What You Need to Know About the Virginia Pay Transparency Law 2026: Compliance Guide & Nonprofit Salary Benchmarking

Are You Prepared for What’s Coming?

If you’re an HR manager, executive director, or people manager at a Virginia nonprofit or privately held organization, you’re in the right place. This post covers two of the most pressing topics for Virginia employers right now: the wave of employment law changes taking effect in 2026, and what the Moving Toward Equity 2026 Compensation, Benefits & Work Culture Report tells us about how RVA nonprofits can stay competitive in a constrained market.

The short answer is that Virginia employers must post salary ranges in all job listings, stop asking candidates about pay history, and begin planning for mandatory paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave programs, all taking effect in 2026.

The Problem: Compliance Pressure Meets Compensation Uncertainty

Most Virginia employers we speak with aren’t short on effort; they’re short on clarity. Between new state mandates, shifting federal enforcement priorities, and the ongoing pressure to recruit and retain staff in a tightening labor market, it’s easy to feel like you’re always one step behind.

If you’ve found yourself asking, “what Virginia employment laws changed in 2026?”, “does my nonprofit have to post salary ranges now?”, or “how do I know if our compensation is competitive?”  You’re not alone. These are exactly the questions HR professionals and executive directors across the Richmond region are wrestling with heading into the second half of this year.

Why Warren Whitney

Warren Whitney is a Richmond, Virginia-based management consulting firm with nearly 40 years of experience serving nonprofits and privately held organizations in HR, strategy, finance, and IT. Our HR consultants work directly with executive directors, HR managers, and boards to navigate compliance updates, compensation strategy, and workforce planning.

For this webinar series, we partnered with employment attorneys Leah Stiegler and Alex Liubinskas of Woods Rogers, one of Virginia’s leading employment law firms, to ensure the legal guidance is as precise as the HR strategy behind it. The Moving Toward Equity report is sponsored by the Bob and Anna Lou Schaberg Foundation and produced with support from Warren Whitney’s Esther Nand, HR Director, who brings twelve years of experience in human resource management across both the nonprofit and private sectors, as part of an ongoing commitment to pay equity and workforce health across the nonprofit sector.

What This Post Covers

1. The most important Virginia employment law changes effective in 2026
2. What the Moving Toward Equity 2026 report reveals about nonprofit compensation trends, written by Esther Nand
3. How to use the report to benchmark positions and build a defensible pay strategy
4. Concrete next steps your organization can take before July 1 and beyond

Part One: 2026 Virginia Employment Law Updates

1. Pay Transparency (Effective July 1, 2026)

This is the most time-sensitive change for every Virginia employer. Starting July 1, 2026:

• Salary ranges must be included in every public or internal job posting, promotion, or transfer opportunity
• Asking candidates about pay history is prohibited during the hiring process
• Salary ranges must be set using a documented, good-faith methodology such as a pay scale, budgeted amount, or the actual range paid to employees in equivalent roles

Penalties are enforced by the Office of the Attorney General: $1,000 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second. Prospective employees also have the right to sue for actual damages within one year.

Best practice: Establish your salary range methodology now, before July 1. The Moving Toward Equity report is one of the strongest local data sources available to RVA nonprofits for building that methodology, more on that below.

2. Minimum Wage Increases

Virginia’s minimum wage is on a legislated schedule:

• $12.77 – January 2026
• $13.75 – January 2027
• $15.00 – January 2028
• Indexed to the Consumer Price Index annually after January 2029

Budget planning for 2027 and 2028 should account for these increases now.

3. Paid Sick Leave

New legislation (HB5, SB199) requires all Virginia employers, public and private, to provide paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked, up to 40 hours per year. Effective dates vary by employer size, beginning July 1, 2027, for employers with 50 or more employees.

4. Paid Family and Medical Leave

A new state-administered program is coming, funded by employer and employee contributions and administered by the Virginia Employment Commission. Key dates: contribution rates set October 2027, contributions begin April 2028, benefits available December 2028.

5. VEC Claim Response Deadlines

Effective July 1, 2025, all Virginia employers must respond to VEC unemployment claim requests within 10 calendar days. Failure to comply results in warning letters, fines, and ultimately the loss of appeal rights on that claim.

6. EEOC Shifts to Watch

The EEOC regained its quorum in October 2025 and has since shifted enforcement priorities. Key developments include:

• Increased scrutiny of DEI-related selection decisions, internships, fellowships, and leadership pipelines
• Rescission of 2024 guidance on harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation, though employer obligations under Title VII remain unchanged
• Growing emphasis on national origin discrimination and “anti-American bias” enforcement
• Retaliation remains one of the most frequently alleged charges – anti-retaliation training for frontline managers is more important than ever

Part Two: Moving Toward Equity – What the 2026 Report Tells Us

The Moving Toward Equity Compensation, Benefits & Work Culture Report is produced annually for RVA nonprofits and provides salary benchmarking data, benefits analysis, and workforce culture insights. Here is what the 2026 edition reveals.

