Third time’s the charm. After two consecutive vetoes by former Governor Glenn Youngkin, Governor Abigail Spanberger signed Senate Bill 215 into law on April 22, 2026,[1] bringing Virginia in line with pay transparency laws already on the books in neighboring Maryland and Washington, D.C.
For employers operating across the region, the clock is ticking: the Act takes effect July 1, 2026, and imposes both pay disclosure requirements and restrictions on when they may consider an individual’s prior compensation when making employment decisions.
Pay Disclosure Requirements
The Act requires all Virginia employers to include the wage, salary, or the wage or salary range in each public and internal posting of a job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity. The wage or salary range must be a good faith estimate of the minimum and maximum hourly rate or salary for the position, set by reference to:
- Any applicable pay scale;
- The range previously determined for the position;
- The range of actual wages or salaries provided to any employees in a comparable role; or
- The amount the employer has budgeted for the position.
The breadth of the wage or salary range is a factor for determining if it was set in good faith.
Notably, the Act does not specify whether the requirements are limited to postings for roles physically performed in Virginia, or if it extends to remote positions that could be performed in the Commonwealth.
Salary History Ban
The Act prohibits current or prospective employers from requesting the salary or wage of a current or prospective employee or using that information to make employment decisions, which includes determining the rate of pay offered to the individual. However, Virginia employers may rely on or confirm an applicant’s voluntarily disclosed wage history, provided the reliance or confirmation is to support a higher wage than the employer initially offered and does not otherwise result in an unlawful pay differential. The law also prohibits retaliating against or refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote an individual because they requested a wage or salary range or did not provide their compensation history.
Penalties for Noncompliance
The Act gives both the government and affected workers the ability to enforce its requirements. The Virginia Attorney General can bring a civil action against non-compliant employers and seek civil penalties of up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $5,000 for each subsequent violation. Current and prospective employees can also sue in court within one year of a violation and recover actual damages plus any other relief a court finds appropriate.
However, employers must be given the opportunity to correct noncompliant job postings before they can be sued. Anyone, not just a current or prospective employee, can send an employer written notice that a posting lacks the required pay disclosure information. If the employer corrects the posting within 15 business days on all original posting locations, no lawsuit can be brought for that violation. While this cure window gives employers a meaningful opportunity to catch and correct mistakes before facing litigation, it only applies to job postings and not to other violations, such as asking prohibited salary history questions.
ENDNOTE
[1] The final law adopts the Governor’s recommended amendments that were proposed on April 13, 2026.
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