If Pain, Yes Gain – Part 137: Virginia Significantly Broadens Statewide Paid Sick Leave Requirements with Enactment of New Law

What You Need to Know:

• On May 20, 2026, Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed into law a new statewide paid sick leave mandate (HB 5 / SB 199) that will bring paid sick leave obligations to virtually all employers in the state in the coming years.
• The new paid sick leave requirements go into effect on July 1, 2027 for employers with at least 50 employees, and then will be introduced in phases over the next 18 months. On January 1, 2029, all employers with at least one employee will be covered by the mandate.
• The newly enacted mandate reflects a significant expansion of the state’s existing paid sick leave law, which went into effect on July 1, 2021, and covers only certain home health workers in the state. The new mandate includes a broad definition of employee, as outlined below.
• Highlights of the new Virginia paid sick leave law’s substantive components include accrual at a rate of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, 40-hour annual caps on accrual and usage, no apparent cap on year-end carryover, a permissible frontloading alternative, a broad “family member” definition, and a requirement that paid sick leave be compensated at the regular rate.

Background:

On March 13, 2026, the Virginia legislature passed HB 5 / SB 199, which would expand the state’s paid sick leave law in a variety of ways, including, by 2029, to cover all private employers. On April 13, 2026, Governor Spanberger recommended amendments to the legislation that would have revised certain definitions, tightened employee notice and use requirements, shortened the statute of limitations, and narrowed remedies. On April 22, 2026, the legislature reconvened for one day, but it did not adopt the governor’s proposed amendments. This triggered a 30-day clock for the governor to take action on the legislation in its original form, which the governor did by signing the legislation on May 20, 2026. The new paid sick leave mandate goes into effect in phases, beginning on July 1, 2027.

Virginia is now the 21^ststate to have enacted a statewide general paid sick leave or paid time off mandate.[1] As noted above, Virginia’s first statewide paid sick leave law went into effect in mid-2021, albeit with a limited impact due to it only applying to certain home health workers in the state.

Summary of Substantive Requirements:

Virginia’s new paid sick leave mandate contains a number of substantive, technical components. Nonexclusive highlights include –

Employer Coverage: The law applies broadly to employers in the state, specifically covering “an individual, partnership, association, corporation, legal representative, receiver, trustee, or trustee in bankruptcy doing business in or operating within this Commonwealth who employs another to work for wages, salaries, or on commission.”

As noted above, the law will go into effect in phases, as follows:

• July 1, 2027: Employers with at least 50 employees.[2]
• January 1, 2028: Employers with at least 25 employees.
• January 1, 2029: Employers with at least one employee.

Employee Eligibility: The law has a broad employee definition, specifically covering “any person who, in consideration of wages, salaries, or commissions, may be permitted, required, or directed by any employer to engage in any employment directly or indirectly.” Importantly, the definition of “employee” excludes individuals covered by the state’s existing home health worker paid sick leave mandate.[3]

Accrual: Paid sick leave under the law must accrue at a rate of at least one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year.[4] Accrual for new hires must begin at the start of their employment. Accrual for exempt employees can be based on an assumed 40-hour workweek, unless the employee’s normal workweek is less than 40 hours.

The law expressly notes that airline flight crew employees are assumed to work 40 hours per week for purposes of paid sick leave accrual.

Annual Usage and Year-End Carryover: The law does not appear to allow employers to set any cap on the amount of earned, unused paid sick leave that carries over at year-end. However, regardless of carryover amounts, the law expressly states that employers can establish a 40-hour paid sick leave annual usage cap.

Frontloading: Employers that provide a 40-hour upfront grant of paid sick leave to employees at the start of the benefit year can avoid the law’s accrual and year-end carryover obligations.

Reasons for Use: Employees may use available paid sick leave for the following:

• The employee’s own illness, injury, or health condition, including preventive care;
• Caring for a covered family member with an illness, injury, or health condition, including preventive care; and
• Certain absences due to employee or their covered family member’s status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Family Member: The law contains a broad definition of covered family member. In particular, this definition includes an employee’s (1) child (regardless of age), (2) parent (of the employee or their spouse), (3) spouse or domestic partner, and (4) grandparent, grandchild, or sibling (of the employee or their spouse or domestic partner). In addition, the definition includes (5) an individual for whom an employee is responsible for providing or arranging health or safety-related care, including helping that individual obtain diagnostic, preventive, routine, or therapeutic health treatment or ensuring the person is safe following domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; and (6) any other individual related by blood or affinity whose close association with an employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.

Increments of Use: Employees can use available paid sick leave in hourly increments.

New Hire Usage Waiting Period: No express provision, although the statute suggests no such waiting period is permitted. We expect further guidance in forthcoming regulations.

Employee Notice to the Employer: Employers must provide paid sick leave upon employee request, which can be made orally, in writing, via electronic means, or by any other means approved by the employer. If the employee’s need for paid sick leave is foreseeable, the employer can require the employee to make a good faith effort to provide notice of the need in advance of the absence. Employers requiring employee notice of a needed paid sick leave absence must provide employees with a written policy that outlines applicable procedures.

Documentation: The law allows employers to require that employees submit reasonable documentation supporting proper paid sick leave use when the employee is absent for three or more consecutive workdays.

Rate of Pay: The law states that paid sick leave must be compensated at the “regular rate” as set forth under Virginia law. The rate of pay cannot be less than the applicable minimum wage.

Separation of Employment: Employers are not required to cash out earned, unused sick leave upon employment separation. Employers must reinstate earned, unused paid sick leave to any employees who are separated from employment and then rehired within 12 months of separation. Further, employers must allow such employees to use accrued paid sick leave and accrue additional paid sick leave immediately upon resuming their employment.

Non-Sick Paid Time Off Policies: Employers can use a paid leave policy, such as PTO, vacation time, personal time, etc., to comply with the Virginia paid sick leave law if certain criteria are met. These include providing a sufficient amount of paid leave that meets the law’s requirements and that can be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as statutory paid sick leave.

Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA):

• General: An employer does not need to provide additional paid sick leave to employees covered by a CBA if the CBA requires the employer to (1) provide a sufficient amount of paid leave as called for by the Virginia law and (2) allow employees to use that paid leave for the same purposes and under the same conditions as statutory paid sick leave.
• Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act: The law contains a separate exemption for employees covered by this Act as long as certain conditions are met. The conditions include, among other criteria, that the employer is a party to an existing CBA that is in effect on July 1, 2027.

Notice and Posting / Recordkeeping: The new law explicitly calls out that these topics will be addressed in forthcoming paid sick leave regulations. The law sets a July 1, 2027 deadline for the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry to issue regulations.

Enforcement: Employees can file a complaint with the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry within one year of the alleged violation. No civil monetary penalty will be assessed, and no action will be brought against an employer alleged to have violated the Virginia paid sick leave law if the employer corrects the alleged violation within a reasonable time to be established by regulation. Employees who believe their paid sick leave rights have been violated can file a private right of action against the employer without first filing an administrative complaint.

Next Steps:

As Virginia’s expanded paid sick leave requirements are now law, employers should begin compliance preparations in advance of the law’s various effective dates, depending on employer size. Here are some next steps for employers to consider:

• Assess which of the Virginia paid sick leave mandate’s effective dates – July 1, 2027, January 1, 2028, and January 1, 2029 – apply to the employer.
• Review existing sick leave or PTO policies and practices, and either implement new policies and practices or revise existing policies and practices to ensure compliance with the Virginia paid sick leave law while doing the same for any related attendance, conduct, anti-retaliation, and discipline policies and practices.
• Train supervisory and managerial employees, as well as HR, on the new requirements.
• Monitor the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry’s website for the release of administrative guidance, such as a model notice and FAQs, and rulemaking on employers’ paid sick leave compliance obligations.

With the paid leave landscape continuing to expand and grow in complexity, companies should reach out to their favorite Seyfarth attorney for solutions and recommendations on addressing compliance with nationwide paid leave requirements. To stay up-to-date on paid leave developments in Virginia and beyond, click here to sign up for Seyfarth’s Paid Sick Leave mailing list. Companies interested in Seyfarth’s paid sick leave laws survey should reach out to paidleave@seyfarth.com.

 

[1] Today, the states that have enacted a statewide general paid sick leave or paid time off mandate include: (1) Alaska (effective 7/1/2025), (2) Arizona; (3) California; (4) Colorado; (5) Connecticut; (6) Illinois (PTO law); (7) Maine (PTO law); (8) Maryland; (9) Massachusetts; (10) Michigan; (11) Minnesota; (12) Nebraska (effective 10/1/2025); (13) Nevada (PTO law); (14) New Jersey; (15) New Mexico; (16) New York; (17) Oregon; (18) Rhode Island; (19) Vermont; (20) Virginia; and (21) Washington. There also is a paid sick leave mandate in (22) Washington, D.C.. Further, there are more than two dozen municipalities with paid sick leave or paid time off mandates in the United States.

[2] It is unclear at this time whether the employee thresholds tied to the phased-in effective dates only count employees who work in Virginia or an employer’s entire United States workforce. We expect this topic to be addressed in subsequent rulemaking and administrative guidance.

[3] The Virginia home health worker paid sick leave law defines employee as “a home health worker who works on average at least 20 hours per week or 90 hours per month.”

[4] The law defines "year" as a regular and consecutive 12-month period determined by the employer.