2023 District of Columbia Code › Title 32 - Labor › Chapter 1 - Displaced Workers Protection › Subchapter II - Protections for Workers Displaced by COVID-19 › § 32–111.01. Definitions

§ 32–111.01. Definitions.
*NOTE: This subchapter, except for §§ 32-111.04 and 32-111.05, will expire on June 6, 2023.*
For the purposes of this subchapter, the term:
(1) "Change in controlling interest or identity of an employer" includes any combination of the following events that causes either a change in the entity or entities holding a controlling interest in an employer, or a change in the identity of an employer, after February 29, 2020; provided, that the business operations conducted by the new employer consist of the same or similar operations as those conducted by the employer existing on or before February 29, 2020:
(A) Any sale, assignment, transfer, contribution, or other disposition of a controlling interest in an employer by consolidation, merger, or reorganization of the employer, or of any entity or entities that maintains any ownership interest in the employer; or
(B) Any purchase, sale, lease, reorganization or restructuring, or relocation of the operation of an employer.
(2) "Contractor" means an individual or company, other than an employer, that employs 25 or more individuals and who has hired individuals to work as:
(A) Food service workers in a hotel, restaurant, cafeteria, apartment building, hospital, nursing care facility, or similar establishment;
(B) Persons to perform janitorial or building maintenance services in an office building, institution, or similar establishment;
(C) Nonprofessional employees to perform health care or related services in a hospital, nursing care facility, or similar establishment; or
(D) Persons to perform security services in an office building, institution, or similar establishment; provided that special police officers who are armed, and employees hired to perform security services for District of Columbia Public Schools or a public charter school shall not be included.
(3) "Covered establishment" means any of the following businesses in the District, a:
(A) Hotel;
(B) Restaurant, as defined in § 25-101(43), and any other establishment licensed by the District in the business of preparing or serving food to the public;
(C) Tavern, as defined in § 25-101(52);
(D) Brew pub, as defined in § 25-101(12)
(E) Nightclub, as defined in § 25-101(33);
(F) Club, as defined in § 25-101(15);
(G) Event or entertainment establishment or venue at which live performing arts, sporting events, or other entertainment events are held; or
(H) Business engaged in the sale of goods to consumers, but not including wholesalers.
(4)(A) "Eligible employee" means an individual who was employed to work at a covered establishment or for a contractor, and who ceased working at the covered establishment or for the contractor for reasons other than voluntary resignation or termination for cause, and
(i) If the individual was a hotel worker, the individual's last date of employment for the employer was between December 1, 2019, and the last day of the public health emergency declared by Mayor's Order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; or
(ii) If the individual was not a hotel worker, the individual's last date of employment for the contractor or employer was between March 1, 2020, and the last day of the public health emergency declared by Mayor's Order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
(B) The term "eligible employee" does not include an individual:
(i) Employed in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity as defined by the Secretary of Labor under section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, approved June 25, 1938 (52 Stat. 1067; 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1));
(ii) Who received severance from the individual's employer or contractor when the individual's employment ceased and whose employer or contractor has written, verifiable proof of the severance; or
(iii) Whose employer or contractor could have terminated the individual for demonstrable just cause when the individual previously worked for the employer or contractor.
(5) "Employer" means any entity, including a for-profit or nonprofit firm, partnership, proprietorship, sole proprietorship, limited liability company, association, corporation, or any receiver or trustee of an entity, including the legal representative of a deceased individual or receiver or trustee of an individual, who directly or indirectly or through an agent or any other person, including through the services of a temporary services or staffing agency or similar entity:
(A) Employs or exercises control over the wages, hours, or working conditions of an employee at a covered establishment;
(B) Is not a contractor;
(C) If the entity operates a hotel, the entity employed 50 or more individuals at a hotel on December 1, 2019; and
(D) If the entity does not operate a hotel, the entity employed 50 or more individuals at a covered establishment other than a hotel on March 1, 2020.
(6) "Hotel" means a hotel, motel, or similar establishment in the District, which provides lodging to transient guests.
(7) "Hotel worker" means an individual who is employed by an employer to work at a hotel.
(8) "New employer" means an employer created as a consequence of a change in controlling interest or identity of an employer.
(9) "Retained employee" means any individual, except individuals employed in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity as defined by the Secretary of Labor under section 13(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, approved June 25, 1938 (52 Stat. 1067; 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1)), who was working for an employer at a covered establishment when a change in controlling interest or identity of an employer occurred or when an employer was required to give notice of a change in controlling interest or the identity of the employer pursuant to § 32-111.03(c)(4).
(Apr. 26, 1994, D.C. Law 10-105, § 201; as added Apr. 27, 2021, D.C. Law 23-281, § 2(c), 68 DCR 001177.)
Emergency Legislation
For temporary (90 days) creation of, see § 2 of Displaced Workers Right to Reinstatement and Retention Congressional Review Emergency Amendment Act of 2021 (D.C. Act 24-69, May 3, 2021, 68 DCR 004914).
For temporary (90 days) creation of this section, see § 2(c) of Displaced Workers Right to Reinstatement and Retention Emergency Amendment Act of 2020 (D.C. Act 23-605, Jan. 13, 2021, 68 DCR 001213).