Virginia Pay Transparency Law is Now In Effect
As of July 1, 2026, Virginia employers must comply with sweeping pay transparency requirements under HB 636 (and SB 215). While Viriginia is not the first to enact pay transparency laws, unlike many other states, Virginia's law has no employer size threshold, meaning all private employers with employees in the state must comply, regardless of headcount. This includes:
Employers headquartered in Virginia
Multi-state employers with Virginia employees
Remote employers hiring Virginia-based workers
Under the new law, employers cannot:
Ask for the wage or salary history of a prospective employee
Rely on wage or salary history when considering a prospective employee for employment or when determining what to pay a new hire (with one limited exception, below)
Refuse to interview, hire, employ, or promote—or otherwise retaliate against—a prospective or current employee for not providing salary history or for requesting salary range information
Fail to disclose the wage, salary, or wage/salary range in any public or internal posting for a job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity
Fail to set a wage or salary range in good faith
Your good faith range must be based on real factors such as an applicable pay scale, a previously determined range for the position, the actual range paid to employees currently in similar roles, or the budgeted amount for the position. Employers should avoid speculative or excessively wide ranges when posting their jobs as regulators may look at the range itself as evidence of whether it was set in good faith.
Voluntary disclosure exception:
If a candidate voluntarily shares their salary history without being prompted, employers may consider it to justify offering more than their original offer, but only if doing so doesn't create an unlawful pay differential under Virginia or federal law.
Enforcement and penalties:
Employers have 15 business days to correct a violation after receiving written notice.
Employers who don't correct the violation face civil penalties of up to $1,000 for a first violation and up to $5,000 for subsequent violations.
The Virginia Attorney General may bring additional enforcement actions.
Prospective or current employees may bring a private lawsuit within one year of the alleged violation and may recover actual damages, along with other legal or equitable relief the court deems appropriate.
Next steps for Virginia employers: Review job posting templates (internal and external) and update your hiring and interview practices to remove salary history questions. Be sure to train recruiters and hiring managers on this new law, and confirm that any third-party recruiters or staffing agencies posting on your behalf are also compliant.
If you are interested in learning more about how AAP Compliance can help your organization stay up to date with regulatory compliance, contact us to schedule a call today!