Coverage thresholds, what has to be disclosed, by when, and what happens if it isn’t — for employers with people in Virginia.
Virginia's pay transparency law took effect on 1 July 2026 — four weeks ago. It has no size threshold, a private right of action, and a 15-business-day cure window that most employers have not yet built a process around.
Effective 1 July 2026. No size threshold — all Virginia employers.
Unusually, Virginia gives both a cure mechanism and a direct claim.
Fifteen business days is generous next to Massachusetts' two or Washington's five. But it only defeats liability for posting violations, and it runs from written notice — which means someone has to be receiving and routing those notices. Most employers have no owner for that inbox.
The salary-history side has no cure at all, and that is where the private right of action bites hardest: a prospective employee who was asked about prior pay has a claim regardless of how quickly the posting was fixed.
The exact Virginia Code section, and whether HB 636 or SB 215 is the operative chaptered act — law firms cite both. There is also no recordkeeping requirement identified in the alerts we reviewed, which is not the same as confirming none exists. Check both with counsel before building a retention policy around the assumption.
We support Virginia employers on the compensation side — pay equity analysis, range architecture, and how executive pay reads inside a filing or a published range. We are not attorneys and this page is not legal advice; anything marked unverified above should be confirmed with employment counsel before you act on it.
For advisory work in the region see our Virginia Beach executive compensation page.
Yes. There is no size threshold — it applies to all Virginia employers as of 1 July 2026.
Fifteen business days from written notice to correct a non-compliant posting. Curing defeats liability for that posting violation, and one notice covers the posting's whole duration. It does not apply to salary-history violations, which have no cure.
Generally yes where the role could be performed in Virginia or reports into a Virginia supervisor, office or worksite. The specifics vary — some statutes test on where work is performed, others on the reporting line, and several reach out-of-state employers recruiting locally-based remote staff.
No. It is a compensation practitioner's summary of published requirements, current as at July 2026, intended to help scope the compensation work these obligations create. Items we could not verify are marked as such rather than glossed. Confirm current requirements with employment counsel before acting.
Pay equity analysis and range architecture, sequenced so findings can be acted on rather than merely disclosed.
Tell us what you’re working through and we’ll follow up directly.