Virginia labor laws: minimum wage, overtime, leave, final pay and breaks

The calendar matters more than today's rate

Most of what is new in Virginia labor law has not started yet, and the order of the dates decides who benefits first. The milestones written into the Code of Virginia line up as follows.

The wage steps come from 2026 Acts chapters 350 and 351, now in section 40.1-28.10 of the Code of Virginia. Someone on 30 hours a week gains $1,529 a year at the 2027 rate and a further $1,950 once the 2028 step arrives. Two groups stand apart: trainees in an approved on-the-job program may be paid 75 percent of the state rate for up to 90 days, and the state act excludes farm workers, children under 16 and full-time students under 18, among others.

What the minimum wage raise is worth to you

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Hours per week

h

Next rate in Virginia

$13.75

Rate on January 1, 2026	$12.77
Rate in force now	$12.77
Extra pay a year since January	$0
Extra pay a year at the next rate	$1,529

See every state rate →

Paid sick leave from July 2027

Today the state sick leave statute covers a narrow group: home health workers providing consumer-directed Medicaid services who average at least 20 hours a week, with up to 40 hours a year. That changes on July 1, 2027, when the definition of employer grows to every business with 50 or more employees, then 25 or more in 2028 and at least one employee in 2029. The accrual rule stays the same: one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours a year. A part-timer on 20 hours a week would build about 34 hours over a full year, while a full-time employee reaches the 40-hour limit after roughly 30 weeks. Until the phase-in reaches your employer, sick days remain a matter of company policy.

Paid family and medical leave, from December 2028

The Virginia Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program, in Title 60.2 of the Code, starts collecting contributions by April 1, 2028 and pays claims from December 1, 2028. It will replace 80 percent of average weekly wages in the base period, with a minimum of $100 a week and a maximum equal to the state average weekly net earnings, for up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave combined in a benefit year. A worker averaging $1,000 a week would draw $800, subject to the ceiling, which had not been set when this page was checked. Until then, the federal FMLA offers 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to eligible employees.

Paid family leave in your state

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Weeks of leave you plan

weeks

Virginia Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (benefits from 2028-12-01)

Up to 12 weeks

Weeks payable from your plan

8

Your benefit is a share of your own wages, up to the maximum.

FMLA eligibility and weeks left →

Overtime, the last check and breaks today

Virginia adopts the federal overtime rule and adds its own remedies: an employer that breaks the FLSA overtime requirements is liable under state law, so a worker can sue in a Virginia court. A forklift operator at $18 an hour working five ten-hour days is owed $990, including $270 for 10 overtime hours. Fired or not, final wages are due on or before the date they would normally have been paid. No Virginia statute requires a payout of unused vacation, so the employer's policy or contract decides. Adults have no state meal or rest break rule; children under 16 get a 30-minute lunch after five hours of continuous work. Virginia is a right-to-work state and employment is at will. Other scheduled raises show how the state's path compares.