On April 13, 2026, Governor Abigail Spanberger signed SB 637 into law.
In this bill, the Virginia General Assembly expanded the Virginia Human Rights Act (VHRA) by amending its definition of a covered employer and extending the statute of limitations for discrimination complaints.
Currently, the VHRA only covers employers with 15 or more employees, as well as all domestic workers. Effective July 1, 2026, SB 637 expands the VHRA to provide anti-discrimination protections to those who work for employers with five (5) or more employees. As before, this threshold is based on the number of employees for each working day of the previous 20 or more calendar weeks.
SB 637 also extends the filing deadline for a discrimination complaint with the Virginia Office of Civil Rights to 730 days (two years), up from the current 300 days, from the date of the alleged discriminatory incident.
Employers should review their anti-discrimination policies and procedures to ensure compliance with the new requirements and be mindful of the extension of time for filing a complaint. All other procedural details remain unchanged.
Notably, Governor Spanberger vetoed SB 258, which sought to amend the VHRA to include menopause and perimenopause among its protected characteristics. As noted in the Governor’s May 19, 2026 veto message, women experiencing menopause or perimenopause remain protected from workplace discrimination under both state and federal anti-discrimination laws that prohibit age and gender discrimination.
