DC Family Leave Eligibility Question

[Anonymous]

My husband and I live in VA, but he recently got a job in person in DC as of this month. He travels to DC 3x /a week for his full-time job. His DC employer doesn't offer their own family leave program but said he could apply for DC Family leave when he eventually becomes a father. I am seeing conflicting information online about eligibility. Some websites say that “an employee must have worked at least 1,000 hours during the 12-month period immediately before the requested leave.” Since he is a full-time employee, he would hit 1,000 hours right around 6 months. So my question is:

Will he need to work with his new employer for 1,000 hours before he is eligible for parental leave? Or... Will he need to work a full year before he can take his 12 weeks of parental leave?

I am unclear on the exact work-hour requirements for eligibility. I emailed the DC government help desk email, and they never responded to me. My husband was also digging for info from his HR department, and they were also unhelpful. We are anxious about family planning and have been putting off TTC for a while. We would prefer not to delay much longer but want to be smart about it. Thank you so much for your help!!

[Anonymous]

It's 1,000 hours during the preceding 12 months.

[Anonymous]

He needs to work there for 12 months. By the way DC FMLA provides 16 weeks of leave. DC PFL only pays benefits for 12 (up to a weekly maximum, so it might not cover his salary).

[Anonymous]

An employee is eligible for DC Paid Family Leave immediately. (I once had a new employee go out after 2 weeks to have a boob job and got an approval/confirmation letter from DOES.) The max benefit is a little over a thousand bucks a week, for 12 weeks.

FMLA has the 1000 hour requirement and is unpaid but gives job protection.

I don't know what would happen if it was too early to qualify for FMLA but you applied for DCPFL-I don't know if your employer could fire you because DCPFL policy states that you can't retaliate against someone for taking it.