Virginia Expands Its Human Rights Act

The Details

Virginia has enacted legislation (Senate Bill 637), which expands the Virginia Human Rights Act (VHRA), a law that provides various employment protections to prevent unlawful discrimination, by:

• Updating the definition of employer to mean an individual (and their agent) that employs five or more employees (previously 15 employees) for each working day in each of 20 or more calendar weeks in the current or preceding calendar year, or one or more domestic workers;
• Extending the time an employee may file a complaint of alleged discrimination to two years (previously 300 days); and
• Allowing an employer to discriminate only on the basis of age against a minor (an individual who is less than 18 years of age).

Next Steps

Review whether the changes to the VHRA will apply to your business and train supervisors on the changes under the law by July 1, 2026.