As we reported last month, Virginia lawmakers passed Senate Bill 170 imposing additional restrictions on employee noncompetes in the Commonwealth.
On April 13, 2026, Governor Abigail D. Spanberger signed Senate Bill 170 (“the Act”) into law. The Act will take effect July 1, 2026 and will prohibit enforcement of a noncompete if the employer discharges the employee without cause and does not provide the employee with severance benefits or other monetary payment. The Act applies to agreements entered into, amended, or renewed on or after July 1, 2026.
The Act builds on Virginia’s existing limitations on noncompetes that prohibits employers from entering into or enforcing noncompetes against “low-wage employees.” Thus, current Virginia law prohibits enforcement of noncompetes against (i) employees whose average weekly earnings falls below the Commonwealth’s average weekly wage, (ii) certain employees, such as interns, whose hourly rate is less than Virginia’s median hourly wage for all occupations for the preceding year, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and (iii) non-exempt employees.
Although Virginia’s non-compete law does not expressly address non-solicitation agreements, in January 2026, the Court of Appeals held that the Commonwealth’s restrictions extend to employee non-solicitation clauses and provisions barring workers from accepting unsolicited customer business—but employers may enforce agreements prohibiting low-wage workers...
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