would be taxed on a sliding scale to add to that fund. 

Businesses where workers' salaries are at least $150,000 ta year would pay the equivalent of one percent, making the cost $1,500 a year. 

Companies that pay the minimum wage in D.C., which is $10.50 an hour, would pay $131 annually for each employee, around 0.6 percent of their salary.  

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