Virginia Minimum Wage Increase

(Part Three of a Four-Part Series) 

By Kristina Keech Spitler, Esq. and Brendan F. Cassidy, Esq.

Virginia employers will need to comply with a new Virginia minimum wage increase to $9.50 an hour starting May 1, 2021. Initially the minimum wage increase was planned for January 1, 2021, but Governor Northam delayed the increase as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Virginia will also increase the minimum wage several times over the next few years under the following schedule:

• January 1, 2022 – $11.00 per hour.
• January 1, 2023 – $12.00 per hour.
• January 1, 2025 – $13.50 per hour.
• January 1, 2026 – $15.00 per hour.

Although the initial start of the minimum wage increase was delayed, the subsequent wage increase dates currently remain the same.

These increases would apply to most employees in Virginia, including home care providers (the new law removed home care providers from the list of employees exempt from minimum wage requirements). 

The new minimum wage increase will not just apply to private employers, but also to the Commonwealth, any of its agencies, institutions, or political subdivisions, and any public body. 

For further information or questions about these new laws, or for any questions regarding employment laws applicable to Virginia employers, please contact Ms. Spitler or Mr. Cassidy at Vanderpool, Frostick & Nishanian.  The attorneys in the employment law department of VFN are available to help you revise your employee handbook and policies as well as provide training so that your organization complies with this new and other applicable law.  Alternatively, if your organization does not have an employee handbook, our firm can draft a handbook tailored to meet your business’s needs.

For further information or questions, please visit our site
Employment Law or Call Us at 703-369-4738