The Department of Employment Services (DOES) puts people to work. DOES achieves its mission by providing the necessary tools for the District of Columbia workforce to become more competitive using tailored approaches to ensure that workers and employers are successfully paired. DOES also fosters and promotes the welfare of job seekers and wage earners by ensuring safe working conditions, advancing opportunities for employment, helping employers find qualified workers, and tracking labor market information and other national economic measurements impacting the District of Columbia.

Summary of Services

DOES, the District of Columbia’s lead labor and workforce development agency, provides customers with a comprehensive menu of workforce development services funded through a combination of federal grants and Local appropriations. DOES delivers basic income support services to unemployed or underemployed persons who lost their jobs through no fault of their own through the Unemployment Insurance division. The Labor Standards division ensures a safe and healthy work environment for workers in the District, administers a program to provide benefits to qualified individuals with employment-related injuries or illnesses, administers the District’s wage-and-hour laws, and provides hearing and adjudication services to settle workers’ compensation disputes. DOES’s Workforce Development division provides job seekers with workforce development and training programs and services to ensure employers have access to qualified job candidates. Finally, DOES provides District youth with job training, academic enrichment, leadership, and employment opportunities through its Year-Round employment program, Mayor Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program, and Mayor Marion S. Barry Youth Leadership Institute.