Your pay rights in Virginia

Who is covered

Employers of any size; the law sets no minimum number of employees. It covers every public and internal posting for a job, promotion, transfer or other employment opportunity.

What a job posting must show

• The wage or salary, or the wage or salary range, for the position.
• The range must be set in good faith; how wide the range is counts when deciding whether it was.
• This applies to each public and internal posting for a job, promotion, transfer or other employment opportunity.

Pay history

Employers may not ask about your past pay, or use it to decide whether to consider you or to set your starting pay. One exception: if you share it on your own, they may use it to offer you more.

What you can do

• See the pay or pay range in every public and internal job posting.
• You can choose to share your past pay, for example to negotiate after an offer.
• The employer cannot refuse to interview, hire or promote you, or retaliate against you, because you did not share your pay history or because you asked for the pay range.
• Anyone can send the employer a written notice that a posting breaks the law. The employer then has 15 business days to fix the posting where it was first posted. If it fixes it in time, no one can sue over that posting.
• Sue in court within one year of the violation.

Where to report a posting without pay

Office of the Attorney General of Virginia

A civil penalty of up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $5,000 for each later violation. In your own lawsuit you can recover your actual damages and other relief the court finds appropriate.

Sources

• Code of Virginia § 40.1-28.7:12, Virginia Law (LIS)
• Employment Law Updates: New Legislation Protecting Virginia Workers Applies Beginning July 1, 2026, Virginia Department of Labor and Industry
• Code of Virginia § 40.1-2 (definitions)
• Office of the Attorney General of Virginia

The law doesn't define 'employer' itself; the general definition covers individuals, partnerships, associations and corporations doing business in Virginia. It isn't clear whether state and local government employers are covered, or whether remote jobs based outside Virginia are. The Attorney General's website had no complaint page for this law as of the last check. The Department of Labor and Industry describes the law and answers general questions (laborlaw@doli.virginia.gov, 804-786-2706), but the Attorney General and private lawsuits enforce it. The law doesn't require benefits in postings.