Virginia Law Will Require Pay Transparency, Restrict Employers from Seeking Wage History

Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger has signed into law SB215 and HB636, identical bills that require covered employers to disclose the wage or salary range for public and internal job postings. The law also prohibits employers from seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2026.

In passing this law, Virginia joins a growing number of states and jurisdictions that have passed similar requirements over the last few years, including New Jersey, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New York City, Minnesota, Vermont, and Washington, DC.

PAY TRANSPARENCY REQUIREMENTS

The new law prohibits employers from “fail[ing] or refus[ing] to disclose in each public and internal posting for each job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity the wage, salary, or wage or salary range for the position.” The law also prohibits employers from failing to set a wage or salary range in good faith. In determining whether an employer violated this prohibition, the law provides: “Any analysis of whether the wage or salary range has been set in good faith shall consider, among other things, the breadth of such wage or salary range.”

The law 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.” The law does not define “wage” or “salary.”

PAY HISTORY REQUIREMENTS

Virginia joins several other jurisdictions in restricting employer reliance on prior pay. [1] While Virginia law already prohibited state departments and certain state agencies from seeking an applicant’s salary history prior to extending a conditional offer of employment, this law expands those restrictions to all employers. The law prohibits employers from:

• seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee;
• relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment;
• relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire—except where a prospective employee voluntarily provides their wage or salary history to an employer without the employer’s prompting. In this case:
  • the employer may rely on such wage or salary history to support a wage or salary higher than the employer’s initial offer of compensation only to the extent that the higher wage or salary does not create an unlawful pay differential in violation of Virginia’s Equal Pay Act or federal law; and
  • the employer may seek to confirm the wage or salary history of the prospective employee to support such higher wage or salary; or
• refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote or otherwise retaliate against a prospective or current employee for not providing wage or salary history or requesting a wage or salary range.

The law defines “wage or salary history” as “the wage or salary paid to the prospective employee by the prospective employee’s current or previous employer.”

COVERAGE UNDER THE LAW

The law refers to any “employer,” defined in the Virginia Code as “an individual, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative, receiver, trustee, or trustee in bankruptcy doing business in or operating within this Commonwealth who employs another to work for wages, salaries, or on commission and shall include any similar entity acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee.”

With respect to the pay disclosure requirements of the law, the law does not instruct whether this requirement is limited to positions physically based in Virginia.

ENFORCEMENT

The law provides for the attorney general to bring a civil action to enforce the provisions of the section:

An employer that violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 for the first violation and up to $5,000 for any subsequent violation. The court may award any other legal and equitable relief it deems appropriate. Any civil penalties assessed under this subsection shall be paid into the general fund.

The law also provides for a private right of action: “An aggrieved prospective employee or employee may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction within one year of when the prospective employee’s or employee’s rights under subsection B were violated.” An employer that violates this law is liable to the aggrieved prospective employee or employee for actual damages and any other legal and equitable relief as the court deems appropriate.

With respect to the mandated pay disclosures in job postings, an employer has the opportunity to correct its failure to disclose wages or salary ranges or its failure to set a range in good faith before an employee may bring an action. The aggrieved person must give written notice to the employer alleging that the employer’s posting does not comply with the pay disclosure or good-faith pay range requirements.

If an employer receives written notice from any person relating to a particular posting, such notice shall constitute adequate notice for the duration of such posting for any prospective employee. If the employer corrects the posting on the original posting locations within 15 business days of receiving such notice, no action for a violation shall be brought.

NEXT STEPS FOR EMPLOYERS

In advance of the July 1, 2026 effective date, covered employers should review all public-facing and internal job postings and advertisements to ensure such materials include the required compensation information.

Covered employers should also contact any recruiters or third-party agencies that post job opportunities on the employer’s behalf to ensure they are aware of the law and will comply with its requirements.

Multistate employers should confirm the company’s compliance with pay transparency laws in other states and localities.