State labor lawRead at source, 24 September 2026

Virginia Labor Laws for Employers (2026): Breaks, Overtime, Pay Transparency and Hiring

Virginia has no meal or rest break requirement for adults; workers under 16 get 30 minutes after 5 hours. Overtime follows federal law, time and a half after 40 hours a week, with no daily rule. Final pay is due by the next regular payday. Since July 1, 2026, every job posting must show the pay or pay range, and employers may not ask about salary history. Statewide paid sick leave starts July 1, 2027 for employers with 50 or more employees. The minimum wage is $12.77 and rises to $13.75 on January 1, 2027; see our Virginia minimum wage page.

Virginia employment law at a glance

Virginia's 2026 legislative session rewrote a large part of its employment law. A minimum wage schedule to $15.00, a pay-transparency law already in effect, a statewide paid sick leave law that starts in July 2027, and a paid family and medical leave program that starts collecting in 2028 all came out of it. Several of these take effect on different dates, so the table shows what applies today, with the scheduled changes noted.

Virginia break laws

Virginia does not require meal or rest breaks for employees 16 and older. The only statutory meal break is for younger teens: "No child shall be employed or permitted to work for more than five hours continuously without an interval of at least 30 minutes for a lunch period" (Va. Code 40.1-80.1), which applies to workers under 16. The U.S. Department of Labor's state meal-period table also lists no general adult rule for Virginia. See our meal break laws by state for comparison.

When you do give breaks, federal law decides pay. Rest periods of about 5 to 20 minutes "must be counted as hours worked" (29 CFR 785.18), and a meal period is unpaid only if the employee is fully relieved of duty.

Lactation

The federal PUMP Act requires reasonable break time and a private space, other than a bathroom, to express breast milk for up to a year after birth. Virginia adds a state duty: the Virginia Department of Health summarizes the 2020 law as requiring employers to "make reasonable accommodations for lactating workers, including more frequent breaks to express breast milk and access to a private location to do so" (VDH).

Virginia overtime laws

Virginia uses the federal overtime standard but gives employees a state-law claim to enforce it. Va. Code 40.1-29.2 makes "any employer that violates the overtime pay requirements of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act" liable under Virginia's wage payment law, and an action must be brought "within three years after accrual."

• The rule: time and a half for hours over 40 in a workweek. No daily overtime.
• Exemptions: the federal white-collar tests and salary level of $684 a week (29 CFR 541.600) apply; Virginia sets no separate threshold.
• Damages are larger than people expect. Under Va. Code 40.1-29(K), an employee can recover the wages owed plus an equal amount as liquidated damages, interest and attorney fees, and a knowing violation brings triple the wages due.
• Domestic service workers: 2026 legislation would remove their overtime exemption from July 1, 2028, but only if the 2027 General Assembly reenacts it. Check DOLI before relying on either answer.

More on weekly and daily rules across states: overtime laws by state.

Paying employees in Virginia

Minimum wage

Virginia's minimum wage is $12.77 an hour from January 1, 2026 (DOLI timeline). HB 1 and SB 1, signed in April 2026, set $13.75 on January 1, 2027 and $15.00 on January 1, 2028, with annual CPI-U adjustments set by the Commissioner of Labor and Industry from January 1, 2029 (Va. Code 40.1-28.10; Governor’s release). Tipped employees (more than $30 a month in tips) can be paid $2.13 in cash wages, but wages plus tips must reach the full minimum. The Act excludes some workers from its definition of employee, including people under 16 and full-time students under 18 working no more than 20 hours a week, though federal law may still require $7.25 for them (Va. Code 40.1-28.9). The farm-laborer exclusion is removed from January 1, 2027. The details are on our Virginia minimum wage page.

Pay frequency, pay statements and deductions

Va. Code 40.1-29 requires employers to pay "salaried employees at least once each month and employees paid on an hourly rate at least once every two weeks or twice in each month." Each payday needs a paystub or online statement showing hours worked, rate of pay, gross wages and "the amount and purpose of any deductions." No deduction is allowed beyond taxes or what law requires without the employee's "written and signed authorization." See pay frequency laws by state.

Final paychecks

When employment ends for any reason, the employee must be paid "all wages due him for work performed prior thereto; such payment shall be made on or before the date on which he would have been paid for such work had his employment not been terminated" (Va. Code 40.1-29). In practice that means the next regular payday. Virginia treats vacation and PTO as a matter of your policy; see PTO payout laws by state and final paycheck laws by state.

