Virginia Employment Law Changes Now in Effect

by Kasey Hoare Michelle and Nancy Y. Simpson

During its 2026 legislative session, the Virginia General Assembly enacted a number of significant employment law changes that take effect July 1, 2026. These new laws affect a broad range of workplace issues, including wage and salary transparency, restrictive covenants, wage and hour enforcement, employee classification, volunteer emergency responder leave, and child labor. Employers should ensure that their policies, employment agreements, hiring practices, and payroll procedures comply with these new legal requirements.

Below is a summary of the principal employment law changes now in effect, along with practical steps employers should take to ensure ongoing compliance.

Wage Transparency and Salary History Requirements

With the passage of Senate Bill 215/House Bill 636, Virginia has joined a growing number of states limiting employers’ use of salary history and requiring greater pay transparency during the hiring process.

Effective today, employers may not ask applicants about their current or former salaries, consider salary history when making interview, hiring, or promotion decisions, or refuse to interview or otherwise retaliate against an applicant who declines to disclose salary history. Employers may consider salary history only if an applicant voluntarily discloses it to support compensation higher than the employer’s initial offer and only if doing so complies with Virginia’s Equal Pay Act.

The new law also requires employers to disclose the wage, salary, or wage or salary range in both public and internal job postings, including postings for transfers and promotions. Any posted salary range must be established in good faith and accurately reflect the compensation the employer reasonably expects to offer for the position. 

The statute defines “wage or salary range” as “the minimum and maximum wage or salary for the position, set in good faith by reference to any applicable pay scale, any previously determined wage or salary range for the position, the actual range of wages or salaries for persons currently holding equivalent positions, or the budgeted amount available for the position, as applicable.” In determining whether a range was set in good faith, a court will consider the breadth of the range.

Failure to comply with either the salary history restrictions or the wage transparency requirements may result in civil penalties of up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $5,000 for subsequent violations. The law also provides applicants with a private right of action for actual damages and equitable relief, although wage transparency claims require the applicant to first provide notice of the alleged violation and an opportunity to cure.

Employer Action Item: Employers should review all current internal and external job postings to ensure they include compliant salary ranges, remove salary history questions from employment applications and interview materials, and train hiring managers on the new statutory requirements.

New Limitations on Restrictive Covenants

Virginia law governing restrictive covenants has continued to evolve, and the General Assembly enacted several additional protections for employees that take effect today.

First, Senate Bill 170 amends Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:8 to limit the enforceability of certain non-compete agreements following an employer-initiated termination. Under the new law, an employer generally may not enforce a non-compete agreement against an employee whom the employer terminates unless the employer provides severance benefits or other monetary payment to the employee. The employer must disclose the severance or other monetary benefit when the non-compete agreement is executed.

Importantly, this requirement applies only when the employer discharges the employee without cause. It does not apply to employees who voluntarily resign, nor does it apply to employees terminated for cause. In addition, the new requirement applies only to non-compete agreements entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026.

House Bill 627/Senate Bill 128 also expands Virginia’s existing prohibition on non-compete agreements with low-wage employees to include many licensed health care professionals, including individuals licensed, registered, or certified by the Boards of Medicine, Nursing, Counseling, Optometry, Psychology, and Social Work. The legislation preserves several important exceptions, including:

• Nondisclosure agreements protecting trade secrets and confidential or proprietary information;
• Restrictive covenants entered into in connection with the sale of a health care practice, provided the restrictive covenants are reasonable in scope, duration, and geographic area;
• Agreements requiring repayment of recruitment-related costs (including relocation expenses, signing or retention bonuses, and other replacement costs), and certain recruiting, education, or training expenses for departing health care professionals who were employed for fewer than five years; and
• Patient non-solicitation agreements that satisfy the statutory requirements, including allowing departing providers to inform patients of their continuing practice, new contact information, and the patient’s right to choose a health care provider.

Effective today, employers may no longer enter into prohibited non-compete agreements with covered health care professionals except as expressly permitted by the statute. The legislation does not expressly invalidate non-compete agreements entered into before July 1, 2026. Accordingly, employers should ensure that any restrictive covenant entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026 complies with the new statutory requirements.

Employers that violate these restrictions may face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. In addition, employees who are required to enter into an unlawful restrictive covenant may bring a civil action seeking to void the agreement and may recover injunctive relief, liquidated damages, lost compensation, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.

