Virginia pay transparency law: range in every posting, no size threshold

Since July 1, 2026, every employer doing business in Virginia must state the wage, salary, or a wage or salary range in each public and internal posting for a job, promotion, transfer or other employment opportunity. There is no employer-size threshold, the range must be set in good faith, and the same section bans asking candidates about their pay history. What makes Virginia different from most states is its enforcement design: a 15-business-day cure window that can stop a lawsuit if the posting is fixed in time.

The statute and how it got here

Virginia's rule is Code § 40.1-28.7:12, titled "Seeking wage or salary history of prospective employees prohibited; wage or salary range transparency; cause of action; civil penalty." It was enacted in the 2026 session through identical bills, SB 215 and HB 636, recorded as Chapters 996 and 1063 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly, and took effect July 1, 2026.

The Attorney General enforces the civil penalty. Individual applicants and employees also have their own right to sue, subject to the cure rule described below.

Which employers are covered

The section has no headcount threshold. It relies on the general definition in Va. Code § 40.1-2, which treats as an employer any individual, partnership, association, corporation and similar person "doing business in or operating within this Commonwealth who employs another to work for wages, salaries, or on commission," and includes "any similar entity acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee."

That last clause is worth reading twice if you run a recruiting or staffing business. An agency recruiting for a Virginia role acts in the interest of the employer, so the safe reading is that the agency's postings must meet the same standard as the client's own. The statute does not say this in so many words, and no court has addressed it yet, but nothing in the section exempts third parties the way Delaware's law does.

What a Virginia posting must include

Subdivision B 5 makes it unlawful to "fail or refuse to disclose in each public and internal posting for each job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity the wage, salary, or wage or salary range for the position." Three points follow from that wording:

• Internal postings count. A promotion or transfer opportunity announced only to employees needs the range too.
• A single figure is allowed. If the role pays one rate, state it; a range is not mandatory.
• No benefits line is required. Virginia asks only for pay. Adding a short benefits summary does no harm and helps if the same posting runs in Maryland or the District of Columbia, which have their own benefits-related rules.

The statute defines a "wage or salary range" as the minimum and maximum for the position, set in good faith by reference to an applicable pay scale, a previously determined range for the position, the actual range paid to people currently in equivalent positions, or the budgeted amount. Subdivision B 6 separately makes it unlawful to "fail to set a wage or salary range in good faith," and adds that any good-faith analysis "shall consider, among other things, the breadth of such wage or salary range." A range so wide it tells the candidate nothing invites a claim on its own, even if both numbers are technically possible.

Example only: a posting that says "$55,000 to $68,000, depending on experience," built from the budget line and the pay of the two people already in the role, is defensible. A posting that says "$40,000 to $140,000" for the same job is the kind of breadth the statute tells a court to weigh.

Remote roles

The section does not define its geographic reach. The Department of Labor and Industry describes the rule as applying to "all job postings and hiring advertisements in Virginia." For a role performed in Virginia, assume coverage. For a remote role open to candidates anywhere, the conservative choice is to include a range in any version of the posting a Virginia resident could apply to, since the employer definition reaches anyone operating in the Commonwealth and the cost of including a range is low.

The salary history ban in the same section

The same section prohibits an employer from seeking a prospective employee's wage or salary history, relying on it when deciding whether to consider them, or relying on it to set their starting pay. It also bars refusing to interview, hire, employ or promote, or otherwise retaliating against, someone who declines to share pay history or who asks for the range.

A candidate may still volunteer their history, including to negotiate after an initial offer. If they do so without prompting, the employer may rely on it, and may confirm it, only to support pay higher than its initial offer, and only where the higher pay does not create an unlawful differential under Virginia's equal pay statute or federal law. For phrasing that asks about expectations without asking for history, see salary expectation questions; for the wider list of topics to keep out of an interview, see illegal interview questions.

Enforcement, penalties and the 15-day cure window

The cure rule has a detail that matters operationally. A written notice from any person about a particular posting "shall constitute adequate notice for the duration of such posting" for any prospective employee. Once one person has flagged a posting, the employer cannot wait for a second complaint to start the clock. And the fix has to happen on the original posting locations, so updating your careers page while an aggregator or job board still shows the old version may not count.

The cure window applies to the private right of action for posting and range violations. It does not cover the salary history prohibitions, and the statute does not say it limits the Attorney General's civil penalty.

Building a workflow that uses the cure window well

1. Route notices to one inbox. Tell recruiters and the careers page owner that any message saying a Virginia posting lacks a range is a legal notice, not a complaint to file away.
2. Keep a list of where each posting runs. You cannot fix "the original posting locations" if you do not know them. Include job boards, aggregators the ATS syndicates to, and agency partners.
3. Log the correction date. Record when each location was updated so you can show it happened inside 15 business days.
4. Re-check the range itself. A notice can allege that the range was not set in good faith, not only that it was missing. Pull the source you used to set it.

How Virginia compares with its neighbors

Virginia's rule is closest to Maryland's in scope, since neither has a size threshold, but Maryland also requires general benefits and other compensation in the posting; see the Maryland pay transparency guide. The District of Columbia adds a duty to disclose whether healthcare benefits are offered before the first interview. A posting written to satisfy Maryland and D.C. will generally satisfy Virginia. For the full comparison, see pay transparency laws by state.

A Virginia posting checklist

VIRGINIA POSTING CHECKLIST (Va. Code § 40.1-28.7:12, from July 1, 2026)

[ ] Any employer operating in Virginia, any size
[ ] Applies to public AND internal postings, including promotions and
    transfers
[ ] Posting states a wage, salary, or minimum-to-maximum range
[ ] Range set from a pay scale, prior range, current equivalent pay,
    or budget, and not so broad it is meaningless
[ ] Application and screen ask about expectations, never pay history
[ ] Every posting location recorded (careers page, boards, agencies)
[ ] Written notices about a posting routed to one owner and corrected
    on every original location within 15 business days