Yes. Virginia has paid family leave. A 2026 law created a statewide paid family and medical leave insurance program that will pay most workers up to 12 weeks of benefits at 80 percent of their average weekly wage, with payroll contributions beginning April 1, 2028, and benefit payments starting January 1, 2029.1Virginia State Legislative Information System. SB2 – 2026 Regular Session Virginia is the first Southern state to enact one.
Who Is Covered and for What Reasons
The program, run by the Virginia Employment Commission, covers private sector employees and local government workers regardless of employer size. Full-time and part-time workers both qualify.
You can draw benefits for any of these reasons:
- The birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a new child
- Your own serious illness, injury, or recovery from a medical procedure
- Caring for a family member with a serious health condition
- Qualifying needs tied to a family member’s military active duty
- Situations involving domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking
How Much You Get Paid, and for How Long
Benefits are capped at 12 weeks per application year. Your weekly benefit equals 80 percent of your average weekly wage, up to a ceiling set at 100 percent of the statewide average weekly wage. The ceiling adjusts every year. Virginia’s statewide average weekly wage sits around $1,507 in 2026, so the maximum weekly check should land near that figure when payments begin in 2029.1Virginia State Legislative Information System. SB2 – 2026 Regular Session
What You’ll Pay In
The program is funded by shared payroll contributions. The General Assembly’s fiscal impact statement estimated the combined contribution at roughly 0.72 percent of wages, with the final rate to be set by the Virginia Employment Commission.
If you work for an employer with 11 or more employees, the employer withholds half the per-employee contribution from your paycheck and pays the other half itself. (Your employer can agree to cover more of your share.) If you work for an employer with 10 or fewer employees, the employer still withholds and remits your 50 percent share, but is not required to pay a matching portion. Either way, your access to the benefit is the same.1Virginia State Legislative Information System. SB2 – 2026 Regular Session
Job Protection While You Are Out
If you take PFML, you have the right to return to the same job, or an equivalent one with the same pay, seniority, and benefits.2LegiScan. VA SB2 2026 Regular Session – Comm Sub Your employer must keep your health coverage going on the same terms during your leave, and you keep paying your usual share of the premium.
Retaliation is prohibited. An employer cannot count your PFML time as an absence that triggers discipline, demotion, or firing under an attendance policy.2LegiScan. VA SB2 2026 Regular Session – Comm Sub These protections apply at employers of every size.
How It Works with Federal FMLA
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act gives eligible employees up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave per year for many of the same reasons, but FMLA leave is unpaid.3GovInfo. 29 U.S.C. 2612 – Leave Requirement Virginia’s program supplies the paycheck.
FMLA’s eligibility rules are tighter. You need 12 months with your employer, at least 1,250 hours worked over the past year, and a worksite where the employer has 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 2611 – Definitions Virginia PFML applies regardless of employer size.
When both laws apply, they run concurrently. You don’t get 12 weeks of paid Virginia leave plus a separate 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA leave; your Virginia benefits pay you during what would otherwise be unpaid FMLA time. If you work for a smaller company that falls below FMLA’s threshold, the state program is where both your wage replacement and your job protection come from.
Your Employer May Use a Private Plan Instead
Employers can apply to use a private plan in place of the state program. A private plan must meet or exceed the benefits of Virginia’s PFML program and must be approved by the Virginia Employment Commission.5Virginia Employment Commission. Virginia Paid Family and Medical Leave FAQ If your employer goes this route, your coverage level cannot be worse than the state baseline.
What Paid Leave Exists in Virginia Before 2029
Statewide PFML benefits don’t start paying out until January 1, 2029. Two narrower programs already exist.
Parental Leave for State Employees
If you work for the Commonwealth of Virginia, you may qualify for eight weeks of paid parental leave at full salary after the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child under 18. The benefit was created by Executive Order 12 in 2018 and is administered under Department of Human Resource Management Policy 4.21.6Office of the Governor of Virginia. Executive Order Number Twelve (2018) – Parental Leave for Commonwealth Employees You need at least 12 consecutive months of state employment, and the leave is separate from your sick or annual leave balances.7Virginia Department of Human Resource Management. Parental Leave – Policy 4.21 It covers only parental leave for a new child, not medical or caregiving leave.
Paid Sick Leave for Certain Home Health Workers
Virginia’s Paid Sick Leave Act is narrow. It covers home health workers who provide personal care, respite, or companion services to people receiving consumer-directed Medicaid services and who work at least 20 hours per week on average.8Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 40.1-33.3 – Definitions Qualifying workers earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year.9Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code – Article 2.1 Paid Sick Leave This is short-term sick leave for a specific workforce, not family leave.
For everyone else, paid leave before 2029 depends on what your individual employer offers. The statewide right to paid family and medical leave benefits begins January 1, 2029.