Employer Action Item: Employers, particularly those in the health care industry, should promptly review their restrictive covenant agreements and template employment documents to ensure that any agreements entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026 comply with the new statutory requirements. Employers that rely on non-compete agreements should also evaluate whether to include severance or other monetary benefits in new agreements covered by Senate Bill 170 if they wish to preserve the ability to enforce those agreements following a termination without cause.

Overhaul of Wage and Hour and Employee Classification Laws

House Bill 238 substantially revises Virginia’s wage payment, overtime, prevailing wage, and worker misclassification statutes. Among the legislation’s most significant changes, it expands the definition of “employer” across numerous wage statutes to include individuals acting directly or indirectly in the employer’s interest, creating greater consistency among Virginia’s wage payment, overtime, prevailing wage, and worker misclassification statutes. It also broadens the statutory definition of “wages” to include hourly pay, salaries, overtime compensation, commissions, bonuses, tips, prevailing wages, piece-rate and day-rate compensation, and damages recoverable in worker misclassification actions. The legislation also requires employers to retain employee paystubs for at least three years.

In addition, House Bill 238 significantly expands the remedies available to employees asserting wage claims or alleging worker misclassification. The law authorizes liquidated and treble damages, extends the statute of limitations to three years, permits collective actions for certain wage claims, and authorizes the Virginia Labor Commissioner to initiate enforcement actions without first receiving a written employee complaint.

For employers in the construction industry, the legislation strengthens prevailing wage requirements for public works projects by requiring contractors to post prevailing wage rates on-site, retain payroll and worker classification records for six years, and submit sworn certifications regarding pay practices. The law also increases the potential exposure of general contractors for subcontractors’ wage violations by limiting the availability of existing statutory defenses and expanding joint liability on covered public work projects.

Employer Action Item: Employers should review employee classifications, wage payment practices, payroll procedures, record retention policies, and contractor oversight practices to ensure compliance with the expanded enforcement provisions and new paystub retention requirement.

Volunteer Emergency Responder Leave

Senate Bill 100 creates new employment protections for volunteer emergency responders, defined as “active member[s] in good standing of a volunteer fire department or volunteer emergency medical services agency or auxiliary unit thereof,” who are absent from work due to their volunteer responsibilities in the case of an emergency. Employers may not discharge, discipline, threaten, discriminate against, or otherwise retaliate against employees who are absent from work while responding to emergencies as volunteer firefighters or volunteer emergency medical services personnel.

Employees generally must provide at least one hour’s notice before leaving work, when practicable, and must provide supporting documentation upon returning to work. Although employers are not required to compensate employees for time spent responding to emergencies, they must allow employees to use available paid time off or sick leave in lieu of unpaid leave if such leave is otherwise available. Employees who experience unlawful retaliation may seek reinstatement, lost wages and benefits, injunctive relief, attorneys’ fees, and costs.

Child Labor and Apprenticeship Changes

Senate Bill 10/House Bill 275 expands Virginia’s child labor protections while creating a limited exception that allows certain minors participating in qualifying apprenticeship and work-training programs to perform work that otherwise might not have been permitted. The legislation continues Virginia’s existing restrictions on hazardous occupations for minors and now incorporates occupations designated as hazardous by the U.S. Secretary of Labor.

The law also creates a limited exception permitting certain minors who are at least sixteen years old to perform work in culinary arts or information technology that would otherwise be prohibited under Virginia’s child labor laws. To qualify, the minor must be continuously enrolled in an accredited secondary school, be on track to graduate as verified by a school counselor or administrator, be registered as an apprentice, and participate in a qualifying work-training program that complies with all applicable federal and state labor laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act and OSHA. 

Looking Ahead

The changes that took effect today represent some of the most significant revisions to Virginia employment law in recent years. Employers should take this opportunity to review their employment policies, restrictive covenant agreements, hiring practices, compensation procedures, and recordkeeping systems to ensure they comply with these new legal requirements.

This article focuses on the employment law changes that became effective on July 1, 2026. A forthcoming article will discuss additional employment law changes that will take effect in the months and years ahead, including, but not limited to, Virginia’s new paid sick leave requirements, paid family and medical leave program, scheduled minimum wage increases, and other significant legislative developments that employers should begin preparing for now.

If you have concerns about how these new laws affect your business, please seek the advice of counsel.