Employment Offer: District of Columbia

Federal law and guidance on this subject should be reviewed together with this section.

Authors: Stuart R. Buttrick and Tareen Zafrullah, Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

Summary

• Under District of Columbia law, an at-will employment relationship can be converted to a contractual employment relationship if the employment offer's surrounding facts and circumstances show that was the intent of the employer and employee. See Employer and Employee Intent.
• District government agencies or private entities that provide direct services to children may extend provisional offers of employment to applicants awaiting the results of criminal background checks. See Conditional Employment Offers.
• Applicants of safety-sensitive positions may receive provisional offers of employment while awaiting satisfactory drug test results. See Conditional Employment Offers.
• An employer is free to withdraw an employment offer before the applicant accepts the offer, but special consideration should be given when withdrawing offers from disabled applicants or applicants who have relied on the offer. See Withdrawing Employment Offers.
• District of Columbia agency employers that are accepting applications after a layoff or furlough may be required to first consider individuals on the agency reemployment priority list. See Agency Reemployment Priority Lists.