The Compensation Picture Is Tighter Than Last Year

• A 32.8% decline in merit increases compared to prior years
• Both merit and bonus medians are down 1% overall
• Rates above the median declined sharply, meaning high performers are seeing less differentiation in pay
• Incentive structures exist at most organizations, but are concentrated at the top, leaving entry and mid-level staff with limited upside

This data reflects a sector navigating real budget constraints and public funding volatility but tighter budgets don’t have to mean losing good people, if you know where the competitive opportunities are.

Where the Competitive Opportunities Are

The report identified several areas where nonprofits can differentiate without significant budget impact:

• Increasing time-off rates earlier – specifically between years one and three of employment, when turnover risk is highest
• Sabbatical leave – very few RVA nonprofits currently offer this, making it a meaningful differentiator for organizations that do
• Regular performance feedback – staff at entry to mid-level roles want investment in their development; shorter feedback cycles signal that investment
• Hybrid schedules – flexible work arrangements remain important to candidates and employees across the market

Staff Resilience Is Tied to Workforce Experience

One of the more significant findings in the 2026 report is that employees are increasingly connecting their own sense of resilience and stability to their experience at work. Concerns about job security are prevalent across the sector. This has direct implications for how organizations communicate with staff, structure performance conversations, and approach retention, not just compensation.

Part Three: How to Use the Report to Benchmark Compensation

The Moving Toward Equity report is a practical tool, not just a data source. Here is the baseline process Warren Whitney recommends for using it effectively.

Step 1: Build a Pay Profile

Before opening the report’s salary charts, document the following for the position you are benchmarking:

• Job duties and a match percentage to the report’s job descriptions (aim for 80% or higher)
• Required qualifications and education level
• Your target pay percentile based on your compensation philosophy
• Your organization’s service area, annual revenue, and full-time employee count

Step 2: Pull Three Data Sources Minimum

The industry standard for a defensible compensation analysis is a minimum of three data sources. For most positions, the Moving Toward Equity report is one. Pair it with the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) data and one additional source. For executive-level roles, consider pulling 990 data and additional compensation surveys.

Step 3: Eliminate Outliers and Prioritize Local Data

When reviewing salary data, weight local Richmond-area figures more heavily than national averages. Remove outliers that skew the range. If a position carries a “senior” designation, make sure your comparison data reflects that; senior roles are not interchangeable with standard roles in the benchmarking process.

Step 4: Age Your Data Appropriately

Any salary data more than two years old should not be used as-is. Use the Employee Cost Index (available at bls.gov/eci) to adjust older figures to current market conditions. This is especially relevant as you approach year-end budget planning.

Step 5: Check Internal Equity

Before finalizing any salary range, map the new or revised position against your existing pay structure. A well-benchmarked external range that creates internal compression, where a new hire earns close to or more than a tenured employee, creates its own retention problem.

Four Steps to Take Before July 1

1. Audit your job posting process. Identify who creates postings and ensure every listing will include a documented salary range by July 1. Remove pay history questions from applications and interview guides immediately.
2. Build or document your salary range methodology. The Pay Transparency law requires ranges to be set in good faith. If you cannot explain how you arrived at your ranges, that is a compliance risk. Use the Moving Toward Equity report as a starting point alongside at least two additional sources.
3. Review your VEC response workflow. If you are not already tracking and responding to unemployment claim requests within 10 calendar days, put that process in place now.
4. Start planning for Paid Sick Leave and Paid Family Medical Leave. These programs are not yet in effect, but the contribution and budgeting timelines start as early as late 2027. The time to model the financial impact is now, not when the regulations arrive.

FAQs

Q: Does Virginia’s Pay Transparency law apply to all employers? A: Yes. Starting July 1, 2026, all Virginia employers, regardless of size or industry, must include a salary range in every job posting, promotion, or transfer opportunity, and are prohibited from asking candidates about pay history.

Q: What is the penalty for not complying with Virginia’s Pay Transparency law? A: The Office of the Attorney General can issue fines of $1,000 for a first violation and $5,000 for a second. Prospective employees also have the right to sue for actual damages within one year.

Q: What is the Virginia minimum wage in 2026? A: Virginia’s minimum wage is $12.77 in 2026, rising to $13.75 in 2027 and $15.00 in 2028, then indexed to the Consumer Price Index annually beginning in 2029.