May 13th, 2026
New Virginia Employment Laws: What Every Employer Needs to Know in 2026 and Beyond
Posted in: Personal Injury Tagged: Darla J. McClure
Virginia has enacted the most significant package of employment legislation in years, and the changes touch virtually every corner of the workplace, from how much you pay your employees to the agreements you can ask them to sign. Most of these new laws take effect on July 1, 2026, though several roll out on delayed timelines stretching into 2027, 2028, and 2029.
This article breaks down several major new laws in plain terms, explains what it means for your business, and highlights the steps you should be taking now to stay ahead of the curve.
I. Minimum Wage Is Going Up
Effective Date: Phased — $13.75 per hour on January 1, 2027; $15.00 per hour on January 1, 2028; automatic annual adjustments beginning January 1, 2029
Virginia’s minimum wage is currently $12.77 per hour as of January 1, 2026. Under the new law, that rate will climb to $13.75 per hour on January 1, 2027, and then reach $15.00 per hour on January 1, 2028. Beginning January 1, 2029, the minimum wage will adjust automatically each year based on changes in the Consumer Price Index, so employers should expect continued annual increases for the foreseeable future.
II. Paid Sick Leave Now Covers All Employees
Effective Date: July 1, 2027
This law represents a dramatic expansion of Virginia’s paid sick leave obligations. Until now, the Commonwealth’s sick leave mandate covered only a narrow category of home health workers. Going forward, every employee regardless of industry will earn at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours on the job, up to an annual ceiling of 40 hours, with the ability to roll unused hours into the following year. As an alternative to tracking accrual, employers may choose to front-load the full 40 hours at the start of each benefit year.
Permissible uses of leave extend beyond personal illness and medical appointments to include caring for a sick family member and addressing circumstances arising from domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Employees who transfer within the organization keep their hours, and the obligation travels to any successor employer as well. Employees will have an independent right to sue, with successful plaintiffs entitled to recover twice the value of the withheld leave in addition to any actual damages sustained.
Although the compliance deadline is not until July 1, 2027 for employers with 50 or more employees, and January 1, 2028 for employers with 25 or more employees and all remaining employers will need to comply by January 1, 2029, employers should use the intervening time to overhaul their PTO and leave policies, configure payroll systems for accrual tracking, and educate managers on how leave may be used and the prohibition against retaliation.
III. A New Statewide Paid Family and Medical Leave Program
Effective Date: Payroll contributions begin April 1, 2028; benefits available starting approximately January 1, 2029
Virginia has created a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program, making it the latest jurisdiction in the Mid-Atlantic region, alongside the District of Columbia and Maryland, to adopt this type of mandatory benefit. Once benefits become available, eligible workers will be able to receive up to 12 workweeks of wage-replacement benefits equal to 80 percent of their average weekly earnings. Qualifying reasons for leave include the employee’s own serious health condition, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, bonding with a new child, and qualifying military exigencies.
Funding will come from shared payroll contributions, split between employers and employees. Employers are authorized to pass up to half of the total premium cost through to workers via payroll deductions. Contributions are slated to begin on April 1, 2028.
The extended timeline before contributions and benefits kick in gives employers an important planning window. Use it to map how this new program will layer onto your current leave architecture, including FMLA, short-term disability, and any voluntary PTO policies.
IV. Employers Can No Longer Ask About Salary History and Must Post Pay Ranges
Effective Date: January 1, 2027
Virginia has become the latest state to bar employers from asking about, or relying on, an applicant’s prior compensation when setting pay or making hiring decisions. There is a limited exception: an applicant may voluntarily share salary history, but only after receiving an initial compensation offer, and the employer may consider that information solely to support a higher offer.
Separately, the law imposes a new pay transparency obligation, requiring employers to include a salary or wage range in every external job advertisement as well as any internal posting for a promotion or transfer. Posted ranges must be set in “good faith,” as determined by the totality of the circumstances.
Robust anti-retaliation protections are built into the statute, and as a result, employers may not take adverse action against anyone who refuses to share pay history or who asks about the compensation range for a role. Workers who experience violations may bring suit individually or collectively, and prevailing plaintiffs are entitled to statutory damages ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 (or actual damages if higher) along with attorney’s fees and costs. Posting-related claims are subject to a 15-day notice-and-cure period before litigation may be initiated.
