US state regulation
District of Columbia
Every state-level regulation PlainRegWatch tracks for District of Columbia - across data privacy, AI, food chemical bans, right to repair and worker protection, with status, effective dates and official sources.
- 34/100
- Strictness score
- 3
- Regulations tracked
- 3
- Enacted into law
- 1/5
- Categories regulated
The verdict
District of Columbia is a light-touch regulator - 3 enacted regulations across 1 of 5 tracked policy areas, scoring 34/100 for regulatory strictness, led by Employment & Worker Protection.
- 34/100
- strictness score (vs peers)
- 3
- regulations enacted
- 1/5
- policy areas regulated
- Employment & Worker Protection
- most-active policy area
Strictness is a 0–100 composite of regulatory breadth and the enacted share; see methodology for how it is derived.
Regulatory Snapshot: District of Columbia
District of Columbia currently tracks 3 regulations in the PlainRegWatch database, of which 3 are enacted and 0 remain pending before the state legislature. The state's composite strictness score sits at 34/100, classifying District of Columbia as a light-touch regulator compared to its peers. Regulatory activity spans 1 of 5 policy categories covered by PlainRegWatch, with Employment & Worker Protection representing the most active area (3 enacted rules).
The earliest tracked District of Columbia enactment dates to 2017, with the most recent documented enactment in 2023 - a window of 6 years of legislative activity. Across the 50-state fleet, District of Columbia contributes to a national total that PlainRegWatch maintains across categories such as AI Regulation, Data Privacy, Employment & Worker Protection, Food Chemical Bans and more, each with distinct compliance obligations.
Compliance teams monitoring District of Columbia should treat the 3-enacted / 0-pending split as a leading indicator: pending bills in this state often signal the shape of future regulation in neighboring jurisdictions with similar strictness scores. For the authoritative statutory text of any District of Columbia regulation listed below, follow the source link on its detail page, PlainRegWatch links every entry to the official state legislative record.
💼 Employment & Worker Protection
DC Minimum Wage Revision Act
D.C. Code 32-1003 Effective: 2025-07-01DC minimum wage $17.50/hr (2025). Tipped workers moving to full minimum wage by 2027 (Initiative 82 eliminates tip credit).
DC Paid Family Leave + ESSTA
DC Code 32-531 Effective: 2020-07-01DC universal paid family leave: 12 weeks bonding, 12 weeks medical, 12 weeks family care. Employer-funded. Sick leave separate.
DC Salary History Non-Disclosure Act
B22-0159 Effective: 2017-10-23DC prohibits employers from screening applicants based on wage history.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Related
What this means for District of Columbia
District of Columbia's regulatory activity is concentrated in employment & worker protection - the area to watch for compliance.
- Employment & Worker Protection is District of Columbia's most-regulated area (3 enacted rules). Compare states
- District of Columbia regulates across 1 of 5 tracked policy areas, with 0 bills still pending.
- See how District of Columbia ranks against other states on regulatory strictness and volume. View rankings
Figures reflect regulations currently tracked from official District of Columbia legislative records; coverage expands as new laws are enacted.
Source: State regulatory filings (IAPP / MultiState aggregation) District of Columbia state-rule registry · 2023 State regulatory data aggregated from official state filings; status (enacted/pending/proposed) reflects latest legislative tracker snapshot.
Every figure on PlainRegWatch is rendered directly from state source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on federal and state source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.