On May 20, 2026, Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill that will mandate employers to provide up to 40 hours per year of paid sick leave to their Virginia employees, among other requirements.
The law will be phased in over time, applying to employers based on size:
- July 1, 2027: employers with 50 employees or more
- Jan. 1, 2028: employers with 25 employees or more
- Jan. 1, 2029: applies to all employers
A detailed breakdown of the law’s requirements is below.
Accrual and Amount of Leave
Employers must provide all Virginia employees, including part-time employees, with up to 40 hours per year of paid sick leave. Employees must accrue a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employees who are exempt from overtime under the FLSA are assumed to work 40 hours per work week for accrual purposes, unless their normal workweek is shorter than 40 hours. Accrual begins from the beginning of employment; no waiting period applies.
Carry-Over
Paid sick leave accrued by employees in a prior year must be carried over to the next year. However, if employers front-load the entire 40 hours of paid sick leave for employees at the beginning of the year, employers are not required to allow carry-over or additional accrual.
Caps on Accrual and Use
Although unused leave carries over from year-to-year, employees may not accrue or use more than 40 hours per year, unless the employer selects a higher limit.
Rate of Pay
Leave must be paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay. For tipped workers, this must be no less than the statutory minimum wage without tip credit reduction.
Increments of Use
Leave must be usable in one-hour increments, unless the employer allows leave to be taken in smaller increments.
Effect on Existing Policies
Employers that already provide employees with at least 40 hours per year of paid time off (PTO) do not need to provide additional leave under the law. However, to satisfy the law, employees must be able to use up to 40 hours of this leave for the same purposes and under the same conditions as paid sick leave under the statute. In other words, employers relying on pre-existing PTO requirements to satisfy the statute should ensure that employees are not restricted from taking up to 40 hours of PTO for protected purposes, except as authorized by the law.
Pay-Out on Separation and Transfer
The law does not require employers to pay out accrued leave upon separation from employment. However, employees transferred to a separate division or location, or who are rehired within 12 months of separating from employment, are entitled to keep their previously accrued, unused paid sick leave, unless the employer paid the employee for such leave when they separated.
Covered Uses for Leave
Employees must be allowed to use sick leave for treatment of their own, or a family member’s, mental or physical illness, injury or health condition. Paid sick leave must also be usable for absences due to domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking so that the employee or a family member can obtain related care or other services.
“Family member” is broadly defined:
- Regardless of age, the employee’s child (biological, adopted, foster or step), legal ward, child to whom the employee stands in loco parentis or individual to whom an employee stood in loco parentis when the individual was a minor;
- The employee’s (or spouse’s) parent (biological, foster, step or adoptive) or legal guardian;
- The employee’s spouse or domestic partner;
- The employee’s (or spouse’s or domestic partner’s) grandparent, grandchild or sibling (biological, foster, adoptive or step);
- An individual for whom the employee is responsible for providing or arranging health or safety-related care;
- Any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with an employee is the equivalent of a family relationship;
Employers must allow employees to use their paid sick leave at the employee’s request, provided it is for a protected purpose.
Advance Notice of Foreseeable Leave
Employers can require employees to provide reasonable advanced notice and not unduly disrupt business operations when requesting foreseeable leave, such as for scheduled medical appointments. However, to require advance notice, employers must provide employees with a written policy that sets forth the applicable notice procedures.
Coverage for Missed Work
Employers cannot require employees who use sick leave to find a replacement worker for their shift or to work an alternative shift to make up for the missed time. Employers are prohibited from assessing attendance points to or otherwise disciplining employees for use of paid sick leave under the law.
Limitations on Requiring Proof of Protected Leave
Under the new law, employers cannot require employees to disclose health information or details about sexual assault, domestic violence or stalking as a condition of taking paid sick leave, and any such information that the employee voluntarily provides must be treated as confidential. Notably, employers can only require documentation of the need for paid sick leave (e.g., a doctor’s note) after three or more consecutive missed work days. For domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking leave, sufficient employee documentation includes (among other things) the employee’s certification that the leave is for a protected purpose.
Application to Healthcare Workers
The new law does not apply to home healthcare workers, who are already covered by a pre-existing paid sick leave law. Additionally, the law does not apply to certain part-time or as-needed (PRN) healthcare workers. Additional healthcare exclusions apply.
Workplace Poster and Recordkeeping
The law instructs the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI) to promulgate regulations requiring employers to provide written notice and postings to employees about employee rights under the act. Employers should anticipate a mandatory workplace poster to be published by the DOLI in 2027. The law also requires DOLI to adopt regulations regarding recordkeeping requirements for employers (with a three-year retention period), and regulations to ensure the confidentiality of any protected health-related or other information disclosed by employees.
Anti-Retaliation
The law prohibits retaliatory action against employees based on the employee: (1) requesting or using paid sick leave; (2) claiming a violation of the paid sick leave law; (3) participating in an investigation of an alleged violation of the paid sick leave law; or (4) informing another individual of that individual’s rights under the paid sick leave law.
Enforcement and Penalties
The law gives employees a private right of action to file suit against their employer for violating the law. Prevailing employees can recover compensatory damages, double damages, injunctive relief, reinstatement, attorney fees and costs. The law has a two-year statute of limitations. Alternatively, employees can file a complaint with the DOLI within one year of an alleged violation, which initiates an administrative enforcement process handled by the DOLI. The DOLI can issue civil penalties of up to $150 for an employer’s first violation, $300 for the second violation and $500 for all subsequent violations within two years.
Employers with Virginia employees should evaluate their current leave policies and begin assessing whether changes are necessary to comply with the forthcoming law. This should include evaluating whether existing policies and timekeeping practices are compliant with the forthcoming Virginia law (and similar laws in dozens of other states), and whether to maintain a comprehensive PTO policy or separate PTO and sick leave policies. Additionally, employers should prepare to train human resource professionals and supervisors on the law’s requirements. Finally, employers should be prepared to provide the requisite notice (including workplace posters) to employees once DOLI issues regulatory guidance on the law.
For further information or questions about the new law or other questions regarding Virginia employment laws, contact the authors, your McGuireWoods contact or a member of the firm’s Employment Litigation Practice Group.