Virginia Bill Prohibits Employer Wage History Inquiries
Summary
The Virginia House of Delegates has passed HB636, a bill that prohibits employers from seeking or relying on prospective employees' wage history. The bill also mandates the disclosure of wage ranges for job postings and establishes a cause of action for aggrieved employees with damages ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.
What changed
Virginia House Bill 636, enacted on March 25, 2026, introduces significant changes to employment practices within the state. The bill explicitly prohibits prospective employers from inquiring about, relying on, or using an applicant's past wage or salary history in hiring decisions. Furthermore, employers are now required to disclose the wage or salary range in all public and internal job postings and must establish these ranges in good faith. This legislation aims to promote pay equity and transparency.
Employers operating in Virginia must immediately update their hiring and compensation policies to comply with these new requirements. This includes revising job posting templates and training hiring managers to avoid any wage history inquiries or reliance. The bill creates a new cause of action for employees and prospective employees, allowing them to sue for statutory damages between $1,000 and $10,000, actual damages, attorney fees, and costs if violations occur. Compliance is critical to avoid legal and financial repercussions.
What to do next
- Update hiring policies to prohibit seeking or relying on wage history.
- Mandate disclosure of wage/salary ranges in all job postings.
- Train hiring managers on new prohibitions and disclosure requirements.
Penalties
Statutory damages between $1,000 and $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs.
Source document (simplified)
VA HB636 | 2026 | Regular Regular Session
Virginia House Bill 636
VA State Legislature page for HB636
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Status
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 21)
Status: Enrolled on March 14 2026 - 75% progression
Action: 2026-03-25 - Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026
Text: Latest bill text (Enrolled) [HTML]
Summary
Prohibiting employer seeking wage or salary history of prospective employees; wage or salary range transparency; cause of action. Prohibits a prospective employer from (i) seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective employee; (ii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment; (iii) relying on the wage or salary history of a prospective employee in determining the wages or salary the prospective employee is to be paid upon hire; (iv) refusing to interview, hire, employ, or promote or otherwise retaliating against a prospective or current employee for not providing wage or salary history or requesting a wage or salary range; (v) failing or refusing to disclose in each public and internal posting for each job, promotion, transfer, or other employment opportunity the wage, salary, or wage or salary range; and (vi) failing to set a wage or salary range in good faith. The bill establishes a cause of action for an aggrieved prospective employee or employee and provides that an employer that violates such prohibitions is liable to the aggrieved prospective employee or employee for statutory damages between $1,000 and $10,000 or actual damages, whichever is greater, reasonable attorney fees and costs, and any other legal and equitable relief as may be appropriate. This bill incorporates HB 1164 and is identical to SB 215.
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Title
Prospective employer; prohibited from seeking wage or salary history of prospective employees.
