(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, Mayor Bowser announced legislation that will offer new incentives for DC residents to become DC Government employees. Since coming into office, Mayor Bowser has put an emphasis on ensuring that more DC Government employees are also DC residents, and in fiscal year 2016, 51 percent of all DC Government hires were DC residents.
“The Government Employee Residency Act of 2017 will allow the DC Government to continue attracting the best and brightest talent in Washington, DC,” said Mayor Bowser. “By offering new incentives to work in DC Government, we will be better positioned to attract and retain strong talent. These reforms are a win-win for the DC Government and DC residents.”
The Government Employee Residency Act of 2017 will:
- provide student loan assistance for newly hired District residents with annual benefits of up to $10,000 for seven years;
- provide DC Department of Human Resources (DCHR) with the authority to quickly hire and make non-competitive appointments of DC residents to positions deemed “hard-to-fill” for which there is a critical hiring need;
- require DC residency for new employees deemed “highly compensated” (will be defined by rulemaking but will include salaries of $150,000 or more); and
- shift the burden of verifying residency from the applicant/appointee to the DCHR.
“This legislation will make DC Government more competitive and build on the work Mayor Bowser has done over the past two years to connect more DC residents to DC Government positions,” said DC Department of Human Resources Director Ventris Gibson. “Through our Direct Connect hiring events we are ensuring that DC residents know about open jobs in DC Government, and through this legislation we are giving residents even more reason to apply for and accept those jobs.”
Currently, DC law requires applicants who claim DC residency as well as Executive Service and Excepted Service employees who are appointed and subject to a domicile requirement to provide eight and fifteen forms of proof, respectively. Under the new legislation, the DC Department of Human Resources will be responsible for verifying an individual’s residency through the District personnel/payroll system and by working in concert with the Department of Motor Vehicles to secure agency-specific information.