Before the January 1, 2027, effective date, employers need to scrub their applications, interview guides, and onboarding workflows of any salary history questions. Every open position, both internal and external, should carry a compensation range developed in good faith. Targeted training for recruiters and hiring managers is essential, because asking about prior pay has been a routine part of the hiring conversation for decades and old habits can be hard to break.
V. Non-Compete Agreements Now Require Severance or they are Unenforceable
Effective Date: July 1, 2026; applies to agreements entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026
Virginia has fundamentally reshaped the enforceability of non-compete agreements. Under the new law, a non-compete covenant is void and unenforceable whenever an employer terminates an employee without cause and fails to provide severance or some other form of monetary compensation. Importantly, whatever severance or monetary consideration the employer intends to rely on must be spelled out and communicated to the employee at the time the agreement is signed and not after the fact.
There are several open questions employers should be aware of. The law does not define “cause,” “severance benefits,” or “other monetary payment,” and it does not set a minimum dollar amount for the severance that must be paid. There is also no explicit safe harbor for non-competes negotiated as part of a business sale.
If an employer runs afoul of this law, the consequences can be significant. An affected employee has two years to file a lawsuit to void the agreement and seek damages, back pay, and attorney’s fees. Employers also face civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. In addition, every employer must display the text of the law, or a state-approved summary, alongside its other required workplace postings. Failure to post can result in fines of up to $1,000.
Every employer that uses non-competes in Virginia should overhaul its template agreements before July 1, 2026. At a minimum, revised agreements should specify the severance or monetary payment the employee will receive and disclose that information upfront. Given the statute’s silence on what constitutes “cause,” employers would be well advised to include a clear contractual definition of that term to reduce ambiguity. Remember that any agreement entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026, is subject to the new rules.
VI. Non-Competes Are Now Banned for Health Care Professionals
Effective Date: July 1, 2026
In a separate but related change, Virginia has enacted a near-total prohibition on non-compete agreements for health care workers. Employers may no longer enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a non-compete against any covered health care professional.
The ban is not absolute and the law carves out several notable exceptions. First, confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements aimed at safeguarding trade secrets and proprietary business information are unaffected. Second, non-compete covenants executed as part of the sale of a health care practice or business remain valid, so long as they are reasonable in scope, duration, and geographic reach. Third, employers retain the right to recoup recruitment-related expenditures, such as relocation costs, signing bonuses, retention bonuses, and training investments, when a health care professional departs within five years of hire.
The law also includes a patient-communication safeguard: departing professionals are entitled to notify their patients that they are relocating their practice, remind patients of their freedom to choose any provider, and share updated contact information.
Health care organizations should inventory every restrictive covenant currently in place with physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, counselors, and optometrists. Going forward, employment agreements for these professionals should omit non-compete language entirely. Employers can still protect legitimate business interests through carefully drafted non-solicitation provisions, confidentiality agreements, and training-cost recoupment clauses.
VII. Domestic Workers Are Now Entitled to Overtime Pay
Effective Date: July 1, 2027
For the first time, Virginia’s overtime law will apply to domestic workers. Once the law takes effect, these workers will be entitled to time-and-a-half pay for every hour worked beyond 40 in a single workweek. The statute’s definition of “domestic worker” casts a wide net, encompassing childcare providers, housekeepers, personal caregivers, cooks, gardeners, and similar roles performed in a private household regardless of whether the worker is full-time, part-time, hourly, or salaried.
Households and home-staffing businesses alike should implement timekeeping systems for domestic workers well before the July 1, 2027 deadline, and should verify that their compensation structures account for overtime at the required premium rate.
Looking Ahead
Taken together, the laws enacted during the 2026 session represent a fundamental shift in Virginia’s regulatory posture toward employers. The scope of reform, which spans wage floors, paid leave at both the sick-leave and family-leave levels, compensation transparency, and sweeping non-compete limitations, places the Commonwealth squarely among the nation’s most employee-protective jurisdictions.
With effective dates scattered across a three-year window from July 1, 2026, through 2029, employers cannot afford to tackle these changes reactively. We recommend developing a phased compliance roadmap, prioritized by effective date, that addresses policy rewrites, payroll and benefits system modifications, restrictive covenant template overhauls, and manager education. Partnering with experienced labor and employment counsel early in that process will help ensure nothing falls through the cracks.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Employers should consult with qualified legal counsel regarding the application of these laws to their specific circumstances.