Sponsors
| Del. Michelle Maldonado [D] | Sen. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker [D] | Del. Leslie Chambers Mehta [D] | Del. Marcia Price [D] |
| Del. Irene Shin [D] | Del. Bonita Anthony [D] | Del. Nadarius Clark [D] | Del. Joshua Cole [D] |
| Del. Nicole Cole [D] | Del. Rae Cousins [D] | Del. Margaret Franklin [D] | Del. Jackie Glass [D] |
| Del. Elizabeth Guzman [D] | Del. Dan Helmer [D] | Del. Rozia Henson [D] | Del. Marty Martinez [D] |
| Del. May Nivar [D] | Del. Sam Rasoul [D] | Del. Charlie Schmidt [D] | Del. Holly Seibold [D] |
| Del. Kathy Tran [D] | | | |
Roll Calls
2026-03-09 - House - Senate amendment agreed to by House (63-Y 34-N 0-A) (Y: 63 N: 34 NV: 0 Abs: 2) [PASS]
2026-03-05 - Senate - Passed Senate with amendment (20-Y 19-N 0-A) (Y: 20 N: 19 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]
2026-03-04 - Senate - Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) (Y: 39 N: 0 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]
2026-03-02 - Senate - Reported from Commerce and Labor with amendment (8-Y 6-N) (Y: 8 N: 6 NV: 0 Abs: 1) [PASS]
2026-02-16 - House - Read third time and passed House (65-Y 33-N 0-A) (Y: 65 N: 33 NV: 0 Abs: 2) [PASS]
2026-02-10 - House - Reported from Labor and Commerce with amendment(s) (16-Y 6-N) (Y: 16 N: 6 NV: 0 Abs: 0) [PASS]
2026-02-05 - House - Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (4-Y 2-N) (Y: 4 N: 2 NV: 0 Abs: 2) [PASS]
History
| Date | Chamber | Action |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2026-03-25 | | Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 13, 2026 |
| 2026-03-25 | House | Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 25, 2026 |
| 2026-03-16 | House | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB636) |
| 2026-03-14 | Senate | Signed by President |
| 2026-03-14 | House | Signed by Speaker |
| 2026-03-14 | House | Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB636ER) |
| 2026-03-14 | House | Enrolled |
| 2026-03-09 | House | Senate amendment agreed to by House (63-Y 34-N 0-A) |
| 2026-03-05 | Senate | Passed Senate with amendment (20-Y 19-N 0-A) |
| 2026-03-05 | Senate | Engrossed by Senate as amended |
| 2026-03-05 | Senate | Commerce and Labor Amendment agreed to |
| 2026-03-05 | Senate | Read third time |
| 2026-03-04 | Senate | Passed by for the day (Voice Vote) |
| 2026-03-04 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed (on 2nd reading) (39-Y 0-N 0-A) |
| 2026-03-04 | Senate | Rules suspended |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Reported from Commerce and Labor with amendment (8-Y 6-N) |
| 2026-03-02 | Senate | Senate committee offered |
| 2026-02-23 | Senate | Senate committee offered |
| 2026-02-17 | Senate | Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor |
| 2026-02-17 | Senate | Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading) |
| 2026-02-16 | House | Read third time and passed House (65-Y 33-N 0-A) |
| 2026-02-13 | House | Engrossed by House - committee substitute |
| 2026-02-13 | House | committee substitute agreed to |
| 2026-02-13 | House | Read second time |
| 2026-02-12 | House | Read first time |
| 2026-02-11 | House | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB636) |
| 2026-02-10 | House | Committee substitute printed 26106771D-H1 |
| 2026-02-10 | House | Incorporates HB1164 (Cole, N.T.) |
| 2026-02-10 | House | Reported from Labor and Commerce with substitute (16-Y 6-N) |
| 2026-02-05 | House | Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment(s) (4-Y 2-N) |
| 2026-02-05 | House | House subcommittee offered |
| 2026-01-30 | House | Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB636) |
| 2026-01-20 | House | Assigned HCL sub: Subcommittee #2 |
| 2026-01-13 | House | Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce |
| 2026-01-13 | House | Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26102232D |
Virginia State Sources
| Type | Source |
| --- | --- |
| Summary | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636 |
| Text | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636/text/HB636 |
| Text | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636/text/HB636H1 |
| Text | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636/text/HB636ER |
| Amendment | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636/text/HB636AHC1 |
| Amendment | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636/text/HB636AHC2 |
| Amendment | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636/text/HB636ASC1 |
| Amendment | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636/text/HB636ASC2 |
| Amendment | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636/text/HB636AS1 |
| Amendment | https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB636/text/HB636EDOC |
| Supplement | https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1105192.PDF |
| Supplement | https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1139701.PDF |
| Supplement | https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1213160.PDF |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB636/20261/H14002V2611998 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB636/20261/H14V2612509 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB636/20261/26110269 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB636/20261/S2V2328 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB636/20261/SV946 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB636/20261/SV985 |
| Roll Call | https://lis.virginia.gov/vote-details/HB636/20261/26110910 |
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