Virginia Employee Handbook Requirements: Leave, Pay, and Notices

Virginia employee handbook requirements come from a small number of explicit statutes and a larger set of state and federal laws that effectively force certain content into any handbook you distribute. The only Virginia statute that uses the words “include in any employee handbook” is Va. Code § 2.2-3909, which requires pregnancy and lactation accommodation information. Everything else on the standard checklist is required indirectly: through notice rules, liability that only a written policy can manage, or coverage thresholds that catch small employers off guard. Virginia has also enacted significant changes taking effect in 2026 and 2027 that belong in your handbook now.

Pregnancy and Lactation Accommodation Notice

Employers with five or more employees must post in a visible location and include in any employee handbook information about an employee’s right to reasonable accommodations for limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, including lactation.¹ The same statute requires you to give this information directly to new employees when they start work.

The statute identifies the accommodations that qualify: more frequent or longer bathroom breaks, breaks and a private non-bathroom space to express breast milk, modified equipment or seating, temporary transfer to a less strenuous position, help with manual labor, schedule changes, light duty, and leave to recover from childbirth.¹ Your handbook does not have to reproduce that list verbatim, but it should communicate that these accommodations exist and explain how an employee can request one. An employer can deny an accommodation only by demonstrating undue hardship, considering the size and nature of the business, the facility, and the cost involved.

Anti-Discrimination Policy and Complaint Procedure

No Virginia statute explicitly directs you to put an anti-discrimination policy in the handbook, but omitting one is reckless. The Virginia Human Rights Act, as expanded by the Virginia Values Act, prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions (including lactation), age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and military status.² That protected-class list is broader than federal law, and your policy should reflect all of it.

Coverage thresholds are more layered than most small employers realize. The full range of discrimination claims applies to employers with 15 or more employees. Wrongful discharge claims apply once you have more than five. Age-based discharge claims apply to employers with more than five but fewer than 20.² Six employees is enough to expose you on discharge-related claims.

Your anti-discrimination section should include a clear complaint procedure and name a specific contact for reporting harassment or discrimination. A documented reporting process is one of the strongest defenses if a claim is filed. Without one, you lose the argument that the employee had a channel and chose not to use it.

At-Will Statement and Whistleblower Boundaries

Virginia follows the at-will employment doctrine as a matter of common law. Either side can end the employment relationship at any time for any lawful reason. The Virginia Supreme Court has carved out exceptions, most notably in Bowman v. State Bank of Keysville, allowing wrongful termination claims when an employee is fired for exercising a statutory right, refusing to commit a crime, or in violation of a specific public policy expressed in a Virginia statute.

Virginia’s whistleblower statute, Va. Code § 40.1-27.3, separately prohibits retaliation against employees who report violations of law, refuse to participate in illegal activity, or cooperate with government investigations. Your handbook should contain a clear at-will statement, but the surrounding language cannot be so broad that it would appear to discourage employees from exercising these protected rights.

Place the at-will disclaimer prominently at the front of the handbook and repeat it on the acknowledgment form. State separately that the handbook is not an employment contract and does not guarantee employment for any specific duration. Courts have found implied contracts in handbook language that makes unconditional promises about job security or progressive discipline, so avoid phrasing like “employees will only be terminated for cause” unless you intend to be bound by it.

Pay, Overtime, and Final Paycheck Rules

Virginia’s payment statute, Va. Code § 40.1-29, requires regular pay periods: salaried employees must be paid at least once per month, and hourly employees at least every two weeks or twice per month.³ A narrow exception lets high earners whose weekly wages exceed 150% of the Commonwealth’s average weekly wage be paid monthly with their agreement. State your actual pay schedule in the handbook and identify which exception, if any, applies.

The same statute governs final pay. When employment ends, all wages owed must be paid on or before the date the employee would have been paid had they kept working.³ Virginia does not require immediate payment on involuntary termination, but you cannot hold the check past the next regular payday. Document that timeline so managers handle separations correctly.

Virginia’s overtime law, Va. Code § 40.1-29.3, requires non-exempt employees to be paid at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek.⁴ Define your workweek (any fixed, recurring 168-hour period), identify which positions are exempt versus non-exempt, and describe how overtime is authorized. Virginia’s minimum wage is $12.77 per hour as of January 1, 2026.⁵

Required Leave Policies

Which leave policies you must address depends on your size, but three Virginia rules and one federal rule shape the section for most employers.

Every Virginia employer, regardless of size, must allow an employee who is a crime victim to take leave to attend criminal proceedings related to the crime. The employee has to provide a copy of the law enforcement notification form. You can limit this leave only if the absence creates an undue hardship, considering the business’s size and the employee’s role.⁶

Employers with 50 or more employees must provide up to 60 business days of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for organ donation and up to 30 business days for bone marrow donation.⁷

Federal FMLA rules impose an explicit handbook mandate. Employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius must include FMLA general notice in any handbook they distribute. The regulation at 29 CFR § 825.300(a)(3) is direct: if you have a handbook, the FMLA notice goes in it.⁸ Eligible employees can take up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period for qualifying family and medical reasons.⁹

Virginia does not currently have a general paid sick leave mandate, but that is changing. HB 5, passed during the 2026 legislative session, requires one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked for employees of private employers and state and local governments. Employees will be able to use this leave for their own illness, to care for a family member, or for needs related to domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking. The law takes effect July 1, 2027, and the Commissioner of Labor and Industry must issue implementing regulations by that date. Knowing violations carry civil penalties starting at $150 for a first offense and up to $500 for subsequent violations, and affected employees can sue for double the unpaid sick leave amount.¹⁰ Build the framework into your handbook now rather than scrambling in 2027.