Virginia hiring laws

Virginia is now one of the states where the job posting itself is regulated, so the hiring checklist starts before the ad goes live.

• Pay transparency. Since July 1, 2026, employers must "disclose in each public and internal posting for each job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity the wage, salary, or wage or salary range" (Va. Code 40.1-28.7:12). Penalties run up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $5,000 for a subsequent one. An employer that corrects a posting within 15 business days of written notice avoids a private action over it. See pay transparency laws by state.
• Salary history. The same section bars employers from seeking a prospective employee's wage or salary history or relying on it.
• Background checks. Virginia's ban-the-box law covers state agencies, which may not ask about arrests or convictions on the initial application (Va. Code 2.2-2812.1). Private employers may ask, but may not require an applicant to disclose an arrest, charge, conviction or civil offense that has been expunged (Va. Code 19.2-392.4). See ban-the-box laws by state.
• E-Verify. Required of state agencies (40.1-11.2) and of employers averaging more than 50 employees that sign a state contract over $50,000 (2.2-4308.2). No general private-employer mandate. See E-Verify requirements by state.
• Form I-9. Required for every hire under federal law. See Form I-9 requirements.
• New-hire reporting. Report "within 20 days of the employment" to the Virginia New Hire Reporting Center; independent contractors are reported within 20 days of the contract's start (Va. Code 63.2-1946).
• Minors and work permits. No child under 16 may work without an employment certificate that the employer keeps on file (Va. Code 40.1-84); DOLI issues them through an electronic work permit process, so families no longer apply at school. See child labor laws by state.
• Non-competes. Virginia bans non-competes with any "low-wage employee," a term that now includes anyone entitled to overtime under the FLSA (Va. Code 40.1-28.7:8). A non-compete in an hourly offer letter is unenforceable and the statute prohibits even threatening to enforce one.

Paid leave in Virginia

Today, Virginia's paid sick leave law covers only home health workers who average at least 20 hours a week or 90 hours a month (Va. Code 40.1-33.3). That changes under HB 5 and SB 199, signed in May 2026 (Governor’s release):

• Who is covered, and when: employers of at least 50 employees from July 1, 2027; at least 25 employees from January 1, 2028; and every employer with at least one employee from January 1, 2029 (Va. Code 40.1-33.6:1).
• Accrual: "a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked" (40.1-33.6:2).
• Cap: an employee does not accrue or use more than 40 hours a year unless the employer sets a higher limit. Unused leave carries over.

Separately, Virginia created a paid family and medical leave insurance program run by the Virginia Employment Commission. Payroll contributions begin April 1, 2028, and workers can apply for benefits from December 1, 2028. Employers with 10 or fewer employees do not pay the employer share. The VEC sets the 2028 rate by October 1, 2027 (VEC PFML page).

Posters and records

DOLI lists Virginia's required notices on its required posters page, including the annual minimum wage poster, which changes every January. Our labor law posters by state page links every state's source. Keep payroll records that support the paystub fields above, because 40.1-29 requires the statement to show hours and deductions.

Local ordinances in Virginia

Virginia sets its minimum wage, pay transparency and sick leave rules at the state level, and we did not find a Virginia city or county that sets its own minimum wage, sick leave or scheduling rule for private employers. The local rules that exist, such as municipal ban-the-box policies, cover the locality's own hiring. Northern Virginia employers with staff in Washington, D.C. or Maryland should check those jurisdictions separately, since their rules differ. See predictive scheduling laws by state.

What this means when you're hiring hourly workers in Virginia

The pay-transparency law makes the job ad a compliance document. Every Virginia posting, public or internal, needs the wage or range from the first day it runs. That fits how hourly hiring works anyway: pay in the first line, then shift and location, then a short application. Our guide to job ad copywriting shows how to write that first line.

Then plan for the dates. The minimum rises to $13.75 on January 1, 2027 and $15.00 a year later, paid sick leave arrives for employers of 50 or more in July 2027, and PFML contributions start in April 2028. Price roles you are filling now against next year's numbers with the employee cost calculator, and see how we fill frontline jobs quickly.

Frequently asked questions

Sources read 24 September 2026: Code of Virginia (LIS) Title 40.1, 2.2-2812.1, 2.2-4308.2, 19.2-392.4, 63.2-1946; Virginia DOLI; Office of the Governor; Virginia Employment Commission; U.S. Department of Labor; eCFR. Part of Boostpoint’s state labor law series; see also Virginia minimum wage.