Virginia employers will need to adjust how they talk about pay before July 1, 2026. Under Senate Bill 215, Virginia’s new law restricts how employers use a candidate’s compensation history and requires wage or salary information in job postings.
For employers, pay ranges will need to be set before roles go live. Applications, recruiter scripts, interview questions, internal transfer postings, and promotion opportunities may all need a closer look. For candidates, the law may make compensation expectations clearer earlier in the process and reduce the pressure to explain or defend past pay.
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What Virginia’s New Pay Transparency & Salary History Inquiry Law Covers
The law has two main parts.
First, employers operating in Virginia may not seek a prospective employee’s wage or salary history or rely on that history when deciding whether to hire the person or what compensation to offer, according to Thompson McMullan’s legal commentary. Employers also may not refuse to interview, hire, employ, or promote someone because they declined to provide compensation history.
The law does allow employers to consider pay history in a limited situation: when a candidate voluntarily discloses it without prompting. Even then, the information may only be used to support compensation above the employer’s initial offer and only where otherwise allowed by Virginia and federal law.
Second, employers must disclose the wage/salary or wage/salary range in each public and internal posting for a job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity. That means pay transparency isn’t limited to external job ads. Internal opportunities may also need clear compensation information.
Why Employers Should Start Preparing Now
Employers often finalize compensation details late in the hiring process, especially when a hiring manager is still adjusting the role or waiting for budget approval. Virginia’s new requirements push employers to finalize these details sooner.
Before a job is posted, employers may need to confirm the approved pay range, ensure the range is realistic, and that the same information is being shared across HR, hiring managers, recruiters, and staffing partners. A vague or overly broad compensation range may create compliance risk and candidate confusion if it doesn’t reflect the actual compensation plan for the role.
Employers should also review application forms, interview guides, recruiter intake notes, and hiring manager instructions. Salary history questions that once felt routine may need to be removed from the process.
What This Could Mean for Candidates
For candidates, the law may make pay expectations easier to understand before they invest time in the process. When salary ranges appear earlier, candidates can compare the posted range against the role’s responsibilities, schedule, location, benefits, and growth potential.
The salary history restriction may also change the tone of compensation conversations. Instead of employers asking for salary history as a starting point for future compensation, candidates should have knowledge of the compensation before interviews and will be able to spend more time discussing the responsibilities and duties of the role to assess whether the position is worth their time.
What Employers Should Watch Before July 1, 2026
Before the law takes effect, employers should review job posting templates, internal transfer notices, promotion postings, application forms, interview materials, and recruiter instructions. Legal counsel should review specific compliance questions, especially around enforcement, exceptions, and how the rules apply to different hiring models.
For companies using temporary staffing support, project-based staffing, or employer of record support, consistency matters. Pay-range communication and screening instructions should stay aligned across internal teams and outside workforce partners.
PeopleSolutions can support the workforce side of that conversation when employers need flexible staffing, project-based support, or employment logistics while internal teams adjust hiring workflows. Our team is able to support compensation decisions, provide insight into the current industry benchmark ranges, and comply with these new laws when conducting interviews and posting job ads. If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of our temporary staffing solutions, reach out to us to discuss more!