Non-Compete Language Limits

If your handbook contains or references non-compete provisions, Virginia’s restrictions have tightened and are expanding again in 2026. Under Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:8, employers cannot enter into, enforce, or threaten to enforce a non-compete against any “low-wage employee.” As of July 2025, that definition covers all employees entitled to overtime under the federal FLSA, so virtually every non-exempt worker is protected regardless of actual earnings.¹¹ The only carve-out is for employees whose earnings come predominantly from sales commissions, incentives, or bonuses. Violations carry a $10,000 civil penalty per occurrence.

Starting July 1, 2026, SB 170 adds another layer: employers cannot enforce a non-compete against any employee terminated without cause unless the employer provides severance pay or another monetary payment, and that payment was disclosed when the non-compete was signed. The $10,000 penalty applies here as well, along with reasonable costs and attorney fees. Non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements remain permissible alternatives.

Your handbook should state which restrictive covenants the company actually uses, distinguish non-competes from non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements, and avoid blanket non-compete language that could be read as applying to non-exempt employees. A non-compete provision that applies to your entire workforce almost certainly violates Virginia law.

PUMP Act and FLSA Classification

Two federal laws sit alongside Virginia’s rules and shape handbook content. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires overtime pay at 1.5 times the regular rate for non-exempt employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek.¹² The FLSA does not require a specific handbook policy, but misclassifying employees as exempt is one of the most expensive mistakes employers make. A clear handbook explanation of exempt versus non-exempt roles gives you a paper trail if you’re audited.

The PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act, which expanded FLSA lactation protections in late 2022, requires reasonable break time to express breast milk for up to one year after a child’s birth. The pumping space must be somewhere other than a bathroom, shielded from view, and free from intrusion by coworkers or the public.¹³ This overlaps with Virginia’s § 2.2-3909 protections but reaches a broader range of workers, including agricultural workers, nurses, teachers, and truck drivers. Address the state and federal lactation rules together, since Virginia’s provision covers pregnancy-related accommodations broadly while the PUMP Act is specifically about pumping time and space.

NLRA Limits on Conduct Rules

Handbook policies about workplace conduct, social media use, and confidentiality can create liability under the National Labor Relations Act if they are written too broadly. Section 7 of the NLRA protects employees’ rights to discuss wages, benefits, and working conditions with coworkers, and this applies to non-union workplaces just as much as unionized ones.

Under the NLRB’s 2023 Stericycle decision, a handbook rule is presumptively unlawful if a reasonable employee could interpret it as discouraging these protected discussions. The burden then shifts to the employer to prove the rule serves a legitimate and substantial business interest and cannot be written more narrowly.

In practice, avoid blanket bans on discussing compensation, sweeping confidentiality clauses that could be read to cover wage information, and social media policies that prohibit posting about working conditions. Target specific, legitimate concerns like trade secrets and client data rather than broad prohibitions on “negative” or “disparaging” speech about the company.

Posters Are a Separate Obligation

Poster requirements and handbook requirements are different obligations, and it’s easy to conflate them. Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:3, for example, requires employers to post a notice about the Earned Income Tax Credit “in the same location where other employee notices required by state or federal law are posted.”¹⁴ That’s a wall-posting obligation, not a handbook obligation.

Virginia employers must display several state and federal posters, including notices covering the Virginia Human Rights Act, occupational safety, unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation, the FLSA minimum wage, OSHA, FMLA rights, EEO rights, USERRA, and the EITC.¹⁵ The EEO “Know Your Rights” poster should also be posted digitally for remote workers.¹⁶ Including poster content in your handbook as a courtesy is fine, but it does not substitute for physical posting, and physical posting does not satisfy the specific handbook mandates covered above.

Distribution and Acknowledgment

No Virginia statute prescribes exactly how to distribute your handbook, but § 2.2-3909 requires direct notification to new employees about pregnancy accommodations at the start of employment, which effectively means handing over the handbook or its relevant sections during onboarding.¹ The FMLA regulation similarly requires distribution of FMLA notice to each new employee at hiring if you don’t have a handbook that already includes it.⁸

Every employee should sign an acknowledgment confirming they received the handbook and had the opportunity to read it. That form should separately restate the at-will disclaimer and note that the handbook is not a contract. Store signed acknowledgments in the personnel file. For electronic distribution, use a system that tracks when the employee opened the document and clicked through the acknowledgment; a printout showing delivery and confirmation is far more defensible than an email with an attachment nobody can prove was read.

When you update the handbook, redistribute the revised version and collect new acknowledgments. Virginia courts will look at whether the employee received the version of the policy in effect at the time of the dispute, not just whether they signed something years ago during onboarding.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-3909 – Causes of Action for Failure to Provide Reasonable Accommodation for Known Limitations Related to Pregnancy, Childbirth, or Related Medical Conditions
2
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code Title 2.2 Chapter 39 – Virginia Human Rights Act
3
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 40.1-29 – Time and Medium of Payment; Withholding Wages; Written Statement of Earnings
4
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 40.1-29.3 – Overtime for Certain Employees
5
Virginia Department of Labor and Industry. Virginia Minimum Wage Rate Increasing Effective January 1, 2026
6
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 40.1-28.7:2 – Employers to Allow Crime Victims Leave
7
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 40.1-33.8 – Organ Donation Leave
8
eCFR. 29 CFR 825.300 – Employer Notice Requirements
9
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act
10
Legislative Information System. HB5 – 2026 Regular Session
11
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 40.1-28.7:8 – Covenants Not to Compete Prohibited; Exceptions; Civil Penalty
12
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 778 – Overtime Compensation
13
U.S. Department of Labor. FLSA Protections to Pump at Work
14
Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 40.1-28.7:3 – Earned Income Tax Credit; Employer Notice to Employee
15
Virginia Department of Human Resource Management. State and Federal Poster Requirements
16
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” Poster