Virginia’s Paid Family and Medical Leave Law Is Here

Virginia has a new paid family and medical leave law. It applies to every private employer in the Commonwealth—no matter how small. If you have one employee, this law applies to you.

The Virginia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 2 in March 2026, the Governor amended it and sent it back.  After the General Assembly accepted her amendments, she signed it into law. Payroll contributions under the new Virginia paid family and medical leave law begin April 1, 2028. Employees can begin using benefits December 1, 2028. That gives employers roughly two years to prepare. Employers who start now will be in a much better position than those who wait.

This post explains how the Virginia paid family and medical leave law works, what it will cost, what your obligations are, and what you should be doing right now. If you want the full legal deep-dive, there is a free Employer Compliance Guide available at the bottom of this page.

Virginia’s paid family and medical leave law creates a state-run insurance program called the Virginia Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program (PFML). It is administered by the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC).

Here is how it works: employers and employees pay into a state fund through a new payroll tax. When an employee needs to take leave for a qualifying reason, the fund pays the employee’s weekly benefit during the leave. The employer does not pay the employee’s wages during leave. The state fund does.

This is the same model used in states like California, New York, Washington, and Massachusetts, which have operated similar programs for years. Virginia is now joining them.

Yes. If you employ at least one person in Virginia, this law applies to you. There is no minimum employee count nor is there an exemption for businesses that rely on seasonal employees. A sole proprietor with one part-time employee has the same legal obligations as a corporation with 500 workers.

The only employer excluded from the program is the Commonwealth of Virginia itself. Every private employer is covered.

The one meaningful difference between larger and smaller employers is how the payroll contribution is split:

• Employers with more than 10 employees must pay at least half of the required contribution, in addition to collecting and remitting the employee’s share.
• Employers with 10 or fewer employees must collect and remit the employee’s share. You are not required to make an additional employer contribution. However, all other obligations — job protection, notices, anti-retaliation — apply to you in the same way.

An employee qualifies for PFML benefits by meeting the monetary eligibility threshold set out in Virginia Code § 60.2-612 — meaning they must have earned sufficient wages across at least two calendar quarters of the base period. The base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the claim is filed.

There are two important things about this threshold that may surprise you as an employer:

• The eligibility calculation includes wages the employee earned at previous employers, not just wages you have paid. A new hire who worked elsewhere for most of the past year may qualify for benefits within their first week at your business.
• There is no minimum period the employee must have worked for you specifically — with one key exception: job restoration rights (discussed below) require at least 120 days of employment with your business before leave begins.

Employees must also be authorized to work in the United States at the time they apply for benefits.

Employees can use PFML benefits for six qualifying reasons:

1. Bonding with a new child
2. Caring for a family member with a serious health condition
3. Their own serious health condition that prevents them from working
4. Caring for a covered service member
5. Qualifying military exigency leave
6. Safety services related to domestic violence, pervasive harassment, sexual assault, or stalking

Reasons 1 through 5 are each eligible for up to 12 weeks of paid leave in a benefit year. Safety services leave (reason 6) is capped at 4 weeks per benefit year.

The definitions of “family member” and “serious health condition” are broad. Family members include children of any age (including stepchildren, foster children, and children of a domestic partner), parents, spouses, domestic partners, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings. It also covers any person who regularly lives in the employee’s home and depends on the employee for care. A “serious health condition” includes physical and mental health conditions that require inpatient care or ongoing treatment by a health care provider — including conditions certified by a licensed clinical social worker.

The weekly PFML benefit is 80 percent of the employee’s average weekly wages during the base period. It is subject to:

• A floor of $100 per week (or the employee’s full wage if they earn less than $100 per week)
• A ceiling of 100 percent of the Virginia state average weekly wage, which is currently $1,507.01

Here is a practical illustration: an employee who earned $60,000 in the prior year had average weekly wages of roughly $1,154. Their weekly PFML benefit would be approximately $923, paid by the state fund — not by you.

The first payment is made no later than two weeks after the claim is approved or leave begins, whichever is later. Subsequent payments are made at least every two weeks.

The VEC will set the contribution rate by October 1, 2027, for the calendar year 2028. Until that rate is published, the exact cost is unknown. What we do know:

• The contribution is calculated as a percentage of each employee’s wages, up to the Social Security wage base (currently $176,100).
• Employers with more than 10 employees must pay at least 50 percent of the contribution and may deduct up to 50 percent from employee wages.
• Employers with 10 or fewer employees deduct and remit only the employee’s share — no additional employer cost.
• Late contributions accrue interest at 1.5 percent per month. Willful non-payment can result in personal liability for business owners and officers, and a court can enjoin your business from operating in Virginia until contributions are paid.

When an employee returns from PFML leave, you must restore them to their same position — or an equivalent one with the same pay, benefits, and working conditions. There is one important eligibility requirement for restoration: the employee must have been employed with your business for at least 120 days before their leave began. An employee with fewer than 120 days on your payroll who qualifies for and receives PFML benefits is not entitled to statutory job restoration under this law.

The Virginia paid family and medical leave law requires employers to maintain the employee’s health insurance coverage during PFML absence on the same terms as if they had kept working. The employee is responsible for continuing to pay their share of the premium, but because they are off payroll during leave, you cannot collect it through a payroll deduction. You will need to invoice the employee directly for their premium share during the leave period.

Under the Virginia paid family and medical leave law, you must provide written notice of PFML rights to every new employee at hiring, to all employees annually, and to any employee who requests or appears eligible for leave. The notice must cover six specific topics and must be provided in English, Spanish, and any other language spoken as a primary language by at least 5 percent of your workforce.

You must display the VEC’s official PFML poster in a location accessible to all employees, in all required languages.

You cannot take any adverse action — including termination, demotion, reduction in hours, negative performance reviews, or changes in schedule — against an employee because they used, applied for, or asked about PFML benefits. Employees have one year from a non-willful violation, and three years from a willful violation, to bring a legal claim. Proven violations result in back pay, liquidated damages equal to the full amount owed, and the employee’s attorney’s fees paid by you.

Yes. The law allows employers to apply to the VEC for approval to meet their obligations through a private plan — either through a third-party insurer or a self-funded program — instead of contributing to the state fund. A private plan must provide at least the same level of benefits and protections as the state program.

If approved, your private plan must be recertified every two years, and you must pay a fee to the VEC at each recertification. If your plan fails to pay benefits, pay on time, or comply with program requirements, the VEC can revoke approval.

Third-party PFML insurance products are now a recognized insurance line in Virginia, meaning licensed insurers will be offering off-the-shelf policies designed to satisfy the private plan requirements.

Two years sounds like a long time. It isn’t. Here are the most important steps to take now:

• Ask your payroll provider whether they will support individualized rolling benefit year tracking by April 2028. Get their answer in writing.
• Review your employee handbook for conflicts with SB2: attendance policies that count all absences, leave policies with waiting periods, and anti-retaliation provisions that do not yet cover PFML activity.
• Identify any employees with active performance or conduct issues and document those issues in writing now, before any PFML claims are filed. A written record that predates a PFML claim is your best protection against retaliation liability.
• Review your health insurance plan documents to understand how to handle premiums when an employee goes off payroll for leave.
• Consider whether a private plan makes sense for your business given your current benefits package.

This post is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For guidance specific to your business, contact Dunlap Law PLC.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay