Virginia Employment Law: Wages, Final Pay, Breaks and Your Rights at Work

$12.77 per hour from January 1, 2026 until January 1, 2027.

Employers may use the federal tip credit and pay tipped employees as little as $2.13 per hour in cash wages, but cash wage plus tips actually received must reach the Virginia minimum wage; the employer must pay any shortfall. A tipped employee is one who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 a month in tips.

Follows the federal FLSA standard: time and one-half for hours over 40 in a workweek, with the same federal exemptions and calculation methods. Virginia law lets employees sue under state law for unpaid overtime within three years. Since July 1, 2026, DOLI can also investigate overtime complaints.

All wages due must be paid on or before the date the employee would have been paid for that work had the job not ended (the next regular payday).

Same rule: by the next regular payday for the work performed.

Employers must set regular pay periods. Hourly employees must be paid at least every two weeks or twice a month; salaried employees at least once a month. Work-study students and employees earning more than 150% of the state average weekly wage may be paid monthly if they agree. Executive personnel are excluded.

Required on each regular payday (except agricultural employers), by paystub or online accounting. It must show the employer's name and address, hours worked (for hourly workers and salaried workers below the federal overtime-exemption salary level), rate of pay, gross wages, and the amount and purpose of each deduction.

No general statewide paid sick leave law. A state law requires paid sick leave only for home health workers who provide consumer-directed care under the state Medicaid plan and work an average of at least 20 hours a week or 90 hours a month.

Employers may not fire, discipline, threaten or otherwise retaliate against an employee who in good faith reports a violation of federal or state law to a supervisor, government body or law enforcement; is asked to take part in an official investigation or hearing; refuses to commit a crime; refuses an illegal order (and tells the employer why); or gives information or testimony to investigators. The employee may sue within one year for reinstatement, lost wages and benefits, and attorney's fees. Separate laws also protect employees who file wage claims, discuss pay, or report misclassification.

Office of Civil Rights in the Virginia Attorney General's Office (Department of Law). The Virginia Human Rights Act covers employers with five or more employees (and any employer of a domestic worker). A sworn written complaint must be filed within two years of the discriminatory act. After receiving a notice of right to sue, a person has 90 days to file in court.

Employers may not enter into, enforce or threaten to enforce a non-compete with a low-wage employee (generally, someone earning less than the state average weekly wage or eligible for overtime, including interns and students) or with a licensed health care professional. Also, no non-compete is enforceable if the employer fires the employee without cause and without severance or other payment disclosed when the agreement was signed. Employees can sue an employer that tries to enforce a banned non-compete. For other employees, courts decide case by case.

Virginia Employment Commission (VEC). File new claims, reopen claims and file weekly claims online through the VEC Claimant Self-Service (CSS) portal.