The Virginia Human Rights Act poster is a free notice from the Office of the Attorney General that covered Virginia employers must display in the workplace, informing employees of their rights to reasonable accommodations for disabilities and for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions, along with the broader antidiscrimination protections of the Act. Posting it is only part of what the law asks for, and the thresholds that decide whether you are covered are lower than many employers assume.
Who Has to Post It
Both posting obligations in the Virginia Human Rights Act use the same threshold. Under § 2.2-3905.1, the disability accommodation notice applies to any employer with more than five employees for each working day in 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-3905.1 – Reasonable Accommodations for Persons With Disabilities; Unlawful Discriminatory Practice; Notice of Rights Section 2.2-3909 uses the same more-than-five-employee count for the pregnancy accommodation notice.2Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia Title 2.2 Chapter 39 – Virginia Human Rights Act
If you have six or more employees, both posting requirements apply to you. One more group is covered regardless of headcount: anyone who employs even a single domestic worker. The statute defines domestic workers to include housekeepers, nannies, home health aides, personal care aides, gardeners, and similar household employees.3Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-3905 – Nondiscrimination in Employment; Definitions; Exceptions
Where to Get the Official Poster
The Office of the Attorney General publishes the poster for free through its civil rights page. The current version was updated in 2025 and is available as a downloadable PDF.4Attorney General of Virginia. Civil Rights The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry also lists a reasonable accommodations notice among its required workplace posters.5Virginia Department of Labor and Industry. Required Workplace Posters
Download it directly from one of those government sites. New Virginia businesses often receive official-looking letters from private vendors, usually shortly after incorporation paperwork is filed, demanding payment for labor law posters and threatening fines. Every required Virginia poster is free from the state. No private vendor has authority to fine you, and a letter that says otherwise is worth reporting to the state consumer protection office.
Where to Hang It
Both statutes require the notice to be posted “in a conspicuous location.”1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-3905.1 – Reasonable Accommodations for Persons With Disabilities; Unlawful Discriminatory Practice; Notice of Rights In practice, that is somewhere employees naturally pass during the workday: a breakroom, a hallway near the time clock, or the area around a shared entrance.
If your business operates from more than one site, you need a copy at each location where employees work. A single notice in the main office does not cover a warehouse crew that never sets foot there. Mount the poster at a height everyone can read, including employees who use wheelchairs or other mobility aids, and keep it clean and legible. A faded, torn, or partially covered poster is functionally no poster at all. If it becomes unreadable, print a fresh one.
Posting Alone Is Not Enough
Both § 2.2-3905.1 and § 2.2-3909 require covered employers to deliver the same accommodation information three other ways:
- Include it in any employee handbook you distribute.
- Give it directly to every new employee at the start of employment.
- Provide the disability accommodation information within 10 days after an employee tells you they have a disability, and the pregnancy accommodation information within 10 days after an employee notifies you of a pregnancy.
A poster on a breakroom wall only works if someone walks past it and happens to read it on the right day. The direct-notice rules exist because an employee who has just received a diagnosis or confirmed a pregnancy needs the information in hand, not just available somewhere on the premises.1Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-3905.1 – Reasonable Accommodations for Persons With Disabilities; Unlawful Discriminatory Practice; Notice of Rights2Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia Title 2.2 Chapter 39 – Virginia Human Rights Act
Remote and Hybrid Employees
Neither § 2.2-3905.1 nor § 2.2-3909 addresses electronic posting for remote employees. The direct-notice rules help: because employers must separately give the information to new hires and to employees who disclose a disability or pregnancy, emailing a copy or delivering it through an HR portal satisfies those triggered obligations wherever the employee works.
Federal guidance from the U.S. Department of Labor allows electronic-only posting of federal notices when all employees work remotely, all employees customarily receive information electronically, and the postings are available at all times without an employee having to ask.6U.S. Department of Labor. Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2020-7 Virginia has not issued parallel state-level guidance. For employers with any remote staff, the safest approach is to post the VHRA notice on the company intranet or email it to employees, and confirm in writing that staff know where to find it.
Federal Posters That Go Alongside It
The VHRA poster does not satisfy federal posting requirements. Employers covered by federal antidiscrimination laws must separately display the EEOC’s “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” poster, which covers Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and other federal protections. The EEOC can assess a civil penalty of $680 per violation for failure to post, adjusted annually for inflation.7U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal Poster The Virginia Department of Human Resource Management advises reviewing both state and federal requirements together.8Virginia Department of Human Resource Management. State and Federal Poster Requirements The Department of Labor publishes a free poster advisor tool that walks you through which federal notices your business needs based on size and industry.9U.S. Department of Labor. Workplace Posters
What Happens if You Do Not Post
The VHRA does not specify a standalone fine for failure to display the required notices. That does not make compliance optional. If an employee files a discrimination or accommodation complaint, a missing poster undercuts any argument that the employee should have known about internal processes or used them first, and it can become evidence that the employer was not taking its accommodation obligations seriously. Employees who believe they experienced unlawful discrimination can file a written complaint with the Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Law within 300 days of the alleged discriminatory act.10Virginia Code Commission. Virginia Code 2.2-3907 – Procedures for a Charge of Unlawful Discrimination; Notice
When to Replace the Poster
Virginia does not publish a fixed replacement schedule. The trigger is legislative change: when the General Assembly amends the Human Rights Act, the Attorney General’s office typically releases a revised poster. The most recent update came in 2025. Check the Attorney General’s civil rights page periodically, especially after each legislative session ends, and swap in the new version when one appears. If your posted copy still reflects current law, there is no requirement to replace it simply because time has passed.