At a Glance

• Virginia recently enacted several bills amending the state’s wage and hour laws.
• The new laws increase the minimum wage, eliminate certain exceptions, eliminate sovereign immunity for wage and hour purposes, and impose pay transparency requirements.
• An omnibus bill also amends various portions of the Virginia code related to wage and hour obligations and expands the state’s authority to investigate alleged violations.

In the 2025 statewide elections, Virginia Democrats gained control of both chambers of the state legislature and the governorship, securing a governmental “trifecta.” The last time Democrats achieved such a trifecta was in the 2019 statewide elections, and Democrats quickly went to work advancing and enacting a wave of new wage and hour legislation, revamping the Virginia Wage Payment Act and enacting the Virginia Overtime Wage Act, among other things. Just like the last time, Virginia Democrats wasted no time advancing new labor and employment legislation in this year’s legislative session, including a flurry of new wage and hour laws.

Initially, the governor signed only two of the legislature’s proposals into law, sending recommendations on the remaining bills back for consideration as part of a special session that began on April 22, 2026. The legislature, however, made short work of those recommendations, quickly concurring in the governor’s recommendations to all four bills that she had returned with modification.

Below is a high-level